By J. Roger Collins Palm Desert
On May 23, I left Santa Monica and moved to Palm Desert, Calif. I was paying $2,300 per month for a decrepit two-bedroom apartment built in 1968 at Second Street and Montana Avenue. I bought a two-bedroom house in a gated development with two golf courses, three club houses and four swimming pools — talk about having a beach, we have a beach everywhere via three outdoor pools and now I only pay $1,800 per month and I own the house. I have a real problem with the rent subsidies that are promulgated by rent control. I have a friend who has a two-bedroom apartment off of Ocean Park Boulevard near Main Street. After 26 years, the rent is only $880 per month. I have concluded that if all the folks in rent-controlled apartments ever have to pay market rates for housing, the homeless population in Santa Monica will increase even more. Anyone who thinks this situation can continue is in for a rude awakening.
My move was precipitated by the homeless population that continually rummages through the trash cans and defecates and urinates in the alleys, parking structures and doorways. What you don’t realize is that much of this urban runoff usually ends up in the storm drains and dumps out onto the beaches of Santa Monica and frequently results in beach closures, even though there are attempts to solve the problem of urban runoff through installation of dryflow systems which capture some of this effluent and pump it to the Hyperion treatment plant. In the meantime beach goers don’t swim. They just go through the movements. No pun intended.
Much is made of the Third Street Promenade. It is OK but how does it compare to The Grove?
Santa Monica, wake up. You are living in a dream world.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 12, 2006. Read the original PDF.