> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Consultants tell officials what’s right and wrong with downtown Santa Monica - URL: https://www.smdp.com/consultants-tell-officials-whats-right-and-wrong-with-downtown-santa-monica/ - Published: 2002-10-15T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:47:36.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: local, Downtown, #archive-import *Santa Monica downtown redesign on the horizon* The city’s downtown district is in a state of disconnect, a consultant said Monday. Fred Kent, president of Project for Public Spaces, a New York City-based consulting firm, has released preliminary findings of a study to the Third Street Promenade Uses Task Force that indicate downtown Santa Monica needs a transformation. The city hired the firm for $54,000 to assess the downtown’s “public spaces.” What the consultants found was many of the downtown’s spaces don’t work, including the Promenade’s center court between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. It’s dominated by transients, who use the public benches to sit on all day long, the consultants reported. Kent suggested that could be changed with a new urban design. “It’s very easy to sit on the two sides and in the middle because the traffic does-n’t flow through there,” said Mayor Mike Feinstein. But the consultant suggested if the area was changed to stadium seating that faced east and west, it would open the courtyard for everyone to use. Kent also said the Promenade doesn’t maximize its outdoor ambiance enough, which could be done with more outdoor restaurant seating. He suggested that the dinosaurs on the outdoor mall be removed and more seating be put in. What’s more, Santa Monica Place Mall needs serious help, consultants say. “There’s a real need to look at how the mall is designed and even how it’s managed,” Kent said from his office in New York City on Monday. He was in town last week to present recommendations to the Promenade Uses Task Force. “Santa Monica Place needs to be redone... All around it, the access points just look awful,” he said. “If you want to grow your town, you have to access south, north, east and west. “And the parallel streets (to the Promenade) are really traffic streets. How do you turn it into a neighborhood?,” he added. That will be the question for the task force, and ultimately the entire community to answer in upcoming months. While the task force was created earli-er this year to figure out what’s the proper mix of retail and restaurant space on the Promenade, it has taken a much broader view of the downtown area. “They are taking one giant step backwards and trying to look at the whole district and many different aspects,” said Kathleen Rawson, executive director of Bayside District Corp. The city of Santa Monica and Bayside manage the downtown district, which is bounded by the Santa Monica Freeway to north of Wilshire Boulevard, from Ocean Avenue to Seventh Street. “They (the consultants) are looking at the problems the district has with a fresh perspective,” Rawson said. But the real goal is to consider the future of the downtown district — its changing demographics, the types of storefronts and how it all relates to each other. “It’s a means to trigger thinking and a generation of ideas,” said Mark Richter, the city’s economic development manager. “They are looking at what our weaknesses are, what our strengths are and what to do to keep us sustainable.” While Kent believes the Promenade is a vital street, it doesn’t invite people in and the surrounding streets aren’t maximized to their fullest potential. Kent said the key to making a public space thrive is having of all of its elements look and feel connected. Santa Monica’s downtown lacks any useful connection between Palisades Park and the Promenade, he added. The street corners are dominated by retail stores and don’t attract pedestrian traffic, Kent said. Task force members already have played the “place game,” where they stand in 20 different places downtown and observe what is going on at each location. The public will be asked to play the same game in November when a public meeting is held on the potential redesign of downtown. “It gives us all clues about how a place works,” Kent said. “This is really about how each space works.” Other clues about what people think of the Promenade was revealed by on-the-spot interviews recently conducted of 50 people on the mall. More than half of them said what bothered them most about the area was its high number of transients roaming around. They also commented that the alleys are dirty and smell. Although it’s not scientific, it provides a “flavor of what people are thinking about in the downtown,” Rawson said. Task force members also were shown a photo montage of other cities around the world that are pedestrian orientated to illustrate how Santa Monica measures up. All of this information will be used so the task force can make a recommendation to city officials in the next three months regarding changes to the Promenade and its surrounding areas, Richter said. “It’s about what makes a public space good and what makes it not so good,” he said. > “It’s about what makes a public space good and what makes it not so good.” — — MARK RICHTER Manager of economic development ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/101502-01_01.jpg) /Andrew H. (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 15, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101502.pdf?ref=smdp.com)