Third Street Promenade

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A picture take in the heart of the Promenade

Businesses on Third Street, between Utah and Oregon (now Santa Monica Blvd.), 1880.

The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian street in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is considered one of the premier shopping destinations in West Los Angeles and frequently draws crowds from all over Los Angeles County. Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean coupled with Los Angeles's mild climate, it has become a popular tourist destination. It is part of a larger redevelopment area in Downtown Santa Monica.

Third Street has been a center of business in Santa Monica since the town's inception in the late 1800s. The Promenade's roots date back to the 1960s when the Santa Monica Mall was developed and an outdoor shopping promenade similar to the one known today, though less upscale in nature. By the late 1970s, it was in serious decline. The area was gentrified in the late 1980s and early 1990s to become what it is today.

Third Street currently has the original Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouse and also boasts a Mann Theatres, AMC Theatres, and Loews Theatres, as well as a popular farmers' market.

Larger tenants include Anthropologie, French Connection UK, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, a three-story Gap, Armani Exchange, Apple, American Eagle Outfitters and Pottery Barn.

In 2003, an elderly man, George Russell Weller, lost control of his car and drove through a crowded farmer's market on the promenade, killing a number of people.

Street performers and entertainers are a frequent sight on the street. On a typical Saturday night in the summer, singer-songwriters, classical guitar players, magicians, clowns, hip-hop dancers, lounge singers, session drummers, and many harder-to-classify artists line up approximately 50 feet apart from each other all along Third Street.