A lifestyle guide for San Pedro, California featuring
San Pedro experiences
tasty
trendy
artsy
pretty
AND
fun
SAN PEDRO IS the southernmost community in the city of Los Angeles.  It is home to a diverse population
of about 80,000 and boasts some of the best ocean views along the California coast.  Its natural beauty
has served as a backdrop for a long list of movies and television shows filmed in San Pedro.

Together with neighboring Long Beach, San Pedro forms the largest seaport in the United States.  
Roughly 40% of all goods imported into the U.S. come through the twin ports.  

San Pedro’s history is a collage of colorful characters and passionate pride.  The community, built by
generations of dockworkers, fishermen, and immigrants, is undergoing a dramatic and dynamic
transformation.  

San Pedro was voted “best place to spend a lazy Sunday” by Los Angeles magazine.  But, don't mistake
that for sleepy.

Here are a few ways to experience the people, places, and energy setting the town aglow as San
Pedro gets its groove on:


  • Tour the gallery of world renowned artist Violet Parkhurst.  Parkhurst was a representational realist
    whose work draws from impressionism and realism.  Her private collectors include numerous
    celebrities, US presidents, and world leaders.  She dated Clark Gable in the 1940s, one of many
    highlights of her distinguished career.     

  • Go next door to Williams' Book Store, the oldest continually operating bookstore in the City of Los
    Angeles.  Founded in 1909, the shop has a large selection of books on San Pedro and the Harbor
    Area.  SanPedroScene.com recommends: San Pedro Faces and Places, a self-published book by
    local artist Debbie Marr.

  • Say “hi” to owner “Cheerful Al” in Union War Surplus, a one-of-a-kind store voted LA’s  best surplus
    store by Los Angeles magazine.

  • Experience the edgy, industrial atmosphere that has inspired creative minds as diverse as beat
    writer Charles Bukowski and contemporary luxury fashion designer Rozae Nichols.

  • Enroll your teens in the state-of-the-art Port of Los Angeles High School (POLAHS).  At this shiny new
    public charter school in downtown San Pedro, the emphasis is on maritime studies and
    international trade.

  • Buy imported delights from across the pond at The Corner Store.  The rustic-chic social center of
    coastal San Pedro, The Corner Store was recently used for an H & M catalog photo shoot.  Its
    marketplace is brimming with everything the English palate could want: imported British
    chocolates, teas, beef pies, condiments, porridge, biscuits, canned vegetables, Indian
    seasonings, and more.  There’s an entire wall of vintage and modern bottled sodas, from the
    original Jolt to Japanese apple soda to spicy Australian ginger beer to Dr. Brown’s Cel Ray celery
    soda for the truly adventurous.

  • Take your specialty soda on a road trip through the neighborhood where the Channel 7 morning
    news did a live broadcast in the summer of 2006, part of its tour of noteworthy and picturesque
    Southern California communities.  San Pedro resident Juan Morales took the initiative to nominate
    San Pedro and the newsmen were convinced that San Pedro was a sight to see.
THE SCENE
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