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# Even Christmas is politically correct in the city
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/even-christmas-is-politically-correct-in-the-city/
- Published: 2002-12-13T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:05:44.000Z
- Author: Bill Bauer
- Tags: Opinion, Main St, #archive-import

The holiday season is always a time of contrasts. There’s the good, the bad and, sometimes, the downright ugly.

I went to the Main Street Merchant’s Second Annual Get Festive! holiday event last Sunday. This is about as close to a traditional community Christmas event as Santa Monica is capable of. There was a cornucopia of free entertainment, activities and other events.

I listened to some great jazz courtesy of Joe Gaeta and Friends and the Shea Welsh Group. Christmas shoppers, families and those out for a Sunday stroll filled the sidewalks. Everyone was friendly and brimming with the spirit of the holidays. Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Baykeeper, the Coalition for Clean Air, Tree People, Santa Monica Public Works (Sustainable City) and our own police department gave away information as well as little stocking stuffers.

I thought the Main Street merchants and all those who gave of their time and talents did a terrific job.

As always, there is a negative side. In this case, as with many of the city’s events, parking was a problem. With activities that draw large numbers of people such as Get Festive!, there is just not enough public parking. Even on the surrounding streets, two-hour parking zones impose a time limit on having fun, staying longer and spending more. But, on the other hand, the ever present vagrants and panhandlers seemed to have taken the day off.

Then there is the Third Street Promenade. In my opinion, this year’s holiday decorations seem more to be designed for political correctness than holiday spirit. Over the years, there has been much criticism of the city’s holiday decorations.

For example, a few years ago, a series of abstract banners with an “Oceania” theme were the butt of many jokes about how overly politically correct Santa Monica had become. Here in Santa Monica, we’re proud of our own holiday tradition: non-holiday holiday decorations. This year is no exception.

Now, we have plastic icebergs that look like they were left over from the 1968 movie “Ice Station Zebra.” The only thing missing is the submarine. Maybe it doesn’t make any difference. People are either going to shop downtown or they’re going out of town to The Grove, the new Galleria in Century City, Westside Pavilion or elsewhere.

I was on the Third Street Promenade a couple of Fridays ago. I thought the decorations were clever, but not at all Christmasy. I wondered what the Bayside District Corp. (who is responsible for promoting the Third Street Promenade and the adjacent downtown shopping district) and the city have against stars, candles, bells, trees, garlands of pine, ribbon bows, ornaments, oversized presents, toys and Santa Claus — the traditional symbols of Christmas?

I was in New York City over the holidays last year and was literally dazzled by the mostly traditional public and private holiday displays throughout Manhattan. There’s no overt political correctness there, and the viewing experience is much more enjoyable because of it. Maybe that’s why New York is such a magical place to spend the holidays.

Despite the $450,000 worth of Third Street holiday decor, all it took was one 21-year-old punk hanging out near center court to mutter he needed to get high as I walked by to wreck my experience. I knew that I, and anyone else who encountered this lowlife, would probably not be back here this holiday season.

There’s something else about Manhattan, and that’s public safety. The NYPD has beat cops on every block in midtown Manhattan. The Times Square Business Improvement District has its own security force. Add transit police and private security, and the shopping and sight-seeing not only feels safe but is also hassle free. Foul-mouthed vagrants and panhandlers are told to move along and they do.

While it might take years to straighten out downtown’s traffic and parking, beefing up security can be done overnight. One local politico suggested that it might have been better if Bayside had taken some of the money it spent on plastic icebergs and spent it on additional security.

Maybe next year.

Bill Bauer is a longtime resident of Santa Monica and a freelance writer.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 13, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121302.pdf?ref=smdp.com)