I’m going to admit it. As a former political operative turned activist turned journalist, I have a pretty high threshold for what I consider unfair or dirty campaigning. That being said, I’ve been unpleasantly surprised by the tricks, vitriol and…
Zoe Muntaner arrived in Santa Monica in 1997, over the past couple of decades she has lived in Brooklyn, Puerto Rico, Dubai and basically all over the world. Coming from a family with a political background in Puerto Rico, Muntaner…
In an election season that has been dominated by discussion of development, traffic, and the relationship between the two, precious little time has been spent on the deadly cost of car-culture measured in the loss of human lives. In fact,…
Here at Streetsblog, we believe that cities of all sizes are great places to raise kids. We’ve also noticed that in recent years more and more of our local Streetsblog community are raising children. So instead of another happy hour…
You’re going to hear a lot of arguments for and against ballot Measures D and LC in the coming weeks. Santa Monica Next urges you to vote Yes on Measure LC, No on Measure D this election. The campaign for Measure D,…
While it may be missing much of the fanfare of previous years in Southern California, Park(ing) Day is still one of the happiest days on the Livable Streets Calendar. Across the world, people will gather in car parking spaces, feed…
(Update: This article has been updated because I mis-understood an email. – DN) Next Friday is Park(ing) Day, the international day of protest for open space and celebration of creativity. Every year, people from around the world set up small…
(Note: Streetsblog Los Angeles and Santa Monica Next are partnering with Los Angeles Walks and Place It! on a grant proposal to the #la2050 campaign. To earn the grant we either need to win a popular vote or be selected…
One year ago today, the Southern California Streets Initiative launched Santa Monica Next. Our only staff writer was Gary Kavanagh, although myself, Juan Matute, and Frank Gruber would pitch in from time to time. We never imagined we would have…
On September 22, Streetsblog Los Angeles and Santa Monica Next will host a public forum for the candidates for City Council of the City of Santa Monica. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Monica public library, 601 Santa Monica…
“Vision Zero.” It’s become a buzz-term for safe streets recently. The internationally effective transportation management plan has made streets safer across Europe. With New York City and San Francisco adopting the strategy, is it time for Los Angeles to follow suit?…
Assemblymember Richard Bloom sat down with Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry last week for an interview about budgeting and the state’s cap-and-trade funding schemes. As is often the case with Bloom, the discussion strayed into local issues, and Santa Monica Next picks…
While debates over a proposed major development and the bungled hiring and firing of a public relations director rage on, the City Council also quietly made a step towards becoming a more progressive city. The Council voted unanimously, and with…
Earlier today, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Organization front group “Santa Monicans for Open and Honest Development Decisions” submitted 15,000 signatures to place an initiative on the fall ballot that would make any efforts to make major management decisions or…
The primary election is over and the results are in. Republican Elan Carr finished with 21.5 percent of the vote in the race to replace Henry Waxman as Congressional District 33’s representative. In November, he’ll face State Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance),…
