More than a year before he won election as California’s next governor, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom did not hesitate for a moment when asked what’s California’s biggest problem. “Income inquality,” he said in an interview then. […]

Santa Monica has long been celebrated as an Arts Community where diversity and creativity are prized. The Arts at Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Airport Arts Studios and the 18th Street Arts Center are among […]

About a month from today, a new governor will sit in the state Capitol’s “horseshoe” suite and face some problems that not even the hyper-active and often contemptuous soon-to-be-ex-Gov. Jerry Brown could not solve. Those […]

Homelessness is a painful reality and needs to become a top priority along with the more practical issues of water and traffic. Is homelessness here to stay, is it growing, can it be controlled?  Should […]

Californians already know about the wildfire crisis that’s been afflicting this state for the last few years, highlighted by a rash of huge blazes and the evacuations of at least 250,000 persons. It’s caused by […]

It is too early to capture all the valuable lessons of the November 8 Woolsey Fire, but it has a depressing familiarity. Before full containment on November 21, that fire destroyed 1643 structures and damaged […]

As Thanksgiving approaches our thoughts turn to the blessings so many of us have enjoyed, and the needs that so many continue to have during this turbulent period. The recent disasters continue to remind us […]

When it comes to splitting California into two or more new states, silly season never seems to end. Since 1940, at least 27 efforts to alter this state’s boundaries or divide it into as many […]

The recent fires along California’s coast have been unusually destructive this year. Many lives were lost, along with many square miles of forest burned, as well as the houses in their midst. Are we going […]

SM.a.r.t. (Santa Monica Architect’s for a Responsible Tomorrow) is always scanning the virtual horizon for threats to our urban fabric. We try to align the City into a better position to withstand the inevitable forces […]