Santa Monica hosted its COAST open streets event last weekend alongside World Cup watch parties on the Third Street Promenade, and while the day produced some roaring goals, it also revealed the city has forgotten some basic lessons on how to run a match-day operation.
Goal!
The Promenade was the star of the match. The watch party wasn't for everyone — it was packed under the midday sun — but for those who wanted the communal atmosphere of a supporters' section, it delivered. There were post-game activities for adults and kids alike, restaurants were full, and for the first time since the pandemic, the Promenade played like it's back to its pre-2020 form. The north end remains the weak link on the roster, still hobbled by its string of vacant storefronts, but overall it was a great day to be on Third Street.
Red Card: Traffic Management
The city's traffic plan was sent off in the first half. Thousands of fans tried to exit the city after the final whistle, and the city failed to account for the vehicle flow that gridlocked streets from Pico Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard. It plays like there's no institutional memory of how to manage a match-day crowd. Major events that used to call the city home, like the Los Angeles Marathon and the old Thursday concert series, had this figured out.
Since no one at City Hall appears to have given the problem so much as a moment's thought, here's a set piece for next time: Close 2nd Street at Colorado Avenue and make traffic one-way heading north. Cars exiting the parking structure would turn right, then right again on Wilshire Boulevard, then right again onto Lincoln or 14th to those freeway on-ramps. Fourth Street should also be right-turn-only out of the parking structures, sending that traffic to the Fourth Street freeway on-ramp. Splitting the pitch that way would keep an overwhelming number of vehicles from flooding the poorly designed intersection at Fourth Street and Olympic Boulevard.
Yellow Card: COAST
COAST earned a caution, not a red card. It played well for the drinking crowd and poorly for families with kids. Closing Ocean Avenue and giving the Promenade crowd overflow space was a smart tactical substitution, and the portions of COAST tied to the World Cup were genuinely fun.
The east side of Ocean Avenue had the better squad on the field, with a couple of music stages, large screens showing the match and the Michelob Ultra tent. Grab an Entertainment Zone beer — maybe one from the Stella Artois engraved-chalice booth outside Barneys — then head to the salsa stage, and you'd have had a great time.
But the park side of the street was benched. It offered a disappointing lineup of booths selling items that belong in a 2 a.m. infomercial on an off-brand cable channel. There was no community feel to it, and no strategic reason for it to look the way it did. That's the most frustrating part, because it would have been an easy pass into an open net to make it a celebration of sport following the World Cup: batting cages, penalty-kick shootouts, a putting green, an ultimate Frisbee course and, given the heat, a Santa Monica Fire Department misting station or splash pad.
Coming after the lackluster performance at the Tongva Park event following the Fourth of July, the city needs to take a hard look at how it's drawing up these game plans. If Santa Monica wants a reputation for something more than an outdoor home shopping channel, it needs to substantially raise its level of play.