If you live in Sunset Park, Pico Neighborhood, or several other Santa Monica neighborhoods, a process is quietly underway that could permanently reshape where you live. It’s framed as a study. But the more you […]

Part I: The Bill Nobody Voted For On February 11, 2026, a National Park Service official logged onto a virtual meeting to discuss something extraordinary: whether the federal government should extend its protective reach over […]

By John Cyrus Smith, SM.a.r.t Guest columnist Someone smarter than a parks commissioner like me once said that if you want something done, just throw down the challenge, and good things will happen. True or […]

How Solo Living Is Shrinking the Functional City SMa.r.t.’s article last month referred to Santa Monica’s collapsed school enrollment of 8,900 students. The figure arrives despite the addition of thousands of new apartment units over […]

Santa Monica’s housing debate is no longer just about zoning, density, or state mandates. It has become a test of basic political ethics—and of whether residents can trust how major land-use decisions are being made […]

One question echoed through City Hall’s chambers Tuesday night, asked almost four dozen different ways by four dozen different residents who stayed until nearly 1 AM: Why is this Council going beyond the already transformative […]

This year S.M.a.r,t, wrote about the Civic Auditorium, the Airport, City governance, Preservation, overdevelopment, and its impact, among many other topics listed below. We hope you enjoyed reading our 52 weekly articles, and if you […]