COSTA MESA -- Southern Californians practically live in their cars, but imagine a nearby weekend getaway where you could park your car and within a five-minute walk visit world-class theaters and concert halls, sculpture gardens and galleries, a spa, five-star restaurants and America's No. 1 mall.

It's possible in the remarkably compact Costa Mesa Theatre & Arts District, a well-planned cultural arts and shopping area at South Bristol Street and I-405. Within an area barely larger than a single block (all connected with landscaped footpaths and a pedestrian bridge), visitors can shop at South Coast Plaza (the top-grossing mall in the United States), catch a new play at South Coast Repertory, see the ballet or a touring musical at Segerstrom Hall, listen to the symphony at the new Segerstrom Concert Hall, dine at more than three dozen restaurants, admire art at indoor galleries and outdoor gardens, have a spa day and spend the night at a hotel.

The district has slowly evolved over the past 40 years on land once occupied by vast lima bean fields. The Segerstrom family, who'd farmed the valley since the 1890s, had of vision of turning their rural farmland into a major commercial and cultural center and with a great deal of planning and patience, they achieved their vision. Shops and offices sprung up in the early '60s, South Coast Repertory was born in '64, South Coast Plaza debuted in 1967, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center opened its doors in '86.

Since then, the Segerstroms (who donated much of the land and generously endowed the cultural institutions) have filled the spaces in between these buildings with a lushly landscaped Town Center Park and a world-class collection of outdoor sculpture -- high-profile artists include Richard Serra, Henry Moore, Charles O. Perry and Isamu Noguchi, whose famed "California Scenario" meditation garden includes a whimsical tower of rough rocks built in homage to the Segerstrom lima beans.

The district's biggest attractions are the mall and the theaters. South Coast Plaza is a tourist attraction all by itself, with 280 stores (including a high number of luxury retailers, from Gucci to Rolex), some 25 restaurants (from McDonald's to the 9-month-old high-end Charlie Palmer's), a full-service spa/gym and more than 24 million visitors a year.

The theater district includes the old Segerstrom Hall, a 3,000-seat theater where touring musicals, plays, ballets and operas are presented, and the dazzling, 2,000-seat Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006. Designed by Cesar Pelli, this stunning building has an undulating all-glass face, Swarovski crystal lighting, a 4,300-pipe organ and an acoustically perfect concert hall. In 2013, construction will begin on a new home for the Orange County Museum of Art (now located in Newport Beach), which will be built next door to the Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Steps away is the Tony Award-winning South Coast Rep, which has grown steadily from a small black-box theater in the '60s to the state-of-the-art three-theater complex it occupies today. With a $10 million budget and 16,500 subscribers, SCR is one of America's leading producers of new plays (107 world premieres).

Connecting the mall to the theater district is the Unity Bridge, a pedestrian walkway that crosses over Bristol Street and ends in front of the Westin South Coast Plaza, an ideally situated 411-room hotel with one of the district's best restaurants, the five-star French restaurant Pinot Provence, overseen by award-winning chef Lulu De Rouen. A bit farther afield (but only by a few blocks) are Marriott and Hilton hotels.

Be sure to check with the Costa Mesa Conference & Visitors Bureau for seasonal specials that include combo lodging, shopping, dining and theater packages, at travelcostamesa.com.

If you go:

Costa Mesa Theatre & Arts District

Getting there: Take I-5 North to the I-405. Take the Bristol Street exit and turn right at the stoplight. Free parking is available at South Coast Plaza and there are many reasonably-priced parking garages in the theater district. Allow 65-70 minutes traveling time from North County.

Dining recommendations: Pinot Provence, superb French cuisine; Jerry's Famous Deli, huge, New York-style deli with a 700-item menu; Leatherby's Cafe Rouge, scenic gourmet lunch spot in the Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Contact: (866) 918-4749 or www.travelcostamesa.com