A guide to Pacific Palisades: Best restaurants, shops and things to do [Video]

Years ago, when I was in my late 20s, I had lunch with a friend of a friend who had just moved to Pacific Palisades. I was living in a duplex in Echo Park at the time and expressed surprise that someone my age lived in a part of Los Angeles that felt so out of reach.

“Oh honey, you’ll see,” she said airily. “You’ll get pregnant and move to the Palisades too.”

I was stunned. “Oh honey,” I thought. “If only that’s how the world worked for all of us.”

I’m not saying everyone would move to Pacific Palisades if they could afford it (and with an average home price of more than $3.5 million, according to Zillow, very few can afford it), but spend some time in this Norman Rockwell-esque town by the sea and you will surely understand its appeal — and maybe even its price tag.

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