Thirsty Santa Monica: Running Dry
The thirst is real, and Santa Monica is feeling it. The problem? Santa Monica relies on the Metropolitan Water District for a quarter of its water, and in spite of recent welcome rains, in the […]
Landmarks Commission Back From the Dead
For over three years, SMa.r.t. (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) has consistently warned that recently increased intense development pressures are bringing massive changes to Santa Monica. One of the primary causes of the […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Improving Santa Monica’s Future: A Resident-Oriented Master Plan
Improving Santa Monica’s Future: A Resident-Oriented Master Plan Santa Monica, like many cities, requires a well-defined master plan to guide its future development and growth. A master plan is a comprehensive long-term strategy that outlines […]
Is City Government Listening to You?
Sometimes, it might feel like City Council members or local government staff aren’t paying attention to the concerns of residents. They might be too busy or have strict rules that make it difficult to communicate […]
Parking Wars Part 2
Last week’s SMa.r.t. article described the collision of two new State mandates: the first requiring the construction of 9000 new units in Santa Monica (corresponding to about a 20% population increase in the next 8 […]
SMO (So Many Options) Part 2
SMart (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) Last week’s column was Part 1. If you did not have the opportunity to read Part 1 then, you can find it here. Part 2 The city’s […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Reframing the Murals
Last year the City Council started a process to reframe the murals in City Hall. Many people do not even know these WPA murals exist because perhaps they have never been to City Hall or […]
SMa.r.t. Column: I Told You So
On January17, 2015 SMa.r.t. posted a prophetic article in the Daily Press written by Ron Goldman FAIA advocating maintaining a low rise (3-4 stories) development standard along the major boulevards. He also included a sketch […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Going Bare
(part 3 of 3 articles) Every City faces periodic interruptions to its normal life. Some interruptions in our City are minor and predictable such as gridlock on Lincoln Blvd every afternoon. Because of their relatively […]
SMa.r.t. Column: The Urgency to Retrofit Earthquake-Deficient Buildings
Recent early-morning tremors off the Malibu coast, and the huge and terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria have made us take another look at Santa Monica’s earthquake-retrofit program for vulnerable buildings. This program, started in […]