By Jim Stern Santa Monica
I love this city. I want buildings to be built that will withstand the test of time. Office buildings and apartment buildings that have some style. Look at Santa Barbara or Santa Fe, building codes administered by people who care about aesthetics. Buildings to be proud of. Building facades are available for reasonable costs that should be mandated by our city, for the developers and architects to adhere to. What is wrong? Look at the Promenade. Check out the flower boxes. Plastic. We should be ashamed. Not in Beverly Hills or Westwood. Antique repros that look great. All the architects in our city, and look what we have. I fear for the Santa Monica Civic Center, what will happen. Another lousy building. Please help us.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 30, 2006. Read the original PDF.