Naples

Naples is three man-made islands in Alamitos Bay, divided by canals that open into the bay and crossed by footbridges. The Rivo Alto Canal runs through the middle, and the houses along it back right onto the water. Most streets carry Italian names like Toledo, Ravenna, Napoli and Corso di Napoli. It's flat and quiet, and you can walk the whole thing, a different pace from Belmont Shore across the bridge.

Around 1903 Arthur M. Parsons raised $500,000 from investors and bought tidal marsh at the mouth of the San Gabriel River from the Alamitos Land Company. Construction began in August 1905: the contract called for 13,000 linear feet of concrete bulkhead and 300,000 cubic yards of dredging and fill, which raised three islands to an even height. His Naples Land Company sold it as the 'Dreamland of Southern California,' and the islands were finished in the 1920s.

Life here runs around the water. People paddle off their back docks, and the gondolas go out at dusk. Gondola Getaway has rowed these canals since 1982, and every December since 1946 the Naples Island Christmas Boat Parade takes decorated boats through the canals while residents light up their houses. The lighted 'Trees in the Bay' have floated in the water since 1949.

The islands aren't cut off. Second Street's shops and the 2nd & PCH center are a short walk or ride, and Mother's Beach, the Alamitos Bay Marina and Marine Stadium are all close. Prices reflect it: in September 2026 the 18 houses listed on the islands had a middle asking price near $3.1 million.

The big buyer issue is the seawall. The 1930s seawall is being replaced in sections; as of the Long Beach Post's December 2024 report, two of six sections were done at a cost of $32 million, the rest was estimated at $125 million in total, and the city had floated options including a property-owner assessment. Ask about its status before you buy.

A little over a century ago this corner of Alamitos Bay was tidal marsh at the mouth of the San Gabriel River, underwater at high tide. The plan, drawn by the firm Mayberry & Parker, echoed Abbot Kinney's canals-and-gondolas Venice of America up the coast. The Naples Land Company promised that gondoliers would glide 'under the high arching bridges' as in Italy.

Getting there was easier than the marsh suggests: by 1906 Henry Huntington had routed a streetcar line through the area, and the Pacific Electric served Naples until 1950. Progress was slow, and the islands weren't finished until the 1920s. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, the seawall was rebuilt in 1938, and that is the wall being replaced today.

The Italian theme stuck, from the street names to La Bella Fontana di Napoli, the three-tiered fountain park in the middle of the island, first called Circle Park in 1933 and given its current name in 1971. Mid-century architects left their mark too: Killingsworth, Brady & Smith's Case Study House #25, the Frank House, sits on a Naples canal, and their 1957 Opdahl House is a few blocks away.

As of September 2026, the 18 houses listed on the islands asked about $1.5 million to $10.25 million, with a middle near $3.1 million, compared with about $899,000 for all home types citywide. The same floor plan is worth very different money facing a canal, the bay or an interior street.

Bay- and canal-front homes with docks sit at the top. Interior homes and the occasional duplex, listed around $1.65 million in September 2026, are the lower-cost way in. Budget for what runs higher on the water: insurance, dock and seawall upkeep, permitted remodels, and any future seawall assessment.

Price a house against recent sales on the same canal or street, not the island as a whole.

The islands are flat, the canal walks connect the blocks, and Second Street's restaurants and the 2nd & PCH center are a short walk or bike ride over the bridges. Plenty of people here get coffee, eat out and go paddling without starting the car.

For everything beyond the island, 2nd Street, Pacific Coast Highway and the 405 handle regional trips. Downtown Long Beach is about 12 to 18 minutes by car in light traffic, and LAX usually 30 to 45 minutes. Orange County starts just across the San Gabriel River in Seal Beach.