The City of Santa Monica is surrounded on three sides by the City of Los Angeles. Therefore, while the jurisdictions are different, the development processes, pressures and outcomes are very similar. This article by a […]
The Narrative: Santa Monica’s decades-long housing construction “shortage” The Narrative endlessly repeats the refrain that for decades Santa Monica has built almost nothing. The implication is that residents should feel guilty about “selfishly” wanted to […]
Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in print in 2016. In the 1980s, Santa Monica’s single family zoning code was rewritten and modified to prevent the “mansionization” of small homes on small lots, from being […]
All too often these days we find ourselves wondering how we could have been so correct about so many planning issues that we have written about over these last nine years, and yet so frequently […]
Los Angeles County recently proposed a program providing financial incentives for certain “Legacy” family businesses in their original historical location. They have been facing financial hardships for a variety of reasons like COVID, gentrification, and […]
The dream of our beachfront city is about to become a nightmare! Just imagine a tsunami of these projects washing onto the beaches of Santa Monica over the next 10 years – sad, no – […]
It’s appalling to see what’s happening in our city – projects recently built or about to be approved – in downtown, along the boulevards, and throughout our multi-family and single-family neighborhoods! A tsunami of these […]
This week we are re-visiting an article from 2018 regarding the Miramar project, by simply replacing the word “Miramar” with “Gelson’s”, and striking thru some of the irrelevant text. We sadly reflect on how the […]
Over the last approximately two years your City has been busy trying to respond to new California laws that are completely destroying the urban fabric and quality of life of our City. Specifically, the State’s […]
In the 1970s, renowned USC architecture professor Ralph Knowles developed a method for planning and designing cities that would dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels, while retaining the qualities that people find most attractive […]
Brentwood-Based Program Needs Help Delivering Meals During the Holidays Meals on Wheels West Los Angeles is urgently seeking additional volunteers to...
Read moreYIMBY Law Challenges Governor’s Order Allowing Cities to Restrict SB 9 Housing in High Fire Hazard Zones The housing advocacy...
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