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Santa Monica is a coastal city in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. It borders Santa Monica Bay (part of the Pacific Ocean) on the west, Pacific Palisades and Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles and Mar Vista on the east, and Venice on the south. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 84,084, but an early 2006 estimate has the population at 103,255. Santa Monica is named for Saint Monica of Hippo because the area on which the city is now located was first visited by Spaniards on her feast day. In the skateboard and surfing communities Santa Monica's Ocean Park neighborhood and adjacent parts of Venice are sometimes called Dogtown.

Because of its agreeable weather, Santa Monica had become a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth, and increased tourism.

Santa Monica is known for its left-wing politics, including policies designed to address the needs of renters, consumers, and the homeless. Residents of the city are among the largest contributors in the nation to Democratic Party candidates. The city was well known for its strict rent control ordinance, enacted in 1978 and partially overridden by state law in 1999. Santa Monica is sometimes called the "Homeless Capital of the West" due to the presence of the third largest homeless population in Los Angeles County (after Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood), a large number of whom are teenaged runaways; satirist Harry Shearer calls it "The home of the homeless."

History

Attractions and cultural resources

The Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome (carousel) is a National Historic Landmark. It sits on the Santa Monica Pier, which was built in 1909. The La Monica Ballroom on the pier was once the largest ballroom in the US, and the source for many New Year's Eve national network broadcasts. The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was an important music venue for several decades and hosted the Academy Awards in the 1960s. McCabe's Guitar Shop is still a leading acoustic performance space. Bergamot Station is a city-owned art gallery compound that includes the Santa Monica Museum of Art. The city is also home to the Santa Monica Heritage Museum.

Santa Monica is also the home for the Third Street Promenade, a major outdoor pedestrian oriented shopping district that stretches for three blocks between Wilshire Blvd. and Broadway Blvd.

The oldest theater in the city is the 1912 Majestic, also known as the Mayfair Theatre, closed since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The Aero Theater (now operated by the American Cinematheque) and Criterion Theater were built in the 1930s and still show movies. The Santa Monica Promenade alone supports more than two dozen movie screens.

Palisades Park stretches out on the crumbling bluffs overlooking the Pacific and is a favorite walking area to view the ocean. It features a camera obscura. For 48 years local churches and the Police Association assembled a twelve-tableau story of Christmas in Palisades Park. The sheds were open on the street side, protected by chain-link fencing. Inside were dioramas of the Holy Family made from store mannequins; critics argued that many of them did not resemble real people, were damaged, or were otherwise inappropriate. In 2001 the city decided to temporarily end the practice of allowing private groups to place displays in city parks, but in 2004 the Christmas displays returned.

Santa Monica is known for having a large population of British and Irish expatriates, which accounts for the numerous pubs in the city. Some bars are as likely to show English Premiership games as they are American football games.

Natives and tourists alike have enjoyed the Santa Monica Rugby Club since 1972. The club has been very successful since its conception, most recently winning back-to-back national championships in 2005 and 2006. Santa Monica defeated the Boston Irish Wolfhounds 57-19 in the Division 1 final, convincingly claiming its second consecutive American title on June 4th, 2006, in San Diego. They offer Men's, Women's and a thriving childrens programs. The club recently joined the Rugby Super League.

Every Fall the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce hosts The Taste of Santa Monica on the Santa Monica Pier. Visitors can sample food and drink from Santa Monica restaurants.

Its two hospitals are Saint Johns and the Santa Monica Medical Center. Its cemetery is Woodlawn Memorial.

Education

Elementary and Secondary

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District provides public education at the elementary and secondary levels. Private high schools in the city include the Crossroads School, New Roads School, Lighthouse Christian Academy and Saint Monica's Parochial School.

Post-Secondary

Santa Monica College (SMC, informally known as Pico Tech or Harvard-by-the-Sea), a junior college founded in 1929 many of whose graduates transfer to the University of California system, occupies 35 acres (14 ha) and enrolls 30,000 students annually. The Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School, associated with the RAND Institute, is the U.S.'s largest producers of public policy PhDs. The University of Santa Monica is a small institution granting MA degrees in Clinical and Spiritual Psychology.

Universities and colleges within a 15-mile radius from Santa Monica include Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Valley College, Loyola Marymount University, West Los Angeles College, UCLA and West Valley Occupational Center.

Transportation

The Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) begins in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean and heads east from there. The Santa Monica Freeway between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles has the distinction of being one of the busiest highways in all of North America. After traversing Los Angeles County, I-10 continues all the way across the USA, crossing seven more states, to the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville, Florida. At the eastern edge of Santa Monica, there is a large road sign designating this route as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway, but it is doubtful that more of these signs have been erected by the states. California State Highway 1 (Lincoln Boulevard/Pacific Coast Highway) passes through Santa Monica on its way from the southern boundary of California to the northern boundary. California State Route 2 (Santa Monica Boulevard) begins in Santa Monica and continues northeast across Los Angeles County, crossing the San Gabriel Mountains as the Angeles Crest Highway. Santa Monica is also the western (Pacific) terminus of historic U.S. Route 66, a road from Chicago, to Los Angeles County. Route 66 terminates at the Santa Monica Pier, a location that has served as the setting for numerous television shows, commercials and movies. Close to the eastern boundary of Santa Monica the very long Sepulveda Boulevard passes on its way from southmost Los Angeles County to the San Fernando Valley. Also close to the eastern boundary of Santa Monica lies Interstate-405, the San Diego Freeway, a major north-south route in Los Angeles County. To summarize, in spite of its relatively small land area, Santa Monica is a critical highway junction and terminus.

The City of Santa Monica runs its own award-winning bus service, the Big Blue Bus, which also serves much of Los Angeles's Westside and UCLA. A Big Blue Bus was featured prominently in the motion picture Speed.

The city is also served by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's bus lines. Metro also complements Big Blue service, as when Big Blue routes are not operational overnight, Metro buses make many Big Blue Bus stops, in addition to MTA stops. It currently has no rail service but Metro is working on bringing light rail to Santa Monica in the form of the Exposition Line. The Red Line subway is also in the midst of an extension to Santa Monica, dubbed "subway to the sea". In the past, Santa Monica had rail service operated by the Pacific Electric Railway, until it was dismantled in the 1960's.

The city owns and operates a general aviation airport, Santa Monica Airport, which has been the site of several important aviation achievements. Passenger flights are available at Los Angeles International Airport just to the south of Santa Monica via Sepulveda Boulevard.

Like other cities in Los Angeles County, Santa Monica is dependent upon the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles for international ship cargo. In the 1890s, Santa Monica was once in competition with Wilmington, Calif., and San Pedro for recognition as the "Port of Los Angeles" (see History of Santa Monica, California).

Geography

Santa Monica is situated at 34°1'19" North, 118°28'53" West (34.022059, -118.481336)^GR1.

The city rests on a mostly flat slope that angles down towards Ocean Ave and towards the south. Some beautiful high bluffs separate the city from the beaches.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 41.2 km² (15.9 mi²); 21.4 km² (8.3 mi²) of land. Its borders extend three nautical miles (5.6 km) out to sea, and so 19.8 km² (7.7 mi²) of it is water for a total area that is 48.08% water.

Weather

Santa Monica enjoys an average of 325 days of sunshine a year. Because of its location, nestled on a vast open bay (Santa Monica Bay), morning fog and haze is a common phenomenon in May, June and early July (caused by ocean temperature variations and currents). Locals have a particular terminology for this phenomenon: the "May Gray" and the "June Gloom". Overcast skies are common for June mornings, but usually the strong sun burns the fog off by noon. Nonetheless, it will sometimes stay cloudy and cool all day during June, even as other parts of the Los Angeles area will enjoy sunny skies and warmer temperatures. At times, the sun shines east of 20th St while the beach area is overcast.

As a general rule, the temperature is from 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 5.5 degrees Celsius) cooler than it is inland. A typical spring day (Mid-April) is sunny, pleasant and about 68 °F (20 °C). In the summer, which stretches basically from May to late October, temperatures can reach to the mid-80's Fahrenheit (about 30 °C) at the beach. The average temperature for August is 71 °F (21 °C). September is the warmest month of the year in Santa Monica, with an average of 73 °F (22 °C). It is also in September that records tend to be broken. In early September 2004, temperatures of 92 °F to 98 °F (33 °C to 37 °C) were recorded.

In early November, it is about 68 °F (20 °C). In late January, temperatures are around 63 °F (17 °C). It is winter, however, when the hot, dry winds of the Santa Anas are most common. In mid-December 2004, temperatures soared to 84 °F (28 °C) in Santa Monica, for a few straight days, with perfectly sunny skies.

The rainy season is from late October through late March. Winter storms usually approach from the northwest and pass quickly through the Southland. There is very little rain during the rest of the year.

Santa Monica usually enjoys a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean, keeping the air fresh and clean. Therefore, smog is less a problem for Santa Monica than elsewhere around Los Angeles. However, in the autumn months of September through November, the Santa Ana winds will sometimes blow from the East, bringing smoggy inland air to the beaches.

Demographics

Santa Monica's population has grown from 417 in 1880 to 84,084 in 2000. For population statistics by decade, see History of Santa Monica, California.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are 84,084 people, 44,497 households, and 16,775 families in the city. The population density is 3,930.4/km² (10,178.7/mi²). There are 47,863 housing units at an average density of 2,237.3/km² (5,794.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 78.29% White, 7.25% Asian, 3.78% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 5.97% from other races, and 4.13% from two or more races. 13.44% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 44,497 households, out of which 15.8% have children under the age of 18, 27.5% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 62.3% are non-families. 51.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 1.83 and the average family size is 2.80.

The population is diverse in age, with 14.6% under 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 40.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% 65 years or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $50,714, and the median income for a family is $75,989. Males have a median income of $55,689 versus $42,948 for females. The per capita income for the city is $42,874. 10.4% of the population and 5.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.9% of those under the age of 18 and 10.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Notable people born in Santa Monica

Trivia

The modern rock band Theory of a Deadman made a song titled Santa Monica, which is a first-person account about a girl leaving her significant other to start a new life in Santa Monica.

The band Everclear released a song titled Santa Monica in 1995, which became their first mainstream hit.

The computer game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines starts the player in the city of Santa Monica.

The band Savage Garden also released a song titled Santa Monica off their #3 US album Savage Garden (1997).

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