This Hot Spot is the New Monterey neighborhood excluding Cannery Row. The northern part — nearer to the Bay — is a mixture of small homes and apartment buildings. The southern, uphill part has mostly mid-sized homes. There are several schools and parks scattered throughout. Oak Newton Park is the largest with nice oak habitat; Archer and Cypress parks are smaller, but some have flowering plants that attract hummingbirds in spring migration.

The borders of the Hot Spot are straight-forward: busy Lighthouse Avenue on the northeast side; the edge of the Presidio of Monterey on the southern edge (the Presidio is closed to the public, with gated access only); Divisadero Street at the uphill southwest edge; and narrow Line Street to the northwest. The latter two streets are also the dividing line between the City of Monterey and adjacent Pacific Grove. David Avenue, Prescott Avenue, and Hoffmann Avenue are busy cross-streets through this Hot Spot; beware of speeding traffic on these.

The uphill, southern portion has many large trees which host Pygmy Nuthatch, Acorn Woodpeckers and Steller’s Jays. White-throated Sparrows have been spotted in several front yards a bit downhill from
these areas. House Finch, Western Gulls and Western Bluebirds often frequent the lower streets. Red-flowering bottlebrush along Hawthorne Street in late fall and winter have attracted rarities like Nashville and Tennessee Warblers and Orchard Oriole.

Oak Newton Park is the largest park with the only public restroom within this Hot Spot. A Northern Parula spend several days singing here one June.