Santa Monica was founded in 1875 and incorporated in 1886. By 1900, more than 5,000 people had settled here. The mass migration began in the 1920’s, when the Donald Douglas military manufacturing company built four World-Cruisers that left Clover Field — now the site of the Santa Monica Airport — for the first successful flight around the world.
Airplanes are a mixed blessing in Sunset Park. In the 1940s, Douglas Aircraft brought 40,000 factory workers to labor at the Clover Field facility. Property development boomed. Today, homes in Sunset Park currently start in the low $700,000s, making it one of Santa Monica’s more affordable family neighborhoods.
“I like walking the tree-lined streets in the morning with my wife, evening fog carrying the sound of kids voices from Marine Park, fresh fruits and vegetables within walking distance, the meat at Bob’s Market, small neighborhood businesses, the fact that I know the neighbors on both sides of the street well enough to borrow their truck for an hour, or use that 20’ ladder, or ask them to help me carry in a new couch,” notes resident John Reynolds. “I like having a golf course nearby with all that open space. I like the matter-of-fact, understated sense of pride I hear in people’s voices when they say, they live in Sunset Park.
In 2003, Sunset Park had 2,708 single-family houses, 739 condominiums and 699 apartment units. Most of the homes are traditional, one-story houses built in the mid-20th century. The view streets — Hill, Sunset, Ashland and Bryn Mawr — feature fancier homes at higher prices, in excess of $1.3 million.
An L.A. Times report stated that Sunset Park schools such as Will Rogers and Grant elementary schools boasted 2002 Academic Performance Index scores of 759 and 808, respectively, out of 1,000. Adams Middle School scored 739 and Santa Monica High 705. The district also offers a Spanish-immersion school and an alternative school. Santa Monica College, a two-year community college, enrolls 31,000 students.
The area boasts a non-profit neighborhood association known as Friends of Sunset Park. The goal of FOSP is to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood — improve safety, reduce air pollution and noise, ease traffic and support the schools and library.
The biggest issue with Sunset Park is the reason the area first developed — the airport. Santa Monica Airport is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the nation. Neighborhood representatives are advocating strict aircraft noise enforcement and weight-based landing fees. Commissioner Ofer Grossman is pushing for bi-monthly Air Quality Management District tests to better address aircraft emissions.
Another airplane issue is a proposed Federal Aviation Administration policy allowing larger jets to use the airport. Current weight restrictions on planes at Santa Monica Airport allow roughly 65,000 pounds at landing and 73,000 at take-off (the additional weight is for fuel). Today, the maximum wingspan is 78 feet. New plans allow for planes in excess of 100,000 pounds and a wingspan of 95 feet. Boeing makes a 737 that could land at Santa Monica Airport using these criteria.
Airport manager Bob Trimborn called the plan “unrealistic.”
“As a resident in close proximity to a general aviation airport, I am appalled at the FAA-proposed policy regarding the weight restrictions,” declared activist Martin Rubin, the voice behind www.jetairpollution.com.
“Safety should always be the FAA’s primary policy. Forcing general aviation airports to accept aircrafts heavier than the capacity of the runway and airport design defies all logic. Not only does this jeopardize the physical aspects of the airport, it endangers the lives of the aircraft occupants and all the residents in the flight.”
“The planes were here long before I was, so I just accept it,” concluded Gabrielle, who lives near SMC. “There are so many things to like about Sunset Park. It has none of the pretense of the area around Montana Avenue, and we don’t get the tourists that flock to the promenade.
“Sunset Park is a neighborhood. When we go to Bob’s Market, my kids almost always find someone they know.” (For your real estate needs, , or call (310) 309-4219).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 2, 2004. Read the original PDF.