We visited this park as part of an event with Active SGV. I loved how the environment was so…read moreserene, clean, and well manicured. We were there in the early mid-morning and listened to a talk about the watershed preservation. I was impressed with how clean everything was and most especially the restroom. They were super clean, well maintained, and well lit. Me and my daughter felt safe. I was surprised to note that when we returned later in the day that there is an attendant available to answer questions or provide support. This place is a winner in my book.

Beautiful park near the ocean with lots of greenery, a clean beach, and a great playground for…read morekids. There's plenty of space to walk around and enjoy the ocean view. Everything was wonderful and the staff were very nice and helpful. The only thing that was a little uncomfortable was that there were many homeless people close to the playground, but I think we probably just came at a bad time and it's not always like that. Overall, the park is amazing. Thank you!

A solid place to park when visiting Downtown Santa Monica for a long period of time. Let's face it,…read morefinding street parking is like finding a white buffalo. I never knew about this parking structure until I started working in the area. I typically parked on 4th Street or the surrounding parking lots where the shopping is located; however, that can rack up if you're staying longer than 90 minutes. In this parking structure, you simply get a ticket when you enter and pay $5 as you leave. It's simple as that. There are monthly and pre-paid cards that are cheaper than $5/day. You have to go to the Blue Transit Office on 4th street (about a 5-10 minute walk heading toward the Promenade, right across the street from Benihana). Far as I know, monthly passes are completely sold out and there's a waiting list. The pre-paid card is only $10 to purchase and you can reload in increments of $30, $60, $90. When you use your pre-paid card, it's only $3/day! It's also minutes away from the pier and beach! I think it's only worth parking here if you're gonna be in the area over 6-8hrs or work in the area! The other structures aren't so bad as long as you're mindful of your time. I knocked a star because the elevator is janky AF! My heart races a little every time I get on. Also it can smell funky sometimes too.

I just had jury duty today and they told us to park here in this lot and it would be validated! I…read moregot the validation, BUT also a 64$ ticket from the police saying I stayed over the 3 hour time limit! WHAAAT? I saw no signs and of course im over 3 hours as Im in jury duty! Absolute ridiculous!!!!!

Well, this week's TO DO is DONE :))) I received a "camera"…read moreticket early February, and "gloominated" over it for several months. I wanted to fight it, but I guess every picture tells a story, don't it??? So, after googling best times to go here, I threw all caution to the wind and drove over to Santa Monica. I parked a good half mile away to get my steps in and got into the courthouse around 10:15 AM anyway after going through a safety check I was told to walk down the hall and I could go pay it. There was nobody on line and the lovely fellow behind the counter couldn't have been kinder and easier going. Boom done! I cannot believe how Angelenos drive these days... rolling stops ( they don't) and breaking so many laws and regulations including speeding, cutting one another off, left turns from right side of the road... oh I could go on and on... However, I chose to pay and go to Traffic School so I don't get any points on my license. My tip is: don't go first thing in the morning to pay a ticket...wait until after 10a or go early afternoon. There's plenty of parking on the street. The walk will do everybody good if you park a little further away and get your steps in IMHO!!! ;))) I am glad I went for sure! And the experience was great! PS Mondays and Fridays are always more busy vs mid-week!!!

Julio. Let's start with him.... There's an Officer named Julio. I suspect he's in Upper-Level…read moreManagement? I observed Julio interact with a dozen+ Courthouse staff and fellow Officers for well-over 30 minutes. His demeanor was so warm, encouraging, playful, sincere, engaging and supportive, I couldn't help but go up to him and share my thoughts of his powerfully positive energy. We had a wonderful conversation for 5 minutes. I walked away from our talk with a grin from ear-to-ear. This guy IS the REAL DEAL - The CONSUMMATE Professional. Michael. Let's now talk about him... There's a Customer Service gent named Michael who works the Traffic Ticket Window. I visited this Office/Window several weeks prior to my (traffic) Court Date. My experience was great. Michael was patient with me and answered all my silly questions. He provided me with pertinent feedback and made some very helpful suggestions. He was thoughtful, patient and fun to talk to. Nice work Michael! Then there was "The Judge". I wish I had her name. She was a stand-in, covering the regular Judge on Tuesday, 12/30. This lady was witty, fun, high-energy, grounded and just down-right sweet. Although she didn't have a Southern drawl, she certainly had the hospitality of a Woman of the South. I Highly Recommend NOT getting a ticket, but if you have to appear in Court.... ...I would HIGHLY Recommend the Santa Monica Courthouse :) Keep up the fantastic work, ya'll Sincerely,

My ex and I had an argument which turned into a physical fight after I caught him cheating on me…read morewhile pregnant he broke my nose and we wrestled because he gave me no choice to defend myself and my baby fetus after he threw himself on me so that I don't leave and put up w his malicious acts and him being a mamas boy . and he's a body builder... I did all I could to protect my baby of a few months and he still had the audacity to tell me your stronger than I thought as I'm trying to get up and he's choking me ... the roommate and him set me up and as I finally try to walk away after he slaps me and bruises my wrists telling me I'm not going anywhere and I slap him back after struggling to be released and I throw a remote control at his eyebrow as the worst thing I did to him to leave me in peace so that I never have to see his face again. I'm told by six male officers from SMPD to face the wall after I told them the truth detailed and pregnant and I'm taken into custody while my ex Richard Grenier and his roommate john Zymali who never saw anything as a so called witness are happy I am gone. I was taken into custody by these ruthless officers who saw the pain in my face and didn't even take good pictures of my wrists missing the bruises but I no longer cared at this moment and after I did my time I lost the baby after suffering in silence ... I will never forget this place I knew I was innocent I knew I did nothing wrong even the sheriffs on the jail were like you def don't belong here and I hope life shows everyone what real justice is and to use their intuition better as officers here. The only good person was my detective and she believed me and knew I had a good heart For her being there I will rate this place higher and for the one officer in the front desk officer kang writing down my entire story thank you for being so patient the asshole -some huge officer behind him almost took my report thank god he didn't he was so heartless and that's why I wonder who hires all of them. I hope everyone remembers we are all human at the end of the day and we are all one no matter what hue we are or what language we speak. I hope everyone has more kindness so I'm sending my blessings for everyone here to have an open heart.

I was disturbed to see several Santa Monica Police officers actively participating in an…read moreinfluencer's video while he performed skateboard tricks on a public sidewalk outside local businesses. One male officer appeared to be filming him, while the officers laughed and socialized with him as part of the content. The man was wearing a shirt with an explicit sexual message in an area regularly used by children, seniors, customers, and pedestrians. During the skateboard stunt, an older gentleman was standing immediately behind him and appeared startled. Had the skateboarder lost control or fallen, someone nearby could easily have been struck. My concern is not that officers spoke casually with someone. It is that they appeared to encourage and help create social-media content involving unsafe sidewalk behavior rather than asking the person to move to a suitable area and keep pedestrians clear. Police officers should not appear to give influencers special permission to inconvenience or endanger members of the public because they find the performance entertaining. This video was taken directly from the creator's publicly posted video. I hope SMPD reviews the full footage and reminds its officers that public safety and professional judgment should come before participating in influencer content.

Excellent place to hang out and shop. Came to check out the Dodgers Clubhouse for my Japanese…read moretourists I'll be bringing them, after we check the pier.

What happened here?…read more The last time I had visited Third Street Promenade was... checks calendar ...fifteen years ago. Okay, so it's been a minute. Back then, this was the place to be. The energy was contagious. People were everywhere, the shops felt relevant, and there was a sense that something was always happening. Returning recently felt a bit like running into an old friend you barely recognized. Maybe this is simply the fate of the modern shopping district. Online retail changed everything, and malls across America have been fighting a losing battle for years. Whatever the cause, the Promenade feels like it's missing its heartbeat. Storefronts sit empty, foot traffic feels sparse, and what was once a lively destination now feels more like a collection of memories. That's not to say there aren't still pockets of life here and there. The location remains excellent, and you can still catch glimpses of what made this place special. But those moments are fleeting. More than anything, a visit to Third Street Promenade feels nostalgic. Not because of what it is today, but because of what it used to be. It's hard not to walk away wishing you could have experienced it in its prime.

I walked through this outdoor mall for the first time recently. Santa Monica Place is a shopping…read moremall that is at the south end of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. Anchor stores Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom closed recently. They do have upscale tenants like Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Tory Burch, COACH and AllSaints. There are also places to eat like Din Tai Fung and Cheesecake Factory. The Cayton Children's Museum is a fun entertainment option for kids. Santa Monica Place is three levels and has a L.A. Metro Rail stop nearby.

Wow this place has really become a ghost town. I remember when it was bustling with stores and…read morepeople and music and now there is still music... a dj was there trying to keep people upbeat on a Friday but half the stores are empty. Since Nordstrom moved out it's just so eerie. Not a lot going on. I happened to come in as I was checking out a potential new gym which is coming in - Club Studio - and they're going to be pretty huge and take the old Bloomingdales space, people were super friendly and helpful so hopefully that will help but Santa Monica is gonna need a lot more investment in order to drive the people back to shop in person because there is really no good selection of stores of value - just a few boutiques and some brands like Nike or Johnny Was or Paige. Din Tai Fung and Cheesecake on the top floor which is great but other than that... let's hope for more stores in the future.

Interesting Pastoral message. Wonderful Youth Program. Hoping that with more time we will meet and…read moreknow the people.

On the surface, Pacific Crossroads Church is a friendly, Bible-believing church that meets on…read moreSunday mornings in the big auditorium at Santa Monica High School.  What's not to like? But if you check its website, you find that it's part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). When you scroll down to look at the Pacific Crossroads leaders, you may notice that there are no women pastors or elders there--maybe even no deacons. If you check out the PCA on Wikpedia, you find a complicated history on attitudes toward women.  For many years PCA interpreted the Bible to forbid women in leadership (never mind the many women mentioned as leaders, including Junia "prominent among the apostles" - Romans 17:6). But in 2016, the PCA voted to reconsider, and more recently they voted to allow women to be ordained; they also allowed any member churches who disagreed to continue refusing to ordain as a matter of conscience.  Then the PCA voted to rescind the "conscience clauses," so some churches that objected to women pastors left the denomination. Pacific Crossroads looks like a church that continues to refuse having women in leadership though it retains ties to the PCA, which has so recently changed. Maybe Pacific Crossroads just hasn't gotten around to electing a woman as elder or hiring a woman pastor.  Or maybe it's holding out against these changes. Whatever the case, you need to know these things when you decide to join this friendly group of Bible-believing Christians.

I think the concept of the event is cool but I felt like it could have been organized a lot…read morebetter. There were just too many people and not too many things to see. There was a wait for everything and I just didn't feel like waiting on the beach in the cold. Another thing that was a turn off for me was the parking situation. I had to park about 12 blocks away to avoid the parking mess. It was horrendous. I walked about a total of 3 miles. My feet were killing me! The exhibits itself didn't give me that "wow" factor too. One of the exhibits looked like my old windows screen saver-just the real life version of it. I probably wouldn't come back again next year but i'm glad I got to experience it.

After practically peeling Steven L off the couch to get some coffee and check out Glow, it turns…read moreout the art installations were not as super cool as we were expecting they'd be. There were 3 or 4 information booths where they handed out maps of the numbered installations, and big lighted balloons with the numbers that corresponded to the map's directory. Each installation made use of light in some fashion - hence Glow - and some used film, sound and dance as well. Most of the installations were set up on the beach, they were spaced pretty far apart, and there were moving installations like bands playing. The idea is definitely a great one - and with the sudden warm weather today, it was a gorgeous night to have it. But somehow, I dunno - we were underwhelmed by the installations, AND overwhelmed by the crowd! There were food trucks at a couple places in the Santa Monica Pier lot - the one end that we saw had The Greasy Wiener, India Jones, Border Grill, and a new falafel truck that we had never seen before. Plus there were Coca Cola booths set up where you could buy drinks. The truck lines were all super long at around 11pm-ish, when we saw them, and a few of them had clearly posted what they were out of (which was a lot). We did find parking easier than we thought - in public lot #5 (just east of the Promenade), but we paid $15 for it! TONS of bikes parked all over the area told us what we already knew: bikers planned ahead better than we did! Next year, I'd still come to Glow - the people watching was fascinating (especially the people who dressed up in glowing clothes, or painted themselves, or carried their purse dogs in their backpacks). I just won't be expecting quite as much as I did today.....so maybe I'll like it better!!

Special space. SGI-USA World Cultural Center is so, but…read morespecial space seems inadequate, too worldly defined. Yet, even the worldly, especially the worldly, need special space to convene. Dr. King, 46 years since his assassination, brought me, us here to hear his ever-relevant words, compel me, us to service, to celebrate his day today, everyday. Gerald C. Rivers http://www.geraldcrivers.com/ asked us to close our eyes while he delivered Dr. King's 1963 speech "I Have A Dream". Tuning out the ambient turned up the profound then, now. Charles Holt http://www.charlesholtproductions.com/ sang "America" a cappella with power equal to Dr. King's words. UNITY in CommUNITY 2014! Amen.

This is a Great non profit upholding the highest integrity, principals, values towards Life…read more This teaching is from the Lotus Sutra and shared with everyone! No discrimination; All are welcomed to participate and transform their lives together towards creating a humanistic world. Transforming to peace..one person at a time..