South Coast Dr, South Coast Metro

South Coast Drive is a 2-mile long street that begins near the intersection of the 405 freeway and the 73 toll road in Costa Mesa and ends at Bear Street, which runs between South Coast Plaza shopping center and its annex, Crystal Court. South Coast Plaza is an internationally known shopping center that contains top designer shops such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel and Prada as well as more typical stores like Sears, Foot Locker and McDonald’s. It claims to have the highest sales of any shopping center in the U.S. ($1.5 billion). Metro Pointe shopping center, which contains a large cinema complex, is also located on South Coast Drive.

There is a Borders bookstore at Crystal Court and a Barnes & Noble across the stree at Metro Pointe. These are the main bookstores in the area.

A large housing tract and large apartment complex front onto South Coast Drive. The landscaping is very attractive, with plenty of flowering plants and shady trees. The downside to living on one of the streets that fork off of South Coast Drive is the proximity of the heavily-traveled 405 freeway. The advantages include the most obvious – access to shopping, dining and entertainment at South Coast Plaza, Crystal Court and Metro Pointe. There is also a large park named Wakeham located within the housing tract off South Coast Drive.