Santa Monica, California

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Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica is a beachside city located in Los Angeles County, California USA, on the Pacific Ocean, south of Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, west of Westwood, Los Angeles, and north of Venice. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 84,084. In the skateboard and surfing communities it is sometimes called Dogtown, which includes Venice Beach as well.

Because of its benign weather, Santa Monica was a famed resort town in the early 20th century. Now, the city has been subsumed into the welter of towns in the greater Los Angeles area, but is still considered a pleasant place to live. Santa Monica has experienced a tremendous economic boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth, and increased tourism.

Santa Monica is famous for its progressive politics, including local policies that favor renters, consumers, and homeless persons. Residents of the city are among the largest contributors in the nation to Democratic Party candidates. Because of its political leanings the city has been jocularly labeled The People's Republic of Santa Monica. Satirist Harry Shearer calls it "The home of the homeless."

Contents

1 History

2 Attractions and cultural resources

3 Education

4 Geography

5 Demographics

6 Population Statistics

7 Notable persons born in Santa Monica

8 External links

History

Main article: History of Santa Monica, California

Attractions and cultural resources

The Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome (AKA carousel) is a National Historic Landmark. It sits on the world-famous Santa Monica Pier first built in 1909. The La Monica Ballroom on the pier was once the largest ballroom in the US, and the source for many New Years 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. McCabes Guitar Shop is still a leading acoustic performance space. The Cheetah was a famous nighclub. Bergamot Station is a city-owned art gallery compound. The city is home to the Museum of Flying, and the Santa Monica Heritage Museum.

The city has been the site of many notable births and deaths due to its hospitals, St. Johns Hospital and the Santa Monica Medical Center. The municipal cemetery in Santa Monica is Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery.

The oldest theater in the city is the 1912 Majestic, aka Mayfair Theatre, closed since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The Aero Theater and Criterion Theater were built in the 1930s and still show movies. The Santa Monica Promenade alone supports more than a dozen movie screens.

Palisades Park sits 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-stop, drive-through story of Christmas along the Palisades Park. The sheds were open to the street side, covered in chain link fencing. Inside were dioramas of the Holy Family made from donated store mannequins, many with inappropriately fashionable features or missing limbs thinly disguised by clothing or palm fronds. In 2001 the city decided to end the practice of allowing private groups to place displays in city parks.

Education

Founded in 1929 with an enrollment of 153, Santa Monica College (SMC) now occupies 35 acres and enrolls 25,000 students annually. The 2-year college is the leading source of transfers to the University of California system. Rolling Stone magazine rated it among the top ten community colleges in the nation in 1998. Notable SMC alumni and dropouts include: James Dean, Dustin Hoffman, Rickie Lee Jones, and former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold. It is the host for KCRW, an innovative and popular National Public Radio affiliate.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District provides public education at the elementary and secondary levels. Santa Monica High School, informally known as Samohi, changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus. Until the 1980s, students from Malibu were required to bus into Santa Monica for grades 10-12. Notable alumni include: Gloria Stuart, Glenn Ford, John Ehrlichman, dancer Gene Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Rob Lowe, Robert Downey Jr., Art Alexakis, Dean Cain, Maya Rudolph, and Carson Daly. The site was used as a location for the movie Rebel Without a Cause.

Private schools in the city include the Crossroads School.

Geography

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

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.2 km² (15.9 mi²). 21.4 km² (8.3 mi²) of it is land and 19.8 km² (7.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 48.08% water.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 84,084 people, 44,497 households, and 16,775 families residing 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, 3.78% African American, 0.47% Native American, 7.25% Asian, 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 living with them, 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.

In the city the population is spread out with 14.6% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 40.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who are 65 years of age 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.

Population Statistics

Population has grown from 417 in 1880 to 84,084 in 2000. More historical population statistics.