When Reality Meets the Housing Element
Affordability is the housing issue in Santa Monica (SM). Densification of the City is the primary objective of the draft 2021 – 2029 Housing Element, ostensibly to address an 8,895 RHNA unit target that is […]
Is Permanent Housing the Real Homeless Solution?
The ultimate goal of city and county agencies trying to solve California’s homeless problem is to get this transient populace into permanent housing. But it turns out many of the homeless don’t want the kind […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Community vs Commodity
The cost of housing in a capitalist society is primarily determined by who owns it. While housing can be bought, sold, or leased according to certain constraints, fees, and changing tax laws, the principal agency […]
Opinion: A Man, a Mural, and a Mess
By Will South A mural is being covered over inside the historic landmark Santa Monica City Hall building. This decision follows upon a 6–1 vote by city council members on April 11 in favor of […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Everyone Has a Plan……
In the summer of 2010 your City adopted its Land Use and Circulation element (LUCE). This legal document, a product of 6 years of public meetings, hearings, debates and revisions, was to govern the next […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Power to the People
Electrical power is now determining much of modern life from smartphones, to electric toothbrushes, to scooters to cars and beyond the usual lights and air-conditioning. Its generation distribution and consumption is no longer just a […]
How to Heal the Soil and Why
By Andy Lopez We all know how important the vital role the soil plays in your plants’ health, trees, and eventually the Earth’s health. We take for granted the soil that lies beneath our feet. […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Santa Monica Needs More Sunshine
You wouldn’t think so by looking outside, but Santa Monica is under ominous dark grey clouds on the horizon in which a storm is brewing, but this is not a weather forecast or about climate […]
SMa.r.t. Column: Politics as Usual
Friday, October 11, 2019, was a warm, pleasant day in the Bay Area town of Newark, California. Midday temps were in the mid-70s, but the folks working in the office of a local attorney were […]
Letter to Editor: State Housing Mandates and Santa Monica
Dear Editor, State housing mandates and Santa Monica: The state wants the city to build 6000 affordable housing units at the city’s cost. At $400,000 per unit (a typical cost for city construction) Total cost: […]
The first protest at René Redzepi’s Noma pop-up at the Paramour Estate (Video)
The protest was organized by Jason Ignacio White and One Fair Wage after the owner and chef of Noma, René...
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Film Review: Oscars Landscape 2026
My Oscar choices and predictions. The 98th Academy Awards, Sunday, March 15th at 4:00 PM, on ABC, and streaming on...
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