Santa Monica
From humble beginnings, Santa Monica has turned into one of the Westside's most desirable addresses. Cooled by ocean breezes even on the Southland's most blistering summer days, Santa Monica's neat grid of streets gives way to winding canyons and precipitous coastal bluffs.
An incorporated city, Santa Monica has its own municipal services and schools and notable shopping along the Third Street Promenade, Main Street, and Montana Avenue. Small planes and executive jets take off and land at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, watched by diners at several delectable restaurants adjacent to the runway. The new Museum of Flying is slated to open on Airport land by 2008.
Santa Monica’s streets are lined with stately trees, including some of the tallest palms in the region, and renovations inspired by increasing property values have introduced an impressive variety of architectural styles to the city's enormous appeal.
Santa Monica is a cultural hub for much of the Westside. The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is the scene of year-round exhibitions. Summer concerts on the Pier draw enormous crowds, who also enjoy the twinkling lights of the Ferris wheel and the sedate grace of the beautifully restored merry-go-round. The Santa Monica Library is recently rebuilt to wide acclaim, and the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum will soon relocate to the adjacent property. In addition to the California Heritage Museum and the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the city boast some 50 art galleries, more than half of them at Bergamot Station, a re-imagined industrial site now an art center in the heart of the city.
http://pen.ci.santa-monica.ca.us. |
