[SMa.r.t. note: Eight years ago, our highly esteemed and recently-passed colleague Ron Goldman documented his thoughts on the need for urban and architectural design in Santa Monica. We are revisiting his essay below (with minor […]

Nine years ago, I wrote a column for SMa.r.t. titled SANTA MONICA: BEACH TOWN OR ‘DINGBAT’ CITY? (https://smdp.com/2015/05/09/santa-monica-beach-town-dingbat-city/)Here is the first paragraph from that column.  “In the late 1950s, ’60s, and into the ’70s, there […]

Last week we discussed the numerous flaws of the Gelson’s project as a perfect example of what not to do in providing new housing in Santa Monica. Fueled by the artificially inflated “need” to build […]

On March 4, 2024, your ARB (Architectural Review Board) ruled in favor of the 521-unit Gelson’s Project at Ocean Park and Lincoln Blvd. This controversial project was fatally flawed from the beginning, and by the […]

By suggestion, I attended the March 4th ARB (Architectural Review Board) meeting that addressed the Gelson Lincoln Boulevard Project.  After the session, I came away with thoughts about the process that the state has initiated […]

Our beloved City is surrounded by many threats, from sea level rise to homelessness, to housing affordability, to cancerous overdevelopment, to  crime, to the four apocalyptic collapses: water supply, school population, municipal finances, and mobility […]

Our guest column this week is by SMCLC (the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City). SMCLC is a well-established group of concerned residents that have successfully been involved for many years in addressing and […]

Throughout history, from the ancient Romans and Assyrians to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, siege warfare has served as an effective weapon against municipalities resistant to conquest. Even with complete capitulation, conquered cities are subject […]

We are watching the sunset of our historical and cultural American dream of home ownership as we now are crossing over what was a welcome mat of opportunity to a lifetime of indentured tenancy for […]

“By Right” state housing laws that give developers, in certain projects, the ability to ignore codes ‘by right.’ Well, that is the lovable jargon developers have jumped in bed with at the State level to […]