Santa Monica
Streetsblog LA
Santa Monica Next Looks at the Development Plan for Expo’s SM Terminus
After 3 years in the works and dozens of public workshops and meetings before commissions and the council, the Bergamot Area Plan has finally passed Tuesday night (really Wednesday morning) with a 6-1 vote. The vote both approves the plan (which will take effect in October), and clarifying that the plan takes the place of existing zoning for the area.
September 13, 2013
SaMo’s Michigan Ave. Greenway Project Could Include Cycle Tracks, But Should It?
Last week, Santa Monica held two meetings for the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway proposal, following an earlier presentation to Santa Monica Spoke. I've now seen the latest developments on this project presented and discussed 3 separate times to different audiences.
September 3, 2013
Santa Monica: This Weekend Tour da Arts Vol. 5 & Spoke Meets To Talk Michigan Avenue Greenway
This Sunday is the 5th edition of the annual Tour da Arts (11am to 5pm at Bergamot Station), put on by the Santa Monica Museum of Art. If you are unfamiliar with the event, it is the premiere mass bike ride meets arts, music and dance event of the year in Santa Monica. If you are in Santa Monica, or near by, or looking for an excuse to come out this way, come out, seriously.
August 16, 2013
Making a Case to Phase Out “Beg Buttons” in Santa Monica’s Pedestrian Action Plan
(We're inching closer to the launch of Santa Monica Next. Read more about it here and here. Give us a Kick Start to help us get going, here. - DN)
August 9, 2013
Santa Monicas That Weren’t
(Want to see more coverage of Santa Monica? Contribute to our Kick Starter to support the launch of a unique Santa Monica news source, Santa Monica Next.)
August 2, 2013
Pedicabs Have Been Operating In Santa Monica, World Did Not End, & An EV Paid By Ads Starts Giving Out Free Rides With Marketing Pitches
It's now been more than a week since pedicabs started operating in Santa Monicaand I can confirm that the circles of hell have not come unleashed upon the fair city of Santa Monica. Traffic congestion in popular areas is often slow going, but that has always been the case. So we have Santa Monica, much the same as it has been, but plus some pedicabs now.
July 26, 2013
Failure of L.A. MTA Rapid Buses: Welcome to Rapid 704
The City of Angels is noticeably transforming. Our once car-centric town is becoming less car-dependent. Public transit is having a comeback. Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructures are improving.
July 25, 2013
How Flexible Parking Requirements Spur Economic Development: Lessons from Santa Monica
Editor's Note: Streetsblog Los Angeles founding board member Carter Rubin recently finished his Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree at UCLA. In the following article, he recaps the findings from his capstone “client project” for the Urban Design Studio at the L.A. Department of City Planning. His research adviser was the inimitable parking guru, UCLA Urban Planning Professor Donald Shoup. You can read the report in its entirety here.
July 23, 2013
Santa Monica: Beyond Regulating Traffic Flows & Safety With Repeated Stop Signs (Part 2 of 2)
In my first post discussing new stop signs to be installed on Broadway east of 26th St., I set up some of the context for why stop signs can be frustrating to bicyclists, how social conventions of both drivers and bicyclists can vary from person to person. The Santa Monica Daily Press has also picked up the topic, in a recent article which I am quoted along with several others on the proposed new stop signs. Something I also didn't touch on before and which I recall from reading Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic, is the fine line beyond a threshold where too many stop signs reduces compliance because of the tendency for some drivers to speed between stops to try and compensate for having to stop.
July 23, 2013