Manhattan Beach: Fountain of Youth?

- by Laurie McDermott

“How do people here stay looking so young?” said a woman speaking so loudly that I, sitting next door at Starbucks, could hear her.

I looked up from my phone to see this woman standing in line at Simmzy’s. She was facing toward Manhattan Beach Blvd looking at all the people walking by. I looked too… and saw nothing but average normal residents walking by.

It was then her friend, standing beside her, chimed in and said, “Let’s move here!” Adding, “There is a fountain of youth here somewhere!” Hmmm…. Did people living here in Manhattan Beach look younger just by living here at the beach? Was there some type of magic happening in the sun, sand and ocean air that stopped the aging process?

Years ago (1900’s), Manhattan Beach was developed to be a resort town, attracting visiting tourists from all over the USA looking to enjoy sun, fun and beach. Back then, it was an easy quiet “inexpensive” time to live, compared with today, where the pressure of actually “trying” to stay young, fit and active is a daily struggle for most. Keeping that youthful appearance may be why many residents dress for the whole day in their “work out” clothes. Sally, who works out at The Studio (MDR) says, “I spend more money on my work out clothes than anything else, because I wear them all day! I wake up and put on some cute work-out concoction that I can exercise in and that’s my outfit for the day. I can go have lunch in my outfit and if I have a zoom meeting, I just throw on a dressy jacket and I’m good!”

Maybe daily workouts and having an attitude of being ready to shift from work to play are the needed seeds that bring eternal youth at the beach? Day trader, Jeff, living three houses from the Pacific Ocean, has his opinion on aging here vs back east and said, “Come on! You can’t even compare an average 60-year-old in Wisconsin to an average 70-year-old living here in Manhattan Beach.” Pausing for a moment, he then said, “It’s like this…6 years ago, my brother and I both had knee surgery around the same time. But I live here, and he lives in New York City. Who do you think was up and out faster? ME! And I’m 3 years older than him! And I had the surgery a week after him! Beach life keeps you young!”

But why? How does living in a busy, sunny place create younger people or is it just built in?

Carey, a stay-at-home mom in Redondo Beach, says “My mom and her sister are less than a year apart in age. My mom lives in Manhattan Beach and my aunt lives in Ohio. When you see them together, it’s weird. They look like they are 10 years apart. I keep telling my mom to make herself look old when her sister comes to town, but she’s too proud. She’s thinking about doing Botox now, which will only separate their differences more.” Carey laughed, “If she does, she’ll probably look like my sister! Oh, that could be bad for me! Either way, I’m never leaving Manhattan Beach. It’s like the fountain of youth here.”

Last Saturday, I decided to spend an hour people watching through the window at Skechers in Downtown Manhattan Beach. It was a nonstop constant flow of people walking up and down and all around the corner. Toward the beach and away from the beach. Looking closely, I noticed that all of the people walking by were either smiling and/or laughing. I looked for unhappy, angry people. There weren’t any. Not one frown. Not one grimace. Person after person, smile after smile. Except for the baby and two-year-old trapped who wanted out of his stroller, no one was angry, no one was sad.

Maybe it is smiling that makes us appear younger? Apparently, there have been studies on this very subject: “Do people look younger when they smile?”

German researchers at Max Planck Institute in Berlin studied the accuracy of guessing others’ ages. Looking at multiple photos of 171 young, middle-aged, and older people, the guess of age was younger on photos where the subject was smiling. Why? A) it can be hard to see wrinkles when a smile hides them, B) smiling makes people look attractive - and creates positive feelings that cite one to judge them as younger than they are.

Looking at Manhattan Beach, we can look at an average January, where the sun shines and the snow doesn’t fall (well, it did this year, 2023 - but that’s another story!) With the sun shining above, freedom at your feet, miles of beaches and places to stretch, walk or run, Manhattan Beach has all of the benefits of keeping a smile on the face of residents and visitors.

Back east…it is a struggle to get motivated to do much of anything when it’s 10 degrees outside and your car needs to be scrapped of snow and heated before you can even think about going out to drive. Unlike the bear that hibernates all winter, people living in colder climates must work incredible hard just to see friends, do tasks, and get a workout in, when the couch looks so warm and cozy.

On the day I stared at strangers from Skechers, I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the small 3.9 square miles of Manhattan Beach city looking for signs of “age.” I did find it. They were all smiling too. Except for this older couple, walking hand in hand down Artesia Blvd toward the beach. As I slowed down to get a closer view of them and what looked to be frowns, they saw me looking at them and both immediately turned toward my car and smiled and waved. I was so shocked that I was caught staring, but I immediately smiled back, because it’s true, smiles are contagious.

And with 2.1 miles of Manhattan Beach city sitting on the Pacific Ocean beach front, it made sense why people constantly smile here. Just looking at the ocean forces many to just smile.

An older woman with a southern accent shared with me after Sunday’s 5pm mass at American Martyrs Church. “The old locals here, we take our big, beautiful ocean for granted because we see it every single day. It’s a part of us. People only smile here because we don’t have the stress like they do back east. We are chill!” Several older men sitting with her nodded in agreement.

Then another woman in their group who looked to be about 60 years old said, “I’ll tell you why my secret is to looking younger!”

Before I could speak, the man next to her pipped in and said, “Me!!”

She laughed, hit him on the head and said, “No! It’s sunscreen! I’ve worn sunscreen every day for my entire life.”

The man said, “Oh, yeah, sunscreen! And she walks everywhere. I have a skinny wife who saves us a ton of gas.”

I left this group thinking to myself, “Maybe the secret to staying young is having relationships that make you laugh and create community?”

All I know is that everywhere you look in Manhattan Beach people are walking, biking, and running. Just moving. Even if you hate exercise, just gathering with friends at random locations is something that residents do every single day and love it! Manhattan Beach is not a place to come to and grow old. That’s almost impossible. There is just too much to do. And plenty of people with whom to share your time.

It is not stagnant here at the beach. There is movement everywhere. Residents in Manhattan Beach know they can walk out of their home, walk to the beach, complete their “walking steps” and know they are guaranteed to see someone that will smile

at them and make them feel welcomed and seen!

If you are ever feeling sad, upset or down that life has just thrown something horrific at you, (because it will, cause that’s what life does…. life likes to throw a grenade the moment you don’t expect it), head to the ocean and walk to the beach…walk on the strand! Let the smell of the living ocean, the warm white sand, the beautiful homes lined up one after the other help you realize how lucky you are that you get to live in such an amazing location.

Sarah Stevenson from Penn State University Smile Study concluded, “When a person is smiling, they are viewed as “attractive, reliable, relaxed and sincere” When a person sees another person smiling, his or her orbitofrontal cortex is activating, which processes sensory rewards. So, when a person catches another person smiling, he or she feels rewarded, which is a good feeling.” Good feelings create happy people who smile, and since smiles are contagious, people will feel happier. And when people feel happier, they behave in a youthful, free open manner.

Turns out there may be other reasons to pay attention to these youthful attributes in Manhattan Beach, CA.

For starters, while the ocean breeze and salt is not good for houses (forget the damage termites do to destroy wood), salt is conducive to corrosion because it’s hygroscopic and attracts water. By salt attracting moisture, it speeds up oxidation and rust forms quickly.

Does salt hurt people? According to the Lung Institute, salty ocean air improves lung function, thins mucus and reduces coughing in individuals with lung disease and/or breathing issues. In this study, to simulate breathing ocean air, lung patients were given hypertonic saline over 48 weeks and as a result had fewer pulmonary flareups requiring fewer antibiotics.

Isn’t salt good for the skin? Turns out Salt water is generally considered a beauty aid as it contains magnesium, which plumps and hydrates skin. Salt reduces swelling and is good for treating wounds, plus because it cleanses the skin and balances its pH it can aid with eczema and acne.

The ocean in general is good for the soul because it improves one’s mood and calms mental stress. Which may be why most people head to the beach on vacations so that the sounds and sight of the ocean waves puts the mind in a meditative relaxed state. Plus, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play in the open space of sand & sea, even if you just like to sit and read.

So yes, maybe it is some type of happy, youthful “disease” that has crept across Manhattan Beach California, but at the end of the day, when you live and breathe all that is good in such a small little amazing, wonderful city, you don’t want anyone else to know. Do you?