This post, by Frank Gruber and Juan Matute, first appeared on The Healthy City Local. The City of Santa Monica is experiencing a financial crisis unprecedented in living memory. If left as is, planned expenditures are likely to exceed revenues…
The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus has proposed new on-demand service to replace fixed-routes with very low ridership. Big Blue Bus isn’t the first transit agency in California to make this switch, but it would be one of the largest…
Santa Monica’s unique combination of weather, terrain, existing bicycle infrastructure, and affluent population provide the foundation necessary to test and demonstrate the viability of new mobility services like e-scooters, e-bikes, and other zero emissions options that allow people to get…
A popular segment of the new Exposition Bike path will close for three months for maintenance. [update 8/16: exploratory work currently underway will determine whether the closure is 3 months or 6 weeks]. This long-term temporary closure provides an opportunity for…
The purpose of plans is to help communities confront and prepare for their future. On preparing for a future with climate change, the downtown plan is an utter failure. Instead of focusing on the most salient environmental threat humanity has…
When does the city-wide voter approval requirement in Santa Monica’s Measure LV apply to an existing building? I’ve heard people say that LV would apply for everything from repair after an earthquake to replacing a toilet. First of all, it’s…
Throughout the world, residents demand services and cities need revenues to provide those services. Though it’s 78th in the state by population, Santa Monica provides a higher level of city services than most cities in California, from a low-cost fitness…
The reality of living in Southern California is that individuals, organizations, and the government always need to be prepared for earthquakes. But this November, Santa Monicans will be asked to vote on Measure LV, an extreme measure that would hinder…
(UPDATE, September 8, 8:30 A.M. – Last night the City Planning Commission approved the permit for the location with some small changes including increasing the number of children allowed onsite. The proposal must now go before the Architectural Review Board…
Proponents of no-growth measures like Measure LV, or the Land Use Voter Empowerment (L.U.V.E.) as its backers have dubbed it, in Santa Monica often seek to expand political support by framing their measure as a necessary response to trends of…
Expo Phase 2 has entered into one of the last stages of testing before it opens later this year, which means it is only a matter of months before it starts transporting passengers between Downtown L.A. and Downtown Santa Monica.…
2015 is an exciting time for transportation innovation in Los Angeles. We have a rapidly-expanding frequent transit and bicycle network. Technological innovation has already brought us reliable point-to-point mobility for passengers, real-time transit arrival and traffic incident information, and even…
Last night the City Council named Santa Monica Next Advisory Board Member Carter Rubin to the City’s Housing Commission. The Housing Commission advises the City Council and Housing Authority on issues related to the production of housing at all affordability…
Consider this: 51% of Santa Monicans who are 18 or older who are also under 45. When you read the newspaper coverage of a local issue or listen or watch a hearing in City Hall, how many of those present…
Last night at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, the Society of Professional Journalists honored Streetsblog Los Angeles’ founding editor, and the Southern California Streets Initiatives’ Executive Director Damien Newton for “Distinguished Work in New Media.” Less than four…
