Alta Loma

Alta Loma is the hillside third of the 1977 merger, climbing from Base Line toward the San Gabriel foothills. It kept what the valley below paved over: horse trails along the streets, eucalyptus windrows planted a century ago against the Santa Anas, and lots big enough that people still keep animals on them.

The feel is semi-rural suburbia with altitude — quieter, older trees, cooler evenings, and a genuine equestrian culture that shows up in the trail network and at Heritage Community Park. It also holds two of the city's cultural crown jewels: Sam Maloof's hand-built compound and, improbably, a punk record institution on Amethyst Avenue. Rancho de Philo pours its November sherry here too.