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# Project Greenlight: Be wary when stepping out in SM
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/project-greenlight-be-wary-when-stepping-out-in-sm/
- Published: 2007-02-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:02:17.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

This week’s Q-Line question asked: Is the city of Santa Monica, for all its efforts to slow traffic and encourage residents and tourists to leave their cars behind, a pedestrian friendly city?

Here are your responses: “NO, SANTA MONICA IS NOT A pedestrian friendly place. The very fact that the increased traffic flow is badly managed says it all. Drivers are frustrated, distracted and angry while driving and don’t pay too much attention to pedestrians. I walk a block or two out of my way to cross at the light... never use a crosswalk. But even at cross streets where there is a stop sign, I stop and wait until I feel it is safe to cross. Do not trust that the drivers are really going to stop until they do. And then, even, proceed with caution. Aside from the roadways, though, the pedestrian has a tough time walking on the filthy, broken and out-of-alignment sidewalks. So many people have tripped and fallen, including me.”

“DUE TO THE PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY and the California Incline, the city of Santa Monica will always be awash with automotive traffic. Santa Monica is a gateway city for traffic like no other city in the bay areas between Palos Verdes and Point Dume. Every boulevard in Santa Monica is a major traffic roadway to the east and west, including the 10 freeway. Lincoln Boulevard is almost a direct route to the Los Angeles International Airport. I personally enjoy walking due to walking being an excellent form of exercise and recommend it for anyone who can walk to their destination.

Still, thinking that folks are going to give up their “Beamers” and Mercedes phallic symbols for public transportation is unrealistic.”

“WHOEVER’S IN CHARGE OF TRAFFIC in Santa Monica is mentally defective. They slow everything down with their corner curbs that stick out so people can’t make a right turn when the idiot n front of them is trying to make a left turn. And they put all these things to narrow the streets and drivers get frustrated. Pedestrians are probably the only ones they can take it out on. So a lot of times, these morons are too stupid to pay attention when they’re driving ‘cause they’re too busy talking on the cell phone. One time, I almost got hit, and when the driver stopped, I reached in and grabbed his cell phone and smashed it. That’s what some of these people need to have done to them.”

“THE FAMILY OF THE PERSON WHO WAS killed at Euclid and Santa Monica should be ashamed of themselves. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions and not sue other people, point the finger, blame other people for idiotic actions that result in their harm, death or other maladies. Personal responsibility has been lost in our country. It’s a shame.”

“YES. AS A DISABLED PERSON, EVERY Sunday I come down Santa Monica Boulevard and it’s not exactly wheelchair friendly. There’s a lot of gaps in the street on Arizona Avenue. I think that this city is making things more pedestrian friendly, but we need to do a whole lot more.”

“THE CITY INSTALLED SOLAR-POWERED pedestrian signals instead of AC-powered red flashing lights. They saved a few pennies on electricity and helped green the planet. Now the tax payers will pay millions. This is what you get when you vote for SMRR.”

“NO. THIS IS THE LAND OF THE CAR. The Santa Monica Department of Transportation’s concern is that traffic flows smoothly. There is no department for pedestrians, nor is as much attention paid to their needs.”

“CROSSING THE STREET FOR SENIORS IS a cause for concern every time we walk out of the door. The pavements aren’t even. The light changes so quickly, by the time you look around to sense the traffic that might be whizzing around the corner, the traffic lights have turned red. It is a problem some of us face each day because we don’t drive and we are of a certain age. Something really has to be done. I wish that City Hall would do something about making the traffic lights a little bit longer.”

“PEDESTRIANS ALSO HAVE A responsibility to not step out in front of oncoming traffic, especially those moron mothers who push their baby strollers in front of oncoming traffic as if it were a magic wand. I always wait for the traffic flow to end before crossing, and then I don’t talk on a cell phone or look at the sky. I move with a purpose — that is to get to the other side. Look what City Hall has done to aggravate traffic flow and driving enjoyment. People are frustrated, whether it’s walking or driving. But most of City Hall has not directly concentrated on city road infrastructure. How ’bout we concentrate on some City Hall job terminations.”

“I THINK SANTA MONICA WOULD BE a wonderful pedestrian city if there were more streets like California Street, where there are stop signs for automobiles, which make it very comfortable for pedestrians to walk that entire length with only one red light stop, on Fourth Street. So I think that would be something excellent. Arizona (Avenue) is not too bad, but it doesn’t have the advantages that California Street does.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 10, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)