Christmas lights, crowds and high electric bills are a 39-year holiday tradition in this Torrance neighborhood

For the month of December, some residents of a South Torrance neighborhood can’t order a pizza or Thai food from DoorDash or UberEats and it’s not because of budget constraints.

It’s because of their neighborhood tradition of elaborate residential holiday light displays on more than 300 houses and lawns that thousands of families across the city travel to each year to enjoy.

Every year for the last 39 years, hundreds of houses in the Seaside Ranchos community of Torrance participate in the Seaside Holiday Lights event by putting up string lights, and inflatable and homemade decorations to celebrate the winter season.

The upscale neighborhood, home to multimillion-dollar single-family houses, looks like something out of a Christmas movie. Lines of visiting cars playing “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” can be heard from several blocks away. The crowds start to grow after sunset, when the lights can be seen from a few neighborhoods over. Traffic police set up cones and direct the minivans filled with families through the neighborhood. One resident described living in the neighborhood as being similar to “ Cinderella’s castle at Disney,” where everyone is outside looking in.

Visitors from across Los Angeles walk along Reese Way to see the neighborhood’s holiday lights.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

In front of their home with a U-shaped driveway, the Franco family strung lights all over their trees and decorated their lawn with several reindeer, a giant inflatable Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus. Peeking out of a tree in their frontyard is a Grinch with presents and a wreath.

The Francos have lived on Doris Way, one of at least six streets that make up the hilly figure-eight neighborhood, for the last nine years. Decorating their house usually takes four people three days.

“We think ours is the most beautiful house,” said Rosie Franco, noting how blessed her family is to have the resources to be able to put the decorations out each year.

Each December, the Francos’ electric bill can be roughly $2,500, double their typical $1,200 monthly bill. Other homeowners in the neighborhood noted they spend hundreds of dollars on their electric bills in December, ranging from $500 to $1,200. Many residents said seeing the kids and families enjoy the decorations is priceless.

Several homeowners switched to LED lights to lower their electricity usage. Some hire outside help to get the lights strung up on the tall trees in their yards and in the community. One homeowner turned to EBay to score a deal on a $700 15-foot snowman after the holiday season.

The neighborhood doesn’t require anyone to put lights or decorations up, but most houses in the community put up some string lights or some small decorations from after Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day. Some homeowners in the community put out little benches so families can pose for photos and many residents sit outside to watch the joy being spread.

People walk by houses decked with string lights, and inflatable and homemade holiday decorations.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Several generations of families walking with their SoCal winter gear and hot chocolate stop to take photos in front of their favorite displays. For some, it has been a holiday tradition to walk the lights. Nicole and Ryan Villasin came with their 3-year-old daughter, Serena, on a rainy Monday in December along with hundreds of other L.A. residents to take in the Christmas spirit in the Torrance Seaside community. The two grew up in Carson and have come to Torrance each December since they were in high school.

Other homeowners grew up with the tradition. Suzie Montoya grew up in the house that she now lives in with her husband, Andrew. She was a freshman in high school when they started the tradition in the neighborhood. Since then, the number of streets that decorate has grown from just one or two to six. She said she and her husband have to be organized when they leave the house and sort of plan around the lights since the traffic can wrap around for several streets. Some residents have a “secret” route to avoid the traffic, and others just use December evenings to stay home.

“I would be sad if it went away,” Montoya said. “It’s fun to see all of the little kids enjoying the decorations and seeing people we know.”

Several blocks of the Torrance neighborhood are covered in festive string lights.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Montoyas and many of their neighbors use long sticks with a hook to quickly wrap string lights around their trees. Some residents, when moving away from the neighborhood, pass down their decorating stick to the new homeowners.

That was the case with the Leach family, who found a pool stick in their house when they moved in. Kristen and Daniel Leach put up homemade Christmas trees made from wood pallets in their frontyard and, for each year they have lived in the house, they hide a Mickey Mouse amid their lawn decorations. This year there are six Mickeys.

“It’s a good tradition that brings the community together,” said Kristen Leach.