Monday, March 31, 2008

Expo Line meetings this week

The Expo Line Construction Authority's next phase 2 Community Workshops — on grade crossings, station and parking locations, bike routes and more — are scheduled (more information):

* Tuesday, April 1, 6:30 pm, Crossroads School, Roth Hall, 1714 21st St., Santa Monica
* Thursday, April 3, 6:30 pm, Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, Gymnasium, 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw the LA freeway pic and I do not miss the California traffic! We lived in SoCal for the better part of 30 years and moved to Tri Cities Washington (SE Wa) to escape the traffic and congestion about 4 years ago. In reading your blog, it appears real estate in Ca is hurting. We've been passed by the usual housing crisis stuff here in SE Wa. Nice blog Westside. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I heard the City council just passed an ordinance to ban the jets in and out of SM airport....won't that cause the dodgey sunset park streets (Marine, Navy,Pier) to skyrocket in price???????

Anonymous said...

The city can't ban jets--this would be in violation of FAA rules. The FAA has prevailed over all of these ridiculous attempts by Santa Monica to close and/or restrict air traffic to SM Airport.

This is NIMBY to its extreme. SM residents should be ashamed of themselves for being so selfish. SM Airport serves an important role in the regions air commerce.

Let me guess--no one in Santa Monica travels by airplane, right? Or, is it that SM residents just want all of the jets and commercial airliners to fly over someone elses homes, correct?

We live in an age of selfish, self-serving, "I only care about me", "Screw the community/state/nation/my neighbor" people.

Jets don't make anymore noise than propeller airplanes and this issue has been studied dozens of times in the past.

Get over it--the jets and the airport is here to stay!

Anonymous said...

Westside Bubble,
Take a look at 10707 LE CONTE AVE in Westwood. I am wondering why an owner in this prestigious neighborhood is selling after less than 3 years. Most homes in Holmby Hills rarely change hands. Zillow shows 3 trades in the past 10 years: $1m, $1.8m and $2.5m. That alot of flippin for this sleepy neighborhood. Can you get purchase data to learn how the last sucker financed the $2.5m? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

anon 11:03, do you work for the airport? Jeez, take it easy and please don't pepper your argument with absolutes that just hurt your case. Like:

"Let me guess--no one in Santa Monica travels by airplane, right? Or, is it that SM residents just want all of the jets and commercial airliners to fly over someone elses homes, correct?"

The whole all or nothing bit has become tiresome. We have had enough of it with Bush and his absolutes of patriotism. How about this, I recycle. Do you think that I must believe that everyone should ride a bike to work?

Anyway, I'm with you on the airport. My plane is there. My office is there.

I live in Sunset Park and I can assure you that fanjets make more noise than pistons or turboprops. Some of the more expensive ones are quieter, but most are not. The upside is that they are out of there faster, so the noise is gone soon. Also, they make a huge racket when they land.

Anonymous said...

When there are junky homes like the one from the previous post (on Ashland) and others I know of down near 16th and 17th street that are going for $2MM plus, I don't think that any airport closure would push up the values of these already inflated POS's.

Regardless, the airport is here to stay, or maybe it gets the ax in 2015.

Anonymous said...

There is not much commuter or passenger traffic at SM airport. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with a few less private jet landings/takeoffs from a heavily residential neighborhood.

Fat cats destroying the environment? This is an easy target to improve quality of life. The nimbys have a point. Get rid of the propeller planes, too. General aviation is a relic.

Anonymous said...

Right you are - the congressmen that represent our area can get the federal gov't to shut down the airport if they want to

right now a big chunk of their campaign donations come from users of the airport, so if you really want the airport shut, you have to really be confrontational about it

Anonymous said...

leave the props. general aviation is not a relic. You just don't want to see what SM does with the land if the airport is gone. I'm thinking there's a sea change because of the billion $ players that will be chasing that land. Perhaps Playa Vista North? Cal State Santa Monica? Horrible ideas, both of them. Most will call for a park and a mixture of public facilities, but at least 50% of that baby is going to private hands who will overpay and build crap to assuage their lack of discipline.

Anonymous said...

i play golf at penmar and see alot of prop planes(little cesnas) and jetprops(King Airs) and jets(citations, falcons, gulfstreams) take off from SMO.

as I understand it, santa monica is dreaming if they think the FAA is going to alow it to shut down. santa monica failed to even get a limit on certain types of jets--although they have tried.

i just wish they wouldn't blast off during my backswing.

But back to the Expo line phase 2. I can't wait to hop on a train to the sea. Be cool if there is a bike path next to it too. Take the tain downtown to work. It would be great. I don't get the opposition. How could light rail be a bad thing?

Anonymous said...

The earlier poster is wrong in saying the Sunset Park contingent are NIMBYs...try living with such a dramatic increase in jet traffic, jets were not part of the small recreational use history ,i.e weekend flyers and prop planes.....now we have all the rich fat cats who drive Prius by day and burn through a small nations worth of fuel going to their 2nd and 3rd homes....and the smaell of jet fuel in the air is their signature calling card....SMO is one of the heaviest used general avaiation in the nation, with homes closer to the runway than any other airport....just waiting for some drunk good ol' boy to plow into them at 200 miles per hour....yeah, we are NIMBYs all right....SMO is NOT a good neighbor...Ban the Brad Pitts and Arnolds from SMO!!!!

Anonymous said...

It's just a question of money.

Many of Obama's biggest donors are users of that airport, so Obama is not going to immediately be inclined to close the airport when he is elected.

However, if the average SM resident makes it clear that their donations to the contressmen and the local democratic party depend on the airport being shut, pressure through those channels will prevail and it will be shut

bottom line is, if you don't get off your butt and donate money, you don't have a say. Participate in the process by writing a check

Anonymous said...

On the Expo Line topic, if you support Expo Phase 2, you should go to the Cheviot Hills meeting on Thursday. I have a funny feeling the NIMBY crowd will be there in force, Those who are for the use of the existing right-of-way should try to stand up to the local voices. Don't let a tiny pocket of wealthy homeowners "derail" LA transit.

Anonymous said...

On the Expo Line topic, if you support Expo Phase 2, you should go to the Cheviot Hills meeting on Thursday. I have a funny feeling the NIMBY crowd will be there in force, Those who are for the use of the existing right-of-way should try to stand up to the local voices. Don't let a tiny pocket of wealthy homeowners "derail" LA transit.

Anonymous said...

How did Obama get into the Santa Monica Airport discussion that got into the Expo Line discussion?

Back to an earlier comment. Marine, Navy, and Pier are dodgey? Despite the flightpath issue, which is less there for prop planes that have to turn left at the GC, those are some nice streets. The hill starts to slope down affording views and nicely terraced landscaping on a majority of homes from 23rd to about 16th (the stretch that would be considered most impacted by the airport). That's probably why those homes are not sold at much (if any in some cases) discount to the overall neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

I left the earlier 'dodgey' street comment, because of the flight path issue only. The views are incredible on those south facing streets and I predict those home values will increase substantially if the jets are banned.

There are homes on Navy and Pier for sale that are lingering, due to the proximity to the airport.

Barack Obama, Light rail meetings, FAA boosters? I'm not sure where that all came up here.....

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure SMO is a major issue in the Obama campaign

Scott McIntosh said...

Anon april 1 1134am,

It looks like the owner purchased the property at 10707 Le Conte on 7/29/05 for $2.5. It was financed with a conventional fixed loan from Bank of America. The first loan amount looks to be $1,900,000. Additionally the taxes are current.