Why set up shop in Venice?

I personally have been a Venice resident for over eight years, with a circle of friends primarily of artists. It’s always been an awkward navigation in attempting to convey what I do and why – translating a sense of purpose and cause through websites vs. street art doesn’t always relate. In the beginning years when we were a rarity here, it felt as if the global Venice community just ignored and proceeded. Now I find my line of work and presence here a contentious debate most any time – driving rents and home prices up, fancier eateries replacing more affordable ones, kicking the artists out – the list goes on and on… a similar experience I went through in San Francisco’s Mission district during the dot com boom, whose outcome is still up for debate. Venice has been a gift to us. Without it we wouldn’t have the people and the ideas that make each day here on Market street such a radical and engaging experience. We lose sense of this, we lose the community.

Chris Dolinar is the head of Marketing at Mota, a new media company that aims to translate the pulse of the Venice community vibe into every aspect of the business in connecting buyers and sellers of used vehicles, through a common currency of truth, trust and transparency. Their recently launched product is called SureSale.