SMwire

Santa Monica is covered by three newspapers, other Westside papers and by regional and national media. Too many places to look to find out what's happening. Until now! SMwire collects coverage and brings it to one spot. Register to create your own free blog and speak out about Santa Monica news/politics/events/whathaveyou.... Click on this link.

A friend forwarded me a link to his new blog taking on overdevelopment and traffic in Santa Monica. It's worth taking a look at as it has been covering the nitty-gritty of the fight over Prop T - the anti-traffic, slow growth initiative in Santa Monica.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers around the country are pouring into Santa Monica to defeat Prop T. Why? Because developers want no limits on how much they can build here. Their dishonest campaign says the city needs the revenue from out-of-control development.(Interestingly, they never mention the COST of over-development-- the costs to residents of sitting in traffic, the health costs of tailpipe emissions, the costs to our quality of life.) And, in spite of developers saying how much the city needs the revenue, it has recently been revealed that the city has not even been collecting developer fees in the tens of millions of dollars that we're entitled to! Sound unbelievable?

Craig Jones' development company, JSM Capital, is bringing the joy to other parts of LA as well. Jones, who has proposed and completed developments of some 2,000 units in Santa Monica, was the sole bidder for the West Los Angeles U.S. Army Reserve Center.

One of the company’s proposals calls for building 500 residential units with 1,000 parking spaces and 300 hotel units with 500 parking spaces.

And the development probably won't create any traffic impacts there, either....

Enough already with these overgrown trees. They are going to keep growing and growing. What is it going to be like in 10 years? Cut 'em down and move on, folks!

Demonstrators Rally to Save Downtown Trees - Demonstrators Rally to Save Downtown Trees [Santa Monica Lookout]

"Where Green Dollars Fund the Green Movement"

You are Cordially Invited to Attend The Eco Investment Club's

Distinguished Lecture & Networking "GreenMeet"

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

Steve Glenn’s LEED Platinum LivingHome

LEED Platinum Living Home

2914 Highland Avenue | Santa Monica, CA 90405

5pm - 7pm

The Eco Investment club is designed to foster Education, Networking, and Investment Opportunities that support today’s Green Industry. We promote Eco-Friendly Real Estate Opportunities, Exceptional Green Start-Ups, and Sustainable Investment Strategies. If you’re interested in investing in Green projects and companies, or learning more about how to capitalize in this growing “Green Market”, then this is the club for you!

Bill Rosendahl posts in his blog about the recent edition the Pico and Bundy intersection:

Last week I got together with LAPD officers and DOT staff to unveil a new red light camera system at the corner of Pico Blvd and Bundy Dr. This intersection had the highest number of accidents of any intersection in the 11th District, so it is the first to have the camera system installed. This intersection also recently had a left turn signal installed as part of my Westside Anti-Gridlock Plan. These are crucial investments in public safety that will make our streets safer for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians, and keep people moving on the Westside.

An elderly man was found floating face-down in the ocean at the end of the Santa Monica Pier, and an effort to resuscitate him was unsuccessful, police said.

Police and Harbor Guards were called to the pier on Tuesday about 9:40 p.m. on a report of someone in the water.

There did not appear to be any signs of foul play in the death of the man, who appeared to be in his 80s, Santa Monica police Lt. Alex Padilla said.

The man was not identified, pending notification of next-of-kin.

I've always thought the City of Santa Monica's decision to remove our one-way streets from downtown was a mistake, now there's a proposal to make downtown streets from Santa Monica to downtown LA....

From the LA Times....

There are a lot of ideas for fixing traffic in L.A., but almost all would cost a fortune.

Subway to the sea: $5 billion. Extending the Expo Line: $800 million. Widening the 405: $1 billion.

Then there is an idea that would cost comparatively little and is generating growing buzz around City Hall and the Westside: turning Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

This is what happens when you have time to kill and search YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVco8t-R8KU

Have you ever tried just to swing from one hoop to another? I have and it's damn hard! There's actually an interesting sub-culture of warm and friendly people who frequent the rings and other equipment on the original Muscle Beach (Venice isn't the original site). Anyway, watch this if you've got time to kill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goIVolZ0oQ

Facing a deadline for public comment Monday, West Los Angeles homeowners have been working to reroute a light rail line slated to end in Santa Monica, where City officials have pumped $35 million in the hopes their beachside city will be the final stop.

Council members registered their strong disapproval last month for a route proposed by some Cheviot Hills residents at a packed meeting March 15 that would follow Venice Boulevard and skip Santa Monica altogether, despite years of planning and lobbying by City officials.

Of the three paths being considered by the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, the agency established to link a light rail line from Downtown Los Angeles to the beach by 2015, the other two would end in Santa Monica.

Full, somewhat confusing story here:

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved spending as much as $1 million to sample and DNA-test the water to find sources of beach water pollution. Regional water officials have threatened hefty fines if beaches around Santa Monica Bay do not meet clean-water standards.

Inspectors will collect samples from 27 locations within the watershed. The sampling will run for 10 weeks in the spring, starting this month, and for five weeks in the fall. Officials expect to conclude the study in the fall of 2008.

"It's my expectation that this study will answer some questions that this community has been asking for years: Where's this stuff coming from? And what can we do about it?" said Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents Malibu.

Slap some solar on it, use some recycled materials and clean your storm water and suddenly parking garages are on the cutting edge of environmentalism, or so you would think by reading the local press and listening to the babble out of city hall.

Folks, it's a goddam four story parking structure for cars. Sure it's more sustainable than your average parking structure, but that doesn't make it sustainable.

And doesn't anyone in this town care what things cost anymore? There is no public price-tag for the structure, but it is listed as part of a $180 million plan to add 1,700 odd new parking spaces downtown. Doesn't that come out to $95,000 per new parking spot?

From the Lookout: