Santa Monica

Santa Monica is a seaside community located on the Westside of Los Angeles County. It is renowned with visitors for its vast beach and world-famous pier, which are among the most popular coastal attractions in Southern California. Within the city, travelers will discover a variety of urban retail areas, as well as an abundance of restaurants and nightlife.

UNDERSTAND

At the start of the twentieth century, Santa Monica was established as a coastal getaway. On weekends, the railroad proprietors erected the original iteration of the amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier as a way to fill empty train seats. Santa Monica developed into an urban, varied, and affluent seaside community with some of the world’s most expensive real estate. Santa Monica is a very attractive city, attracting residents due to its accessibility and progressive nature as a community. Santa Monica is now a mix of very wealthy single-family communities, renters attracted by the great quality of life, lifelong surfers, young professionals, and students.

Tourists visiting the Los Angeles area will discover Santa Monica to be one of the most conveniently located cities. There are several hotel, restaurant, and entertainment choices in the area, as well as convenient access to major attractions such as Venice Beach, Malibu, and Beverly Hills. Visitors may also take advantage of the beach towns’ temperate environment; even when temperatures reach to 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and 90 degrees downtown throughout the summer and autumn, Santa Monica often maintains a fairly pleasant 75 degrees.

ATTRACTIONS AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

The Looff Hippodrome (carousel) in Santa Monica is a National Historic Landmark. It is located on the 1909 Santa Monica Pier. The La Monica Ballroom on the pier was formerly the biggest in the United States and was the site of several national network broadcasts on New Year’s Eve. For numerous decades, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was a significant music venue, hosting the Academy Awards in the 1960s. McCabe’s Guitar Shop continues to be a premier acoustic performance venue and shopping business. Bergamot Station is a city-owned complex of art galleries, including the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Additionally, the California Heritage Museum and the Angels Attic dollhouse and toy museum are located in the city.

Santa Monica has three major retail districts: Montana Avenue on the north side, the Downtown District in the heart of the city, and Main Street on the south side. Each of these areas has its own distinct character and vibe. Montana Avenue is a stretch of expensive boutique businesses, restaurants, and tiny offices. Main Street is home to a diverse mix of apparel stores, eateries, and specialized retailers.

The Downtown Center is home to the Third Street Promenade, a significant outdoor pedestrian-only retail district that spans three blocks between Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway (not the same Broadway in downtown and south Los Angeles). Third Street is blocked to traffic for three blocks to allow for strolling, congregating, shopping, and enjoying street entertainers. Santa Monica Place is situated at the south end of the Promenade and has Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom in a three-level outdoor area. The mall reopened in the autumn of 2010 after a period of renovation as a contemporary retail, entertainment, and eating complex with increased outdoor area.

The Santa Monica Film Festival is held annually in Santa Monica.

The Majestic is the city’s oldest movie theater. The theater, also known as the Mayfair Theatre, opened in 1912 and has been shuttered since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Built in the 1930s, the Aero Theater (currently run by the American Cinematheque) and Criterion Theater continue to screen films. On the Santa Monica Promenade alone, there are over a dozen movie theaters.

Palisades Park spans along the crumbling cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and is a popular spot for ocean views. A totem pole, a camera obscura, artwork, chairs, picnic spots, pétanque courts, and bathrooms are all included.

Tongva Park is a 6-acre park located immediately south of Colorado Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Main Street. There is an overlook, an amphitheater, a playground, a garden, fountains, picnic spaces, and bathrooms located in the park.

The Santa Monica Stairs, a long, steep stairway that descends into Santa Monica Canyon from north of San Vicente, is a favorite location for all-natural outdoor exercises. Some locals have complained that the stairs have become too popular, attracting an excessive number of exercisers to the affluent neighborhood filled with multimillion-dollar homes.

Since 1972, both locals and visitors have benefited from the Santa Monica Rugby Club. Since its inception, the club has been very successful, most recently winning back-to-back national championships in 2005 and 2006. On June 4, 2006, in San Diego, Santa Monica beat the Boston Irish Wolfhounds 57-19 in the Division 1 final, handily capturing their second straight American championship. They have robust men’s, women’s, and children’s programs. The club just recently become a member of the Rugby Super League.

The Taste of Santa Monica is an autumn event hosted by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce on the Santa Monica Pier. Visitors may sample cuisine and beverages from local establishments in Santa Monica. The Business and Consumer Expo, the Sustainable Quality Awards, the Santa Monica Cares Health and Wellness Festival, and the State of the City are other yearly events. The opulent Shutters on the Beach Hotel provides a trip to the renowned Santa Monica Farmers Market to pick and influence the ingredients for that evening’s special “Market Dinner.”

Santa Monica is a skateboarding hotspot.

Saint John’s Health Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center are the two hospitals in Santa Monica. Woodlawn Memorial is its cemetery.

Santa Monica is home to a number of newspapers and periodicals, including the Santa Monica Star, Santa Monica Daily Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica Observer, Santa Monica Magazine, and Santa Monica Sun.

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTERS

Santa Monica features three Visitor Information Centers, each with an expert Travel Counselor, a foreign language line, discounted admission to local activities, and free visitor information on attractions, hotels, food, museums, galleries, and entertainment.

Santa Monica’s climate is classified as a Subtropical Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), with an average of 310 days of sunlight per year. It is found in USDA zone 10b. Morning fog is a regular occurrence in May, June, and early July due to the city’s position on the broad and open Santa Monica Bay (caused by ocean temperature variations and currents). Residents, like the rest of the wider Los Angeles region, have their own name for this phenomenon: “May Gray” and “June Gloom.”

Although overcast skies are typical in June mornings, the strong sun generally burns away the fog by midday. Daily fog is also a feature in the late winter/early summer. It occurs abruptly and may linger many hours or far beyond sunset time. Nonetheless, it will sometimes remain gloomy and cold throughout the day in June, despite the fact that other sections of the Los Angeles region will enjoy sunny skies and milder temperatures. Occasionally, the sun will shine east of 20th Street while the beach area is clouded in. During summer days, the beach temperature is often 5–10 degrees Fahrenheit (3–6 degrees Celsius) colder than the temperature inland, and 5–10 degrees warmer during winter nights.

September is also the month with the greatest temperatures. Winter, on the other hand, is when the Santa Anas’ hot, dry winds are most prevalent. In comparison, temperatures that are more than ten degrees below the norm are uncommon.

Late October until late March is the rainy season. Winter storms often come from the northwest and sweep across the Southland fast. The remainder of the year sees relatively little rain. Annual rainfall totals are very variable, since wet years are often followed by droughts. No snow or frost has ever fallen, however there has been hail.

Santa Monica often benefits from mild seaside breezes that help keep the air fresh and clean. As a result, pollution is less of an issue in Santa Monica than it is elsewhere in Los Angeles. However, from September to November, the Santa Ana winds sometimes blow from the east, bringing smoggy and hot interior air to the beaches.

Santa Monica is built on a somewhat level hill that slopes down towards Ocean Avenue and the south. The north side of the city is separated from the beaches by high cliffs. Santa Monica is bounded on the north by Pacific Palisades and on the south by Venice. Santa Monica is bounded on the west by a three-mile stretch of beach fronting the Santa Monica Bay, and on the east by the Los Angeles municipalities of West Los Angeles and Brentwood.

Numerous significant firms have their headquarters in Santa Monica, including Hulu, Universal Music Group, Lionsgate Films, the RAND Corporation, Beachbody, and Macerich. The Santa Monica Airport is home to Supermarine (now Atlantic Aviation). KCRW, a member station of National Public Radio, is situated on the Santa Monica College campus.

Santa Monica is home to a number of game development firms, making it a significant location for the industry.

The headquarters of Fatburger are located in Santa Monica. TOMS Shoes is based in Santa Monica.

Douglas Aircraft (since merged with Boeing), MySpace (now located in Beverly Hills), and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were all former Santa Monica enterprises. GeoCities’ headquarters were located on the third level of 1918 Main Street in Santa Monica in December 1996.

Santa Monica has recently risen to prominence as the epicenter of the Los Angeles district known as Silicon Beach, which is home to hundreds of venture-capital-funded startup enterprises.