SANTA MONICA IS A HOTBED OF ACTIVISTS. People here like to rant and rave about nuclear weapons, the homeless, President Bush and anything having to do with the City Council. One of the things that people do not realize about being a Councilmember is that they are the most important player in the real estate game.
Ask any developer who their greatest competition is, and they are likely to respond it is the City Council, for they hold the keys to the kingdom of development.
Projects can be delayed in this city to the point where they are not financially viable, so the land goes unused.
Some projects get delayed for years. I know the council will say it was the Architectural Review Boards fault, and the ARB will blame Planning, and Planning will blame Building and Safety, and they will all say they take orders from the council.
We need an Architectural Review Board (ARB) that is thinking of ways to accomplish the twin goals of allowing development and maintaining the character of the city.
Planning should be considering how to best accommodate the increase in population. The City Council should be facing the reality that Santa Monica, like all other beach communities, is going to be developed. One look up and down the coast at any large city, and anyone can see that the way of the future is bigger and denser.
It is nothing but the history of mankind and development. Any “Old World” city holds a picture of the future of Santa Monica. Just look at London, Rome, Cannes and you can see that we are going to be like Redondo, Manhattan, and Hermosa beaches. These are all gorgeous beach communities that have grown up. Yes they are crowded, yes they are stupidly expensive, but the reality is, if someone is willing to pay for it, it is not overpriced.
The city on the one hand wants to limit development to maintain the unique character of Santa Monica neighborhoods, and on the other it wants to allow as much development as possible so that the local economy continues to grow, and the population increases.
As a homeowner in a rapidly developing neighborhood, it would be my wish that there would be single family homes, and fewer condominiums. Right around the corner from me is a major condo development. The people who will be moving into these 2,000 square foot condos will be upper middle class. It’s the only way they could afford to buy what will in all likelihood be million dollar condos. That’s good news for me as a property owner in terms of my land value. It’s not so good news in terms of a homeowner who lives in the neighborhood and walks his dog and greets his neighbors.
Condominiums do not create a sense of community. They create land value, and traffic. They are big developments that people live in behind their gates and access codes. They are warehouses for people. I realize that they are necessary as we increase our population. As we have more and more people here, we need to have them living in appropriate conditions.
However, I hate the fact that of the five families that live in the condo complex on my block the only person I know who lives there is the developer. The reason I know him is because he is always walking down the street to his next big development. I have never met any of the other residents. Frankly, I don’t expect I ever will. They speed down my street, park in their underground parking and go up their stairs or elevator and don’t partake of the neighborhood.
That’s the social cost of condominiums. Just another reason I don’t like them. It’s one more aspect that the city government, all departments, should take a look at when considering what they are going to allow in a given neighborhood.
I say this knowing that my property will one day be a condominium complex. Whether I develop it, or the next guy, it’s just destiny. Our little neighborhood in this city by the bay is destined to nothing but a rabbit warren of people warehouses. The ambiance of my street will one day give way to row upon row of boxes for people.
It is sad, but it is the future.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 15, 2008. Read the original PDF.