Santa Monica neighborhoods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The western and northwestern border of Santa Monica, California is the 3-mile limit in Santa Monica Bay and bordered by various districts of Los Angeles on its other sides: the eastern border is Brentwood north of Wilshire Boulevard and West Los Angeles south of Wilshire, the northeastern border is Sunset Boulevard, the southwestern border is Venice Beach and the southern border is with West Los Angeles and Mar Vista.
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[edit] Santa Monica Canyon
At Santa Monica's northwestern end by the Pacific Ocean is Santa Monica Canyon, a small stretch of pricy real estate in a wooded canyon neighborhood. It is adjacent to the Pacific Palisades and Sunset Boulevard. It is home to several movie stars, and has a considerably more rustic feel than the rest of Santa Monica. The border between Santa Monica and the Palisades is Chautauqua Blvd.
[edit] North of San Vicente
San Vicente Boulevard is the northernmost major street in Santa Monica. Homes north of San Vicente Blvd are among the most expensive in Los Angeles County and often contain views of the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Monica Stairs, a popular set of stairs that lead toward the beach, but are most often utilized for intense workouts, are located on Adelaide Drive north of San Vicente. Streets north of San Vicente are usually short and contain large gated homes. This is part of the 90402 zip code.
[edit] North of Montana
South of San Vicente and north of Montana Avenue consist of small homes and larger family lots. The streets in this portion of Santa Monica are Georgina, Marguerita, Alta, Caryle, and Brentwood Terrace from 4th to 26th Street. Along with houses north of San Vicente, this area constitutes the 90402 zip code along with North of San Vicente. Houses are extremely expensive here, and streets are filled with greenery. During Halloween, the streets here are famous for their prevalence of trick or treaters.
[edit] Montana Avenue
Montana Avenue is home to two elementary schools, several condos, and dozens of upscale stores. There are two [[Starbucks] (soon to be three)], one Coffee Bean, and one Seattle's Best Coffee among several independently owned cafes and coffee shops. The businesses run from glamorous boutigues to neighborhood pharmacies and Blockbusters. Pricey condos can be found scattered throughout Montana Ave.
[edit] South of Montana
South of Montana Avenue are many small homes and condos on Idaho Ave, Washington Ave, and California Ave. Lincoln Middle School is on 14th Street and California Ave. Real estate is slightly less expensive than north of Montana. Nonetheless, this is still an upscale neighborhood.
[edit] Ocean Avenue
Ocean Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Santa Monica that runs along the Palisades Park, with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The northern part of Ocean Ave is relatively untouched and residential. Real estate is extremely expensive here, as all condos have a full view of the beach and Pacific Ocean. South of California Ave are several hotels, restaurants, businesses, and homeless. The Santa Monica Pier is located on Ocean Ave and Colorado Ave. Ocean Ave ends at Pico Blvd where it becomes Neilson Way, a throughfare that leads to Venice Beach.
[edit] Downtown Santa Monica
Downtown Santa Monica is located south of California Ave. The streets that make up downtown Santa Monica are Wilshire Boulevard, Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica Boulevard, Broadway, and Colorado Avenue from 2nd street to 14th street. The Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place are located in the heart of downtown. Many restaurants, tourist sites, and hotels are in downtown Santa Monica. In particular, Santa Monica Blvd has an abundance of car dealerships.
[edit] Pico District
The Pico District is a heavily Latino lower income section of Santa Monica. Before the 1960s, the neighborhood was much larger and was an important African-American enclave on the Westside, but when the Santa Monica Freeway opened in the 1960s, it destroyed much of the neighborhood and relocated many of its residents. Its boundaries are Lincoln Blvd to the west, Centinela Ave to the east, Colorado Ave to the north and Pico Blvd to the south. The Santa Monica Freeway is located at Lincoln Boulevard and Olympic Blvd. Around Pico Boulevard, is a poorer and heavily Latino section of Santa Monica. Santa Monica High School and Santa Monica College are both on Pico. Pico Blvd in Santa Monica has traffic lights at nearly every block, as well as more local and middle class businesses. This is the least expensive area of Santa Monica in terms of real estate, and the most ethnically diverse, but is rapidly becoming gentrified. Nonetheless, there are gang activities, such as the recent shooting of a Santa Monica High student on Pico and 26th, and a series of violent incidents in Virginia Avenue Park. The City of Santa Monica has long been accused of ignoring the Pico District, particularly when it comes to issues regarding crime and gang activity.
[edit] Ocean Park
Located in the southwest corner of Santa Monica is the Ocean Park neighborhood. This neighborhood has a mix of older smaller homes and apartment buildings and condos. Several housing towers are located along the beach. The area has a funky, artsy feel similar in manner to its neighbor Venice Beach. Many Santa Monica residents come to shop/browse on Main Street, home of many boutiques and restaurants. Main Street also hosts a weekly farmer's market on Sundays. SMASH (an alternative school) and John Muir elementary schools are located in the neighborhood. Olympic High, an alternative high school is also located in the area.
[edit] Sunset Park
Sunset Park is a residential neighborhood located between Pico Boulevard and the southern city limits and Lincoln Boulevard and eastern city limits. It is comprised primarily of single family housing. Most of the homes are small one-story houses built in the 1940's for workers at the Douglas Aircraft Factory. Remodeled or rebuilt homes are upscale.
Sunset Park is part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Will Rogers and Grant elementary schools and John Adams Middle School are located in the neighborhood. Santa Monica College, a two year community college is also located in Sunset Park.
Santa Monica Airport, one of the busiest single runway airports in the nation is located along the southern borders of the neighborhood.
[edit] Thoroughfares
Major east/west thoroughfares in Santa Monica are San Vicente Boulevard, Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Colorado Avenue, Olympic Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, and Ocean Park Boulevard. All of these streets are four lanes in width. Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd contain the most traffic. It is fairly easy to travel east/west in Santa Monica.
Traveling north/south in Santa Monica is considerably slower and more difficult. Most north/south streets in Santa Monica end relatively quickly or fail to yield traffic lights at intersections, making travel difficult during rush hour. The major streets are Ocean Avenue which stretches to Pico Blvd and Lincoln Boulevard which goes to Los Angeles International Airport. These two streets are four lanes and considered major thoroughfares. In particular, Lincoln Blvd becomes congested since it is the main route that leads to the Santa Monica Freeway, Venice, Marina del Rey, and the Los Angeles International Airport. A number of smaller residential streets allow north/south travel through Santa Monica. These streets are: 7th Street from Olympic Blvd to the Pacific Coast Highway, 11th Street from San Vicente Blvd to Marine Street on the border of Venice, 14th Street and 20th Street from San Vicente Blvd to Ocean Park Blvd, and 26th Street from San Vicente Blvd to Olympic Blvd, where most traffic diverts to Cloverfield Blvd. 17th Street runs from San Vicente Blvd to the entrance of Santa Monica College on Pico Blvd. All of these streets are only two lanes (with the exception of a brief portion of 20th Street). However, all of these streets encounter traffic lights at all intersections, making travel plausible. One alternate route to reach the Santa Monica Freeway going eastbound is to take Cloverfield Blvd, a short four lane street that begins off Santa Monica Boulevard and ends shortly after the freeway entrance. To go westbound, the alternate route is 20th Street.
