Most of Calabasas (median household income $93,860) is hidden inside gated communities sprinkled across ridges that enjoy a breeze from the Pacific, which ensures clean air. A hub of liberal wealth, the city built a LEED-approved Civic Center in 2008; it also banned Styrofoam (2007), smoking in public spaces (2006) and development of official open space without a two-thirds vote of citizens (2005). You can get a taste of all that upscale healthy living at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center, which offers anyone — not merely residents — elegance for a few dollars. This erstwhile private club charges $3 for adults and $1 for children for a day's use of its excellent outdoor adult lap pool and children's outdoor training pool, respectively, both set near the center's draped cabana seating and a snack bar. That's the price you'd pay in L.A. to swim in a public pool in a crap neighborhood. For other low fees, the club has 16 tennis courts, one of them clay, plus workout rooms and a sauna. 23400 Park Sorrento, Calabasas. (818) 222-2782, cityofcalabasas.com/recreation/tennisswim.html.

—N. Jenssen