We trust you are enjoying this holiday in celebration of Independence. Independence to be embraced, personally and civically, thru active participation in your community. Maybe you came to the Main Street Ocean Park Parade and […]

Four years ago, our esteemed colleague Mario Fonda-Bonardi wrote the prescient essay below when much of the legislative development juggernaut was beginning to make itself felt in our city. Let’s take a look at the […]

Last week’s SMart article  (https://smmirror.com/2024/06/sm-a-r-t-column-the-up-zoning-scam-part-1/)  discussed the ambitious 8895 units (including 6168 affordable units) that Santa Monica is required to build by Sacramento within the 2021-2029 time period. Because of certain factors outside the City’s […]

Over the last few years, the State of California has mandated a massive upzoning of cities to create capacity for a mirage of 2.5 million new housing units over the next eight years (2021 to […]

Nine years ago, SMa.r.t wrote a series of articles addressing the adaptive re-use of existing structures. We titled one “Shape Up,” analogizing development with bodybuilding – physical fitness. Lots of life left in the old […]

Living in a city has its perks, but it can be a real headache when the folks running the show don’t seem to care about what matters to us. One of the biggest challenges is […]

[Note: our guest author today is Andres Drobny, a former Professor of Economics at the University of London, the former Chief Economist at Bankers Trust Company in London, and the founder of Drobny Global Advisors, […]

As referenced in Part I of this article, the state’s use of faulty statistics and forceful legislation has left a dilemma no city should face. That of either losing neighborhood livelihood and character or spending […]

To quickly summarize, California grapples with an ongoing housing crisis spurred by state implementation of over 100 policies and mandates aimed at increasing the supply of ‘affordable’ housing. While these efforts may seem beneficial at […]

Just as Lady Liberty beckons the “huddled masses” of immigrants to America, cities like Santa Monica have an ethical obligation to provide housing for their own “huddled masses” of lower-income residents. We are experiencing a […]