By Marilyn Brennan
Regarding the article in last Thursday’s edition of the Santa Monica Daily Press, “The Village clears first hurdle,” I was appalled to read that this project is, according to Melody Hanatani, “a long-anticipated mixed-use residential project in the Civic Center area.”
This Village will have 324 residences and 20,000 square feet of commercial retail space. Richard Bloom stated that, “It’s the kind of project that we’re going to look back on many years from now and future generations are going to thank us ….”
Oh boy. Let’s see, 324 residences. That’s one or two cars (i.e. 324 to 648 cars) crammed into an already bumper to bumper traffic situation. Plus 20,000 square feet of retail space. Hmmmm, how many vehicles will that put into the mix? This is in addition to the condos and apartment buildings going up on a steady basis.
Could this be the same City Council who voted down a Target store on Sixth Street because it would cause traffic problems? Could this be the same City Council who say they are trying to solve the horrendous traffic situation?
The future generations Richard Bloom speaks of will most likely have moved to a less congested area — like New York City.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 21, 2008. Read the original PDF.