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# Jack Neworth: Rising rents in Ocean Park pushed the artists out
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/jack-neworth-send-comments-to-editor-smdp-com-laughing-matters-bohemians-bust-humps-to-stay-in-santa-monica/
- Published: 2007-07-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:23:08.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Ocean Park, #archive-import

WHEN I MOVED TO OCEAN PARK IN 1976 one-bedroom apartments at the Santa Monica Shores were $245 a month. (Today they’re $2,245!) The neighborhood was called “Dogtown,” and not because people loved pooches. Consequently, the Shores always had plenty of vacancies. To attract new renters, management even staged roasted-pig luaus at the pool and encouraged residents to invite friends. (Who, clearly, couldn’t be kosher.) Ocean Park was working-class, but there were many artists and hippies. It was similar to Venice, only not so stoned. I affectionately called it “Bohemian.” In 19th Century France, however, the word negatively described artists and writers who lounged in cafes and coffeehouses. I wonder what the French would have thought about all the Starbucks on Main Street?

Around 1980, property values skyrocketed and rents followed. “Dogtown” was becoming uptown. With beach cottages being replaced by condos, for landlords and contractors, it was boom town. For artists, the boom was being lowered. When Perry’s Pizza became Perry’s Café (complete with accent grave over the “e”), it was one more sign yuppies were replacing hippies.

With economic pressures closing in, the Bohemian class has had to be more creative. Take Danno, who earns his living in five different ways. Actually, Danno is a nickname for Dan. The only other Danno I recall was from TV’s “Hawaii Five-0.” Jack Lord was Det. Steve McGarrett and James MacArthur was Det. Danny Williams, aka “Danno.” At the end of every episode, McGarrett would bark, “Book ’em, Danno.”

I met Danno because of a column I was writing. Somewhere between the first and second draft, perhaps in the middle of the night, the computer Gods turned on me. All I know is in the morning, my computer was totally frozen. Re-booting, unplugging, and jumping up and down and pulling my hair out, didn’t seem to work. (Frankly, I can’t afford any more hair loss.) My files lost forever! I got on my hands and knees and prayed to a higher power, Dell.

I don’t understand computers, and yet, I’m totally dependent. Between my car or my computer breaking down, I’d choose the car every time. I can always take the bus. Just as I was starting to panic, my friend, Russ, (a handyman on weekdays, cashier at the Ocean View tennis courts on weekends) gave me Danno’s business card, “The Cyberguru,” computer repair. I hurriedly dialed Danno, but computer diagnosis over the phone isn’t easy. I felt like I was lost and trying to get directions in a foreign language. Danno, who’s anti-noise and air pollution, big oil and SUVs, is thankfully, pro “green.” Thankful because he said he’d bike right over.

Sure enough, within 15 minutes, Danno arrived. I paced as doctor Danno labored over the comatose patient. (The computer, not me.) Finally, he politely asked if I’d leave the room. The truth is I was even making myself nervous. An hour later, he came out of the room and reported the patient had... made a full recovery! Praise Dell! Praise Danno!

Not only does Danno fix computers, he’s also an independent mortgage consultant,free-lance loan processor, part-time casino dealer (craps,blackjack and poker) notary public,and a surf reporter. “The loan business is slow this year,” Danno says, “So I work harder on my other income streams, which also gives me more time for tennis.Only in Santa Monica can you be a ‘tennis bum’ and still scratch out a living.”Spoken like a true Bohemian.

A perfectionist, Danno is anything but lazy. A semi-typical day: up at 5:45 a.m. to take photos of the surf. Back to the apartment to upload the pics and write an accompanying description of wave conditions for a surfing Web site. Then, two hours of tennis with Suzanna, a former bodybuilder now a personal trainer. (She uses a very unusual, two-handled racket, invented by my mad-scientist friend, Lionel, another Bohemian.) After tennis, Danno raced home for a shower and a bite to eat and then over to a client who needed documents notarized immediately. Then a frantic call from a real estate agent needing the status of a loan Danno had originated. Finally, another client whose computer wouldn’t even boot up so Danno took it back to the lab, aka, his apartment.

A few hours later, voila, the computer was fixed. (Another satisfied customer can stop pulling their hair out.) Danno had just enough time for a quick catnap. But thirty minutes later, up and at em for a casino gig (black tie private party) where he dealt craps for four hours. Finally, at 2 a.m., Danno dragged himself home. The Jack of all trades, master of a bunch, was entitled to some well-earned sleep.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 27, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)