Today we’re taking a ZIP tour of Long Beach, exploring real estate in a dozen livable zip code areas of the city, from my office suite in the 90802 ZIP that covers the downtown coastal area of Long Beach.
The area roughly consists of the neighborhoods between the Pacific Ocean and Seventh Street and the LA River and Harbor at Junipero Avenue (south of Broadway) and Cherry Avenue (north of Broadway.).
It includes, in addition to the city center, the neighborhoods of East Village and Alamitos Beach. Its area also includes the Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Village, the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Rainbow Lagoon, and the Pine Avenue Pier. ZIPs ’02 and 90803 are the only two in Long Beach that touch the Pacific Ocean and are therefore able, in many cases, to use the term “steps to beach” in real estate listings.
It is both a dense and lively district with many of the best restaurants in the city. With retail in the area having declined over the past few decades with the collapse of major shopping centers preceded by the closure of major businesses along Pine, there are few shopping opportunities other than South Pine, with the Pike Outlets.
The region gains a mighty 90 in WalkScore, the highest in the city, although caution is advised, especially at night when crime is not unusual, and even daytime walks may also require some vigilance. A 2022 survey by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance showed those who felt “completely comfortable” downtown between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. had dropped to 40% from 62% in 2019.
However, 79% of respondents felt “very comfortable” and “somewhat comfortable”, and 70% of respondents said they were likely to recommend visiting downtown to a friend. or a colleague.
With 39,165 people living in the 6.5 square mile PA, the area’s density is moderately high at 6,025 people per square mile, and this density is reflected in the housing composition of the PA, which is largely vertical. Condominium complexes and high-rise apartment buildings are embracing shoreline real estate offerings, with sales listings leaning toward condos and apartments.
Condominiums range from seven-figure penthouses with plush amenities and ocean views along Ocean Boulevard to tiny studios in neighborhoods west of Pine Avenue. There’s one on West Fourth Street, for example, it’s a 372 square foot studio with a list price of $209,000. At the top is a 2,154 three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse on the boardwalk, listed at $1.86 million.
Between the extremes are venerable and historic Long Beach buildings such as the Sovereign, St. Regis, Cooper Arms, Lafayette Resort, and Villa Riviera.
When it comes to detached single-family homes, your choices are narrow: only about 7% of structures in 90802 fall into this category, with the majority of them in the eastern portion of the ZIP, Alamitos Beach. Hardly anyone is building new homes in Long Beach, especially in this ZIP code, where new homes haven’t been built in decades. The three houses we are going to see today were built between 1904 and 1918.
The median listing price for a 90802 home in September was $572,500 according to Realtor.com. That’s $200,000 less than the median price in town.
On the market now is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom California bungalow at the price quoted by the listing agent Andrea Bigler midway between the median of 90802 and the city median at $659,000. The residence is located at the corner of Tile Avenue and Florida Street in the gay district of Alamitos Beach, about equidistant from the bars of Broadway and Fourth Street’s Retro Row.
This home at 335 Tile Ave. is listed at $659,000. Photo of the ad.
The house is surrounded by a white picket fence – a feature of your base American Dream house – and inside, the living and dining areas are bright and relatively spacious. The kitchen is cheerful, thanks to new cabinets and striking bright blue tiles.
A bonus touch is the fact that the two bedrooms in the house each have their own ensuite bathroom, both with vintage looking tiles.
And it’s no small feat that, in this neighborhood where parking is a constant concern, the home has a detached one-car garage and driveway for off-street parking. The money you save on street sweeping tickets will go a long way toward paying off your mortgage.
Next, here is a 1904 bungalow in 532 W. Fifth St. built during the Theodore Roosevelt administration, in which the real estate agent advertises that the buyer will live “just over three blocks away for fun in the sand”. It might be a little over three blocks from the LA River, where you probably won’t find much FUN, but if it’s sand you’re looking for, it’s about a mile and a half at the foot of First Place next to Ocean Boulevard.
This home on West Fifth Street in 90802 is listed at $689,000. Photo by Redfin.
Still not a bad home for the West Side of Pine, with a lovely large front porch, welcoming front door, and bright, open living and dining room. The kitchen is modern with wood floors and updated appliances.
Other upgrades include ductless air conditioning and new flooring and lighting. Perhaps because the house was built about five years before Model T Fords rolled off the assembly line, there is no garage, just street parking. The 825 square foot home is listed by Nostril Chobanian at $689,000.
Finally, there is a completely updated 1905 house at 1444 Appleton Streetlisted by Silva Zhang at $920,000. Is this 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom home worth over $200,000 more than the other two homes featured today?
A two-bed, one-bath home on East Appleton Street in Alamitos Heights is listed at $920,000. Photo by Redfin.
It depends on what you want. This corner house is right next to the Falcon Bar, if that’s a selling point. And it’s closer to the beach than the other two, and according to Zhang, the previous owner paid around $100,000 to inflate the place. And, even with just two bedrooms and a bathroom, it’s the largest of the three homes at 1,104 square feet, which is plenty spacious, and even more so if you count the cubic feet, thanks to the 9-foot ceilings. .
Updates include a newly finished backyard, remodeled kitchen with granite countertops and deep double sinks, custom wood blinds, new vinyl windows and newer copper plumbing, electric , a water heater and a furnace.
And, again, that’s gold: you get two parking spaces in a neighborhood where you’ll never find two street parking spaces.