Santa Monica, CA Summary

photo by gusto

This seaside resort and city in southwestern California sits at the end of Los Angeles’ famous Wilshire Boulevard.

Tourism, aircraft, and aerospace manufacturing are the main industries here, though the city also collects fees from the movie industry for frequent filming along the palm-tree-lined white-sand beaches.

Spaniards came upon the area in 1769, and in 1838 a “rancho” was established by grant. The city was finally laid out in 1875 by land developers, and now has a population of 88,471 people.

The Santa Monica Pier is home to Pacific Park, a 2-acre amusement park, and to the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center, where interactive activities are used to introduce visitors to the basic concepts of marine environmental studies, marine biology, and oceanography.

The Santa Monica State Beach is one of the best in the area and offers bike paths and volleyball courts in addition to plenty of surfing. Palisades Park covers 26 acres of coastline with paths and gardens. The Museum of Flying, at Santa Monica Airport, features a rare collection of World War II fighter aircraft, most of which are in flight-ready condition.

The area is dotted with art galleries and artists’ studios, and romantic beachfront hideaways and restaurants line the bay. Fine dining is an art form here, but the restaurants are much more innovative and less stuffy than in the rest of Los Angeles.

Just a short distance to the south is Venice Beach, famous for its walking path lined with tattoo studios, street performers, magicians, fortune tellers, drug dealers, weekend in-line skaters, and the outdoor weightlifting center, Muscle Beach.

Visitors should be careful here—parking is expensive, and pickpockets are common.