March 19, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Letter To The Editor: How About No To Traffic?:

Dear Editor,

The debate about development is still raging. How high? How much parking? How much density? All of these questions are irrelevant. Traffic is destroying Santa Monica and the City has its head in the sand when it comes to this truth.

It took me seven minutes to go two small blocks to get across Lincoln on Ocean Park. 23rd street at 3 pm is already a parking lot. Olympic? It took me 30 minutes to go one block at 5 pm.

The 10 Freeway is a parking lot after 2:15 until 7:30 or 8 pm. You have no option for driving east – Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica , Olympic and Pico are all jammed.  I have to drive down to another street south of the City to go anywhere east after 2:30 pm. And these neighborhoods now have signs posted “Stop Mar Vista Traffic Armageddon.”

Hello? Is anyone listening?

I used to love going to downtown Santa Monica. I would brag about how wonderful it was to live in a place where you could drive five minutes, go downtown, get a parking spot and shop. It was how life should be. A wonderful living experience in one of the most beautiful cites in the world.  Not any longer!

A few weeks ago, we had to decide between best replica watches going to Hollywood or Santa Monica to the movies on a Saturday night. We opted for Santa Monica since the theater is only five minutes from my house. Well, the trip to movies took 40 minutes from my door to the theater. Traffic was that bad! Next time, we’ll go to Hollywood.

How can the City consider more development for even five minutes? Don’t they live here? How do the City officials get around? Are they blind to the gridlock? Or do they just not care? Or are there “kickbacks” that are so abundant that they justify it?

How can the City approve any more new building that would just bring in several thousand more cars? The issue is not to develop or not – the issue is simply – can we accommodate more cars?  If the answer is no – then all of the beautiful planned new developments are meaningless.  It is that simple.  It is not about development – it is about the traffic.

It is time for every person in Santa Monica to stand up and shout: “No More Traffic!” If we cannot sustain anymore traffic – then the City has filled its development cup of possibilities. Stop!!!!

Nora Hamill

Santa Monica

in Opinion
Related Posts

SM.a.r.t Column: Can California ARBs Balance Affordable Housing with Community Character in the Face of New Housing Laws?

March 17, 2024

March 17, 2024

By suggestion, I attended the March 4th ARB (Architectural Review Board) meeting that addressed the Gelson Lincoln Boulevard Project.  After...

S.M.a.r.t Column: On the Need for Safety

March 10, 2024

March 10, 2024

Earlier this week, in the dark pre-dawn hours, a pair of thugs covered in masks and hoodies burst into the...

Film Review: The Oscar Landscape 2024

March 7, 2024

March 7, 2024

FILM REVIEWTHE OSCAR LANDSCAPE 2024A Look at the Choices – Academy Awards – March 10, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. on...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Five Saving Historic Santa Monica

March 3, 2024

March 3, 2024

Our beloved City is surrounded by many threats, from sea level rise to homelessness, to housing affordability, to cancerous overdevelopment,...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Gelson’s Looms Large

February 22, 2024

February 22, 2024

Our guest column this week is by SMCLC (the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City). SMCLC is a well-established...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Top Toady Town

February 18, 2024

February 18, 2024

Throughout history, from the ancient Romans and Assyrians to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, siege warfare has served as an...

S.M.a.r.t Column: The Sunset of Home Ownership

February 11, 2024

February 11, 2024

We are watching the sunset of our historical and cultural American dream of home ownership as we now are crossing...

SMa.r.t. Column: B(U)Y RIGHT

February 4, 2024

February 4, 2024

“By Right” state housing laws that give developers, in certain projects, the ability to ignore codes ‘by right.’ Well, that...

S.M.a.r.t  Column: Serf City

January 28, 2024

January 28, 2024

Homelessness is a problem in California, and nowhere is this more evident than in our fair city, where the unhoused...

S.M.a.r.t  Column: Bond Fatigue

January 22, 2024

January 22, 2024

Last week’s SMart article,  described two critical problems faced by our Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD): the declining...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Peace on Earth

December 27, 2023

December 27, 2023

We are all, by now, saturated with jingles, holiday cards, “ho ho ho’s,” countless commercial advertisements, and exhortations to feel...

S.M.a.r.t Column: On the Clock with Mayor Brock

December 17, 2023

December 17, 2023

I became Santa Monica’s Mayor on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, following a simple “switch of the chairs” transition with outgoing...

S.M.a.r.t Column: SANTA MONICA CITY COUNCIL 2024

December 10, 2023

December 10, 2023

Position:Seeking Santa Monica City Council Candidate(s) Introduction:Exciting opportunity for the right candidate(s) to work with like-minded Council members committed to...

S.M.a.r.t Column: ARB (NOT Ready to Build!)

December 3, 2023

December 3, 2023

Santa Monica City’s Architectural Review Board (ARB), established in 1974, acts “…to preserve existing areas of natural beauty, cultural importance...

SMa.r.t. Column: We are thankful for….

November 27, 2023

November 27, 2023

SMa.r.t. would like to wish you all a great Thanksgiving with friends and family and also to thank its readers...