July 2, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Envisioning Santa Monica Airport If It Finally Closes Down: Letter To The Editor:

Dear Editor,

If the Santa Monica Airport is finally closed down I propose it should be converted into an urban forest, the asphalt replaced by dense, shady stands of trees of all kinds, threaded by bike paths winding past pools and streams, and little unexpected playgrounds, bandstands, and bowers.

But I don’t just see this as a place of delight and recreation: I want people to work there too. I’d like those winding paths to lead us to eccentric, charming, tree-house-like buildings where cutting edge companies create new products and ideas which will provide jobs for the people of Santa Monica and revenue for the city – much more than we ever earned from the airport.

But surely, you might be asking, even the most sylvan business park needs big roads to get goods in and out, acres of car parking for its workers, overhead power lines? How can you have beauty, livability and productivity in one package? My answer: welcome to the twenty first century.

The sort of firms who’d want to be in such an environment need a constant flow of information and ideas. They don’t need trucks to carry them – they need power and fibre optics, arriving in pipes tucked unobtrusively beneath the forest floor. And yes, their workers need to get there and get home, but they don’t necessarily need to do it in cars. There’ll soon be a rail line coming into Santa Monica that will make it possible for people from all over Los Angeles to come and work here without driving: all that’s needed is a shuttle service to take them to and from Old Airport Forest. And for those living nearby, bike lanes. Once you step inside that welcoming place, you’re in a world of cool, green shade, peace, and quiet.

You can be productive.

Because although I’d like to see the buildings looking charming, eccentric and rustic, they’d be equipped to the highest possible standards for modern computers and communications: they’d be powerhouses for the new ideas on which a modern economy like ours relies.

I’d like a proportion of the buildings created on the site to be incubators, with dirt-cheap space available to young entrepreneurs. We have our own institution of higher learning right here in Santa Monica College: wouldn’t it be great to encourage its brightest students to set up new businesses right here where they learned their skills? To say nothing of attracting the kids who went to Pepperdine, USC and UCLA and the other universities clustered in this part of Southern California.

All over the world the docks that were once vital to shipping have closed as sea-going vessels have got bigger and moved out to deeper water. Far-sighted cities have made use of the newly available space to rejuvenate themselves. Santa Monica could do the same thing with a facility that has long outgrown the era when it was practical to make and fly planes here.

Drive around the airport now and look at all the acres of desolate concrete and asphalt, and imagine what it would be like covered in trees, home to a forest where you could stroll, contemplate – and on a bench around a corner, come across some brilliant kid from a high tech incubator, dreaming up the next big thing.

The end of the airport shouldn’t be seen as a negative, but as an amazing opportunity for Santa Monica to pioneer a new way to live, work and prosper in the twenty first century.

Let’s run with it!

Gavin Scott

Santa Monica

in Opinion
<>Related Posts

SM.a.r.t Column: Cities That Never Shut Up – The Roaring Cost of Urban Noise

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

In today’s cities, silence isn’t golden—it’s extinct. From sunrise to insomnia, we’re trapped in a nonstop symphony of shrieking car...

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica Needs to See the Light

June 19, 2025

June 19, 2025

How Santa Monica’s Growing Light Pollution Is Eroding Human Health, Safety, and Sanity There was a time when our coastal...

SM.a.r.t Column: California’s Transit Death Spiral: How Housing Mandates Are Backfiring

June 15, 2025

June 15, 2025

California’s ambitious housing mandates were supposed to solve the affordability crisis. Instead, they’re creating a vicious cycle that’s killing public...

SM.a.r.t. Column: A City Dying by a Thousand Cuts

June 5, 2025

June 5, 2025

Santa Monica, once celebrated for its blend of coastal charm and progressive ideals, is slowly bleeding out — not from...

SM.a.r.t Column: Oops!! What Happened? And What Are You Going to Do About It?

May 29, 2025

May 29, 2025

Our Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow (SMa.r.t) articles have, over the past 12 years, collectively presented a critical...

SM.a.r.t Column: Why Santa Monica Might Need a Desalination Plant, and Maybe Even Nuclear Power

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Santa Monica is known for its ocean views, sunny skies, and strong environmental values. But there’s a challenge on the...

SM.a.r.t Column: SMO (So Many Options) Part 3: “Pie in the Sky”

May 17, 2025

May 17, 2025

SMO: Fantasy, Fact, and the Fog of Wishful ThinkingBy someone who read the fine print Every few months, a headline...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Owner Occupancy Protects Against Corporate Over-Development

May 2, 2025

May 2, 2025

This week SMa.r.t. will have as guest columnist Mark Borenstein. Mark is a long-time Santa Monica resident, a retired attorney,...

Opinion: Declaration of Economic State of Emergency in Malibu & Pacific Palisades: A Direct Result of the Devastating Impact of the Palisades Fire

April 27, 2025

April 27, 2025

Malibu and Pacific Palisades Request Emergency Financial Measures By Ramis Sadrieh, Chairperson, Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce    On behalf...

SM.a.r.t Column: The World’s Happiest Cities

April 27, 2025

April 27, 2025

Almost every year, we see new cities, regions, and countries that make the list(s) of our planet’s happiest and healthiest...

SM.a.r.t Column: A City for Everyone

April 20, 2025

April 20, 2025

Santa Monica dazzles with its ocean views, sunshine, and laid-back charm. But beyond the postcard image lies a more complicated...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part II: Rebuilding Resilient Communities: Policy and Planning After the Fires

April 13, 2025

April 13, 2025

The January 2025 wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena left an indelible mark on Los Angeles County. Beyond the...

SM.a.r.t Column: Innovative Materials for Fire-Resistant Rebuilding After the LA Fires

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

In the aftermath of the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, homeowners face the daunting task of rebuilding their lives and...

Opinion: Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath Community Column Regarding a More Accountable Homeless Services System

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

By Lindsay Horvath, Los Angeles Board of Supervisors This week marks a significant milestone in our fight to end homelessness...

SM.a.r.t Column: Bring Back The Music 2.0

March 23, 2025

March 23, 2025

This is an update of the article appearing in the SM Mirror on Feb 1, 2025 On January 28th, 2025,...