Less than 20 years ago, the southwest corner of Riverside County was mostly rolling oak-studded grassland bathed by moist, marine air flowing through a break in the coastal mountains. Today, those ocean breezes cool a landscape in which the chaparral has been replaced by the clay tile roofs and tidy streets of Murrieta.

Having years ago shunned its reputation as the region's UFO-sighting capital, today's Topanga Canyon is home to an eccentric collection of nature lovers, artists and anyone else willing to trade city accessibility for open spaces. While vintage VW campers still chug up Topanga Canyon Boulevard's S-curves, odds are high that SUVs are barreling along behind.

Old Towne Orange offers its 11,300 residents a chance to step back in time. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Orange County community of about 1,200 homes has the largest collection of historical houses in California. At its heart is the Plaza Square park, with a landmark fountain dating to the city's founding in the 1870s.

Home to L.A. County's first port, Redondo Beach is better known today as an affordable beach community than for commercial seafaring. Entrenched in California surf culture since the early 1900s, the city immortalized in the Beach Boys' "Surfing U.S.A." still draws surfers to its shores. Incorporated in 1892, it's now home to 63,261 residents.

Agoura Hills offers families an escape from the clutter and chaos of the nearby San Fernando Valley megalopolis. The upscale bedroom community of 20,537 has top-ranked schools, easily accessible hiking trails and scenic vistas of the Santa Monica Mountains. It was incorporated 20 years ago and is about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, between the San Fernando and Conejo valleys.