You can get a general feel of the area on this Manhattan Beach video. Located in Southern California not far from Los Angeles International Airport in L.A. County, Manhattan Beach is a cute little beach community with a lively beachfront atmosphere.
This video from YouTube is almost ten minutes long, and was shot on a semi cloudy day, but it has a lot of shots around town, on the beach, some surfers and the pier. it gives you a good feel for the place.
Just imagine how it looks in summer, with the beach filled with people sunning, playing and swimming. The boardwalk along the back of the beach gets quite a lot of bike traffic.
Manhattan Beach is a fun place to be, though sometimes a pain to get to, due to its proximity to LAX and all the traffic on the 405.