This time last year I was in the area and had some time to explore Tongva Park, a new six acre park a couple of block from the Santa Monica Pier. Here's a link to Part I and Part II, with some photos of Tongva Park and adjacent Ken Genser Square.
Above, the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier, located at Ocean Avenue and Colorado Avenue at sunset.
Another view. The historic neon sign at the entrance was installed in 1940.
The City of Santa Monica recently installed an artistic walkway from the entrance to the Pier to the terminus of the newly opened Expo Line.
Another view, this time looking back toward the setting sun.
Parking garage, with a new exterior.
Pedestrian walkway to the Expo Line.
Expo Line light rail station, downtown Santa Monica.
The Expo Line extension to Santa Monica opened on May 20, 2016.
Here's a handy map, showing the stops along the entire 15.2 mile route between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. For the first time since 1953, Angelenos can take a ride from the city to the beach on rails.
OK, technically the Expo Line doesn't go all the way to the beach. You have to walk three blocks. What's that take? Five minutes?
Speaking of five minutes, while the final station in Santa Monica doesn't have a designated parking lot, there 3,000 parking spaces within a five minute walk.
Diagonal from the Expo Line is the Santa Monica Place shopping center. The Santa Monica Place opened in 1980 and recently went through a massive, three-year renovation process reopening in 2010.
Across the street, and directly across from the Expo Line terminus is the 1947 Sears Building. Sears recently closed the store. The store was deemed a historic landmark in 2004, meaning the owners can't change or expand it. Plans call for a mixed used development. Meanwhile, the land that parking lot is sitting on is worth a small fortune - easily 100 million dollars, if it could be developed to it's fully potential. No idea if the updated version of the building will include an update to the parking lot.
I walked back over toward Tongva Park along Olympic Blvd. This apartment building is across the street Tongva Park.
Cool, modern light fixture on the walkway between the two buildings.
Despite the new construction, supply is no where meeting demand. According to this article, Santa Monica has the distinction of being the most expensive rent in the United States, surpassing even San Francisco and New York City. The average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment is an incredible $4,799 a month.
Olympic Blvd at Ocean Avenue. Olympic Blvd goes from Santa Monica all the way to downtown Los Angeles, and is named in honor of the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Los Angeles hosted the Olympics again in 1984 and has recently been selected to host them a third time - in 2028.
A final view from the deck of the beautiful Loews Santa Monica Hotel, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. More next time.
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