When Ilana and Craig Israel discovered that they were expecting a child, they did not just celebrate. They went house-hunting.

"We needed a family home in a friendly community on the Westside, but at an affordable price," Craig Israel said. "And we needed it fast."

Just months later, in May, 1993, the Israels moved to a new townhouse development in the community of Sawtelle. "It's an unpretentious neighborhood that offers more square-footage for the money than Santa Monica and is less congested than Brentwood or Westwood," Israel said.

Although just four blocks north of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway and one block west of the San Diego (405) Freeway, the community of Sawtelle seems to sit apart from hectic metropolitan life. Manicured gardens and an array of small specialty shops, cafes and restaurants along Sawtelle Boulevard reflect a suburban ambience. Sawtelle features modest cottages and Old Spanish-style homes, three-story apartment buildings from the 1960s and luxurious contemporary townhouses with spacious patios open to ocean breezes.

"Sawtelle is close to everything without being in the middle of everything," said Israel, a 33-year-old general dentist. The community is only minutes from Santa Monica's beaches and upscale restaurants, Westwood's movie theaters and Century City's department stores. "For my family, this location means a relaxed lifestyle. For me, it translates into an easy commute to my office in Santa Monica."

Israel and his wife, a former dental assistant in her early 30s, paid $382,000 for their three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot contemporary Mediterranean townhome with high ceilings, two fireplaces, skylights, walk-in closets and a cactus-planted atrium. The tile-roofed townhouse on Federal Avenue is part of a gated 20-unit complex with a palm tree-encircled swimming pool, a playground and a recreation room filled with workout equipment.

"The common spaces make it easy to keep in touch with the neighbors," Ilana Israel said. "In September, most of them even celebrated baby Ryan's first birthday with us at the pool."

Less than one square mile in size, the community of Sawtelle is bounded by South Bundy Drive on the west, Sawtelle Boulevard on the east, by Olympic Boulevard on the south and Santa Monica Boulevard on the north. The middle- to lower-middle-class community's 10,000 residents are primarily Anglo, with Latinos as the second largest group. Japanese Americans count for about 20% of Sawtelle's population.