King Street, Santa Cruz, CA

King Street, in Santa Cruz, is Westside Mission Street at its busiest, with bakeries, pizza counters, pubs and noodle houses lined up along a stretch of Highway 1 that doubles as the neighborhood main road. Behind the commercial strip, the side streets hold small bungalows and cottages, with apartment houses crowding in closer to the traffic. Most of the pull is food. Companion Bakeshop at 2341 Mission Street is the one people name first, a sourdough-focused bakery known for the kouign-amann and goat horn bread, with Cat & Cloud coffee on the counter. Ferrell's Donuts at 2227 Mission Street keeps its doors open around the clock, which makes it the late-night answer. Upper Crust Pizza & Pasta, at 2415 Mission Street, has been serving Sicilian square pizza since 1979 and also runs nightly specials and a Sunday brunch. Green space is thinner than on the hillsides above. A small park or two sits among the blocks, but the real outdoors lies in other directions. Neary Lagoon, with its floating boardwalk across the water, is a bike ride toward downtown, and Natural Bridges State Beach lies the other way along the coast. Daily life is easy on wheels and workable on foot. Groceries, pharmacies and hardware are strung along Mission Street, the Fair Avenue New Leaf and Safeway are both close, and Metro buses stop along the corridor. Highway 1 is right there for a drive north to the coast or south into town. The cost of all that convenience is sound. Mission Street carries steady traffic, buses and delivery trucks, and the blocks nearest it hum from early morning until the late-night donut run. Parking turns over quickly around the restaurants. Anyone who likes a bakery stop, a pizza night and a bus line all within reach of the front door will find King Street answers to all three.