Huffington Post
Frank Gruber is an urbanist writer at the Huffington Post and a blogger at The Healthy City Local. Gruber, the founder of Airport2Park, which is campaigning to convert the Santa Monica Airport into a park, is the author of Urban Worrier: Making Politics Personal. An attorney and former planning commissioner for the City of Santa Monica, he is also a former columnist for the Santa Monica Lookout News.
The Future of Santa Monica Airport When a charter company named JetSuiteX cooked up plans to "Uber-ize" aeronautics, offering low-cost seats on private jets flying out of Santa Monica Airport starting next week, little did they expect to cause the airport to close. But after hearing of JetSuiteX's plan, the City went back to the Federal Aviation Administration and, after decades of struggle, reached an agreement to shut down the almost century old airport in 2028, and to shorten the runway that enables jet flights, right now. DnA spoke to elected officials, city staff and local activists who've fought for years to replace the drone of overhead airplanes with birdsong. We asked how the deal was made, and what comes next for the 227 acres of land. Douglas R4D-3 ‘N242SM' 'Spirit of Santa Monica' at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport Photo by Alan Wilson
The pros and cons of Measure LV There’s a battle raging over development in and around Los Angeles. On one side, people say we need to slow things down and stop the spread of high-rise and luxury buildings. The other side says we need more development to meet demand and stop housing prices from soaring even higher. In Santa Monica, this fight is playing out over a ballot initiative called Measure LV , known as Measure “LUVE.” It would force nearly all new projects higher than two stories to pass a citywide vote.
Is Los Angeles Still a 'City of Quartz?' In 1990, Mike Davis wrote City of Quartz, insisting that Los Angeles was not a west coast utopia, but a dystopia instead. Two years later, the Rodney King riots seemed to make him a prophet. His book is still used as a text for understanding LA history, even though Davis failed to predict the city's massive immigration. What did he tell us about economic inequality, race politics, the role of developers and architects — and community relations with the LAPD?
Santa Monica Mostly Bans Airbnb Last night, the Santa Monica City Council banned most short-term rentals in a unanimous vote. That means no more renting out your house for the weekend, and no more taking apartments and flipping them into Airbnb rentals full-time. You can still rent a room in your house or apartment, but only if you’ll be on-site during the stay. Plus, you’ll have to get a special license and pay 14 percent tax on each stay. The Santa Monica regulations are the strictest in the region. We talk about Santa Monica’s decision and what it could mean for the bigger Airbnb picture.
Aviation Groups Fight Effort to Close Santa Monica Airport One hundred years ago, the Santa Monica Airport was Clover Field, where Douglas Aircraft pioneered aviation. It was used by the Army Air Corps during World War II, and then turned back to the City, which agreed to keep it running. As residential neighborhoods developed nearby, there’s been increasing concern about noise and air pollution, potential accidents—and property values. Now the City Council wants to close it down in July of next year.
Will Santa Monica's Growing Pains Mean Agony Region-wide? The Bergamot Transit Village was barely approved by the City Council by a vote of four to three. Santa Monica's "Residocracy" movement got double the signatures needed to put the Hines' project portion of the Village on the November ballot. If the signatures are valid, voters could decide the future of a project three-quarters the size of the Water Garden.
Looking for Fairness in Public Schools The Santa Monica-Malibu School Board is meeting tonight for the fourth time on an issue that could divide the district in two. Last night, the Malibu City Council voted to start that process. The root cause is that California is not providing enough money for K-12 public schools, so parents who can afford it are coming up with cash on their own. We hear one local version of a debate that's raging statewide. 30 November follow-up The Santa Monica-Malibu School Board last night changed private fundraising rules. By a vote of 6 to nothing, with one abstention, it ruled that PTA's of individual schools will no longer be allowed to pay the salaries of extra teaching staff. The goal is to avoid inequities between rich and poor schools. The district-wide Education Foundation will get that responsibility sometime in the next three years. The City of Malibu has voted to consider forming its own, separate district.
Design by Committee Two weeks ago, landscape architect James Corner attended the splashy opening of Phase II of The High Line , the disused elevated rail-line that he and his firm James Corner Field Operations helped convert into the now famous park in the sky on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Last week he was in Santa Monica before the City Council presenting the latest design for their new civic park: Town Square and Palisades Garden Walk . But can Corner deliver anything as exciting as the High Line, especially on a site in a quiet part of Santa Monica without any interesting topography or industrial relics to play with? Even worse—could this design-by-committtee process result in a watered-down concept? Santa Monica's cultural services director Barbara Stinchfield, landscape architect Stephen Billings, and columnist Frank Gruber give their thoughts on Corner's design and the community reaction to it. Then local residents Alex Webb, Nina Fresco, Cosmo Bua, Louise Steiner, Richard McKinnon, Genise Schnitman, and Grace Phillips, plus city councilmembers Gleam Davis and Bob Holbrook, chime in about their hopes and dreams for the park. You can see the design presentation online and as part of the exhibition New Park Design in Los Angeles in Hollywood. Banner image: Sketch of the Palisades Garden Walk, designed by James Corner Field Operations Ted Bardacke and others look over Corner's plans for the parks Ralph Mechur and others look at the model of the parks Orange bags with notes on the design were placed on the site by Santa Monica residents ' Merry Norris and others discuss the park plans Lisa Switkin, Fred Fisher, James Corner and Barbara Stinchfield stand on the park's site James Corner and Barbara Stinchfield at the community comment event
Hyperlocal Reporting in Southern California The Santa Monica Outlook closed ten years ago after serving the city for a hundred years. In its place, news is being provided by the Daily Press, the Mirror and the Lookout News , all examples of what's called "hyperlocal journalism."
RIFT, A Fight Against Traffic, Creates Rift in Santa Monica Santa Monica is a city of 85,000 people that doubles in size with commuters during business hours. Traffic congestion is changing the nature of the city itself, but growth continues. Now the voters are faced with a measure on the November called RIFT, which stands for Residents Initiative to Fight Traffic. Supporters took just 10 days to raise 10,000 signatures, almost twice the number they needed. RIFT would fight traffic by limiting commercial development.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?