A paved strand runs behind the sand and a pedestrian plaza of bars and low shops leads out to the pier.
What Downtown Hermosa Beach looks like
Pier Avenue runs from straight to the ocean and ends in a car free plaza lined with two storey stucco buildings holding bars and small shops under canvas awnings. Palm trees run down the middle of the plaza with string lights between them, and a blue clock on a post marks the top of the walkway. The paved Strand crosses the foot of the plaza and runs the length of the beach in both directions, with a steady line of walkers and cyclists past the sand.
The pier itself is concrete, rebuilt after the original 1904 wooden structure washed out. It runs close to a thousand feet over the water on round pilings with a plain metal rail. A domed building near its foot dates from around 1914, now split between public restrooms, the county lifeguard station and a small library branch. From partway along the pier, the beach curves south past a stone breakwater toward a row of power plant stacks. To the north, the sand runs unbroken toward the next town's pier.
At 30 Pier Avenue, the occupies a plain brick building with a painted sign over the stage, the same room that has run a Sunday jazz set on and off since 1949. A few blocks inland, Hermosa Avenue crosses Pier Avenue, where the town's ordinary traffic returns. Parking meters, awnings and a mix of one and two storey storefronts run back from the plaza along it.
Shot in Downtown Hermosa Beach
La La Land uses the pier for 'City of Stars,' the song's first full performance in the film. Sebastian walks its length and briefly dances with a stranger before her husband cuts in. The Lighthouse Cafe appears earlier in the story, when Sebastian introduces Mia to jazz. It returns partway through the film when he plays piano while she dances. Hardbodies, The O.C. and The Amazing Race have also filmed along the pier, the Strand and the plaza.
La La Land, 2016
Sebastian sings 'City of Stars' for the first time here, walking the length of the pier and briefly dancing with a stranger before her husband cuts in. Hardbodies, The O.C. and The Amazing Race have also filmed along this stretch of deck and rail.
What Downtown Hermosa Beach can double for
Cocoa Beach in Florida
Cocoa Beach keeps a low rise beach strip of one and two storey shops and bars a short walk from a public pier, similar in scale to Hermosa's plaza. The buildings are wood frame rather than stucco and sit further back from the water behind dune walkovers. Palm species and roofing differ enough to read in a wide shot, so keep to street level frames on the block nearest the pier. Try searching low rise beach strip now.
St Kilda's Esplanade runs a similar strip of low shops and bars behind a beach promenade out to its own pier, palm trees lining the street the same way. The pier there is timber rather than concrete, and the kiosk at its end has a distinct pavilion roof that gives the location away in a wide shot. Try searching beach promenade shops pier now.
Blackpool in England
Blackpool's South Shore keeps a similar run of amusement arcades and bars close to the sand, with a pier reaching out over the water the same way Hermosa's does. The promenade is brick rather than a paved plaza and there is no car free block to match, so a tighter frame on the pier deck itself is the safer amusement arcades match, with no palm trees to give away the coast. Try searching pier deck amusement arcades now.
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