I’ve always thought of Torrance, CA as being a bit of a warehouse town. It’s one of the many cities of Los Angeles County that we zoom through on our way to the coast or the mountains. And on the 4 or 5 occasions we’ve driven through the streets of Torrance, we’ve seen nothing other than strip malls and gigantic office blocks that double as warehouses. The architecture of the malls and warehouses are so similar that I can’t even say if we’ve simply driven on the exact same streets every time.

However, there is another side to Torrance. Like all the satellite cities around LA, it’s home to the thousands of commuters that clog the 405 twice daily¹. And having visited a friend’s cottage in the heart of this warehouse town, I can now report that Torrance can be, in fact, quite a pleasant place to live for a lot less $$$ in better accomodations. For the too many $$$ we forsake for a 1 bedroom apt in SaMo, we could easily have an entire 2B2B cottage, with yard for dog. And a garden. With a gazebo. And a firepit (see evidence below).

But even having a firepit can’t convince me that it’s worth the daily journey through hell on the 405.

¹ Which can sometimes make a 20 min drive from work to home last for a good 60 min if there’s been an accident on the 405.