Phil discovers some fascinating stories about Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood with local historian Richard Orton.

BOYB: Ocean Park and Richard Orton
Column: Groundwater Law Has Not Stopped Subsidence
By Tom Elias Drive almost any road in the vast San Joaquin Valley and you’ll see irrigation pipes standing up...
SMa.r.t. Column: It’s Time to Look at the Facts of Santa Monica’s Housing History
The Narrative: Santa Monica’s decades-long housing construction “shortage” The Narrative endlessly repeats the refrain that for decades Santa Monica has...
SMa.r.t. Column: The Mansionization of Santa Monica
Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in print in 2016. In the 1980s, Santa Monica’s single family zoning code was...
OP-Ed Response to DTSM Board Chair Barry Snell and Plea to City Council Regarding Safety Ambassadors and Ambassador Program
I am responding to the OP-ED (dated June 7, 2022, Santa Monica Mirror) by City-appointed DTSM Board Member and now...
SMa.r.t. Column: Wheeling Electrically
A recent weekend visit to Dana Point, on the Orange County coastline, revealed a curious scene: dozens, if not hundreds...
Population Loss: New Era or Pandemic Glitch?
By Tom Elias, Columnist The numbers suggest a major change is underway in California. It would take a Nostradamus to...
SMa.r.t. Column: The Sound of Silence Is Big & Tall
All too often these days we find ourselves wondering how we could have been so correct about so many planning...
OP-Ed: DTSM Chair Barry Snell on Safety Ambassadors
By Barry Snell Chair, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Board of Directors The Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) Board of Directors...
Affordable Spaces for Small Business
Los Angeles County recently proposed a program providing financial incentives for certain “Legacy” family businesses in their original historical location....
Doubt Removed: Oil Refiners Gouging Us
By Tom Elias, Columnist There was some room for doubt back in February, when gasoline prices rose precipitously: Until the...
Is the Big Housing Crunch Mostly Fiction?
By Tom Elias, Columnist In some parts of California, there is definitely a housing crunch: small supplies of homes for...
Is Gelson’s Our Future? Bigger Is Not Better & Not Necessary! – Part 2
The dream of our beachfront city is about to become a nightmare! Just imagine a tsunami of these projects washing...
Column From Santa Monica Mayor Himmelrich: We Walk the Talk
By Sue Himmelrich, Santa Moncia Mayor I like the SMa.r.t. architects. I often agree with them. But in allowing Mark...
Is Gelson’s Our Future? Bigger Is Not Better!
It’s appalling to see what’s happening in our city – projects recently built or about to be approved – in...
Renting Your Second Home
If you are among the many Americans who own a second home that you occasionally use as a vacation getaway,...
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