The blocks around El Prado and Cabrillo Avenues make up Old Torrance, the city's original civic and commercial centre. It is a small, low-rise downtown with a handful of restored 1920s storefronts, the Pacific Electric Railway depot (now restored as a museum), and the old Torrance High School building — one of the most-filmed school buildings in the world thanks to its use as the school in Beverly Hills 90210, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, She's All That, and dozens of other productions.
Worth a half-hour walk if you are passing through, especially around the small farmers' market held on Tuesdays. The neighbourhood is also slowly developing a cluster of independent coffee shops and craft breweries that give it a different character to the rest of suburban Torrance.