Los Angeles County is made up of a variety of neighborhoods for every type of person who calls this cultural melting pot home. There's a chance that once you've found the right 'hood for you, you're pretty reluctant to venture far from it. In fact, the South Bay is known for being a bubble, keeping its residents satisfied with clean beaches, an emerging food and drink culture and plenty of happenings throughout the weekend. Don't even know where the South Bay is? We get it: The coastal cities that make up the South Bay—Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula—can feel like they're 100 miles from LA. But if you're heading toward the coast, here's how you'll know you've hit the South Bay.
1. Suits and skinny jeans give way as guys of all ages—from toddlers to your 80-year-old grandpa—don board shorts year-round, no matter the occasion.
2. And that unassuming guy wearing board shorts at the end of the pier is actually the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
3. Surf shops are just as frequent as coffee shops.
4. Beach cruisers are everywhere—on the road, in the back of cars, in front of houses, under you.
5. You swear you just saw a couple Kings players at the bar—and you probably did, considering much of the team lives here.
6. The sky is a flurry of activity, from Coast Guard helicopters and planes carrying the latest Budweiser banner ad to paragliders.
7. You head to the beach to surf only to realize the spot you picked is localized—and no, the Bay Boys aren't the only ones.
8. Your drunken night ends at Norms or the Kettle.
9. You can see multiple piers up and down the coastline.
10. It's overcast and you hear a fog horn in the distance.
11. Everyone knows how to properly pronounce San Pedro—and knows it's not part of the South Bay.
12. From where you stand, you can see Malibu, Downtown LA, Catalina and the San Gabriel Mountains.
13. You go to El Burrito Jr—also known as El BJs—and order a Special C.
14. You see so many dogs around, but no apartment complexes that accept them (do all these people seriously own their own places?!).
15. A famous local punk band puts on a surprise show at the bar you're at (we're still kicking ourselves for missing the Descendents at the Standing Room this week).
Do you live in the South Bay? Let us know what we nailed—or what we missed—in the comments section below.