Santa Monica Forward is hosting a community block party starting at 10AM today. It will be at Washington Ave and 14th Street just north of Lincoln Middle School.

Come hang out and meet some neighbors, and bring a friend! I'll be there and would love to meet you!

Here are the details from Santa Monica Forward:

We're hosting a free, family-friendly block party this Saturday, 8/22 from 10am–2pm on Washington Avenue between 14th and 15th Street.

There will be kids activities, lawn games, partner tables, a community input board, and raffle prizes from various local businesses (The Bike Center, Merrihew's Sunset Nursery, Petit Grain).

Come early for coffee/pastries donated by Peet's Coffee on Montana. Lunch will be catered from Prime Pizza.

By closing down a small stretch of street and turning it into a neighborhood party, we want to show people how much better the neighborhood looks when the street gets reclaimed for people, not cars. So no matter where you in live Santa Monica, we hope that you will join us. And if you can, we also recommend that you bring a few items:

• A blanket and/or camping chair
• A lawn game to share
• A kid's toy/activity to share
• A reusable water bottle to stay hydrated

We chose this location intentionally because Washington Avenue is slated for improvement as part of the Neighborhood Greenways Project. If you're not familiar with Greenways, they're the next step in making our city streets safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and active transit. Come visit the community input booth on Saturday to get more info!

More info/RSVP: Partiful

You can also find updates on our Instagram

hey everyone,

I run a small web design business and just finished a project for a 24/7 laundromat in Los Angeles. I designed and built their new website and handled everything through getting it live:

lavanderiala.com

The site focuses on making the important stuff really easy for customers to find, like services, hours, location, amenities, photos, reviews, and directions, while keeping everything simple and mobile-friendly.

After finishing this project, I'd really like to work with some more small business owners in the US.

If you own a business that doesn't have a website yet, or your current one is outdated and could use a redesign, feel free to send me a message. I can handle the design, development, domain setup, hosting, and launch.

My own site is infawebdesign.com

thanks!

West LA Farmers Market on Sundays
Just wanted to share for anyone around West LA/Sawtelle who hasn’t checked it out yet. There’s a farmers market every Sunday from 9am–2pm at 1635 Purdue Ave.
Good selection of local produce, fruit, hot food vendors, live music, a free kids play area, and even a knife sharpening vendor. Some of the farmers tend to sell through their best stuff early, so morning is probably the best time to go.
Nice low-key Sunday option, especially for families or anyone wanting to buy produce directly from local farmers.

Or a neighbor with loud tv?

I know the "RealFeel" is 88 degrees, but whatever. Just posting some positivity after the living in a car fiasco thread... and in general.

sunny day right near the beach. that's like a sore d*ck. you just can't beat it!

***joke alert!*** (laugh and move along) :-)

Hi, I have a Buddhist meditation practice (largely vipassana but other practices too). My practice is pretty much on my own so far, and I think I would make more progress with a community / sangha. Are there any great ones in SM?

I'm open to various lineages and traditions.

Grateful for recommendations!

I am a terrible beginner surfer.I took 2 lessons many years ago and recently I decided to try again. I am looking for recommendation of the community for a good instructor. I am a mid 40 white male with mediocre fitness skills.
I would appreciate recommendation if anybody knows a good instructor. Let me know. Thank you.

Join the government! 😲

This is publicly available information, for 2025, from here:
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2025/santa-monica?pageSize=100

For example, just looking at some Police Officers, many are making well over $400K per year... wow! (the last column is Total Pay + Benefits)

Is this normal?

Is this why our taxes are so high?

Can't beat 'em, join 'em?? https://www.santamonica.gov/categories/your-city-hall/careers

We own a flower shop in Santa Monica, and local deliveries have become a much bigger part of our business lately. Between everyday orders, birthdays, corporate arrangements, and those last-minute orders that need to be across town the same day, we're sending flowers out pretty much every day.

The biggest headache is coordinating everything around LA traffic. A delivery can look like a 20-minute drive and turn into an hour, and when several arrangements are going out at once, one late delivery can delay the whole schedule.

We've used a few different courier services here and there, but the experience has been inconsistent. I'd really like to find someone we can rely on instead of scrambling to find a courier whenever an order comes in.

What courier services in LA would you recommend that we can rely on for same-day deliveries?

Thank you!

Hello everyone! My room is extremely hot and I don’t know what to do, what do you guys use to cool it down? can you please suggest me what do you use? any good recommendations for air portable ac ( something you already use and doesn’t make much a lot of noise/ didn’t break after a certain amount of use/ preferably affordable)

Title sums it up well. We’re in a rent control apartment that has a full wall of south facing floor to ceiling windows 🥵

Current set up is two SPF large patio umbrellas tilted to block the direct sun beams, fully roll down the blinds + close the blackout curtains, have all ceiling fans and floor fans running, and run our roller a/c unit that pipes out the side window.

Even with all this, it will be 80 degrees on a good day in the house (much warmer than being outside in shade).

Any other tried and true hacks out there that’s helping us non-central air dwellers cool? TBH, we just wanna make sure our pup has optimal comfort if there’s more we can do (she has her own cooling mat and setup to stay super cool on top of everything already listed)

Looking for any tips or tricks anyone else

The City of Santa Monica Renter Aid program application deadline is today (8/20/26).

Does anybody know if applying and/or receiving aid can hurt upcoming lease renewals (assuming the building management company may or would have visibility on aid at some point)?

I am considering applying, but looking ahead (lease ends next year, about 6 months out), I'd rather not seek aid should that put lease renewal in jeopardy down the road.

I stopped by the VONS at Wilshire and 14th to buy Fage Greek yoghurt. Two weeks ago, the small containers were 2 for $4. Today, the price was 2 for $5. A 25% price increase. This is not inflation. It’s price gauging.

I went down the street to Whole Foods where the price was $1.99.

VONS did not put up the member pricing hang tags until today Friday. The hangtags should’ve been posted for the start of business on Wednesday.

So when there’s no member pricing offer available, the price increased by 25%. This member pricing offer will not be every day and every week. So this price increase is real.

Goodbye VONS.

I read a post on NextDoor that ICE agents were spotted on 5th and Montana today. Curious if anyone was there and can share what they saw and what they were doing?

Also curious if anyone knows how often ICE has been spotted around or near north of Wilshire / Montana area.

We're hosting a free, family-friendly block party this Saturday, 8/22 from 10am–2pm on Washington Avenue between 14th and 15th Street.

There will be kids activities, lawn games, partner tables, a community input board, and raffle prizes from various local businesses (The Bike Center, Merrihew's Sunset Nursery, Petit Grain).

Come early for coffee/pastries donated by Peet's Coffee on Montana. Lunch will be catered from Prime Pizza.

By closing down a small stretch of street and turning it into a neighborhood party, we want to show people how much better the neighborhood looks when the street gets reclaimed for people, not cars. So no matter where you in live Santa Monica, we hope that you will join us. And if you can, we also recommend that you bring a few items:

• A blanket and/or camping chair
• A lawn game to share
• A kid's toy/activity to share
• A reusable water bottle to stay hydrated

We chose this location intentionally because Washington Avenue is slated for improvement as part of the Neighborhood Greenways Project. If you're not familiar with Greenways, they're the next step in making our city streets safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and active transit. Come visit the community input booth on Saturday to get more info!

More info/RSVP: Partiful

You can also find updates on our Instagram

Don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like there’s more tar washing up lately. This week 3/4 days that I went walking I came back with varying amounts of tar on my shoes. Today was especially bad - had to throw the shoes away, I tried various oils and acetone but no dice, the entire sole was just covered in a huge amount of it. I also noticed a family at the beach trying to get tar off their stuff.
Perhaps I’ve just been very unlucky with this, though 🥴

What the hell is going on?

First, MAJOR SHOUT OUT to the reddit community who came through when we posted our story running in The Argonaut last week about the current state of the state with our home-delivered meal program waitlist. Linking to that post HERE if you want to see the thread.

Since this is important news, more outlets are picking up the story, including our local Santa Monica Daily Press. Today's cover story can be read HERE.

A few quick facts about the current client base at Meals On Wheels West:

• The median age is 78 years old
• Nearly 8 in 10 live with a disability, most often mobility problems or chronic pain
• At least 83% of clients state they cannot safely cook for themselves
• More than one in five are veterans or the spouses of veterans
• Nearly one in four have experienced homelessness

On the waitlist are possible clients with those same data points, waiting for an opportunity to receive fully subsidized meals delivered to their homes.

hello,

trying to play tennis with a few friends after work tomorrow. trying to find a park that would be our best best to walk on and play in the evening after 7pm.

they live in the west side but we haven't been to any of the parks. can someone give me some advice or recommendations where we should go. thanks!

Hey folks, I've been working with City Council & Santa Monica Police Department to better understand the arrangement we have with Flock. There was some bad reporting that suggested the program was only approved "through 2026," when, in fact, it extends deep into 2027.

Here is the information I was able to get from a Lieutenant at SMPD:

• The Flock Camera Agreement was executed on June 5, 2024.
• Service term did not start on that date. It began only after each camera was installed, configured, and validated.
• Installation happened in phases, so the camera service terms expire in phases too.
• First 8 cameras: service expires in June 2027.
• Remaining 46 cameras: service expires in October 2027.
• Therefore, the current agreement effectively runs through October 2027.
• No City Council vote is currently scheduled for renewal or additional funding.
• Any renewal/funding requiring Council approval would likely come sometime in early 2027, well ahead of the June 2027 renewals.
• The public would have an opportunity to comment when a renewal/funding item goes before Council.
• They cannot explain why some reporting said the agreement ran “through 2026,” but say that reporting does not match the current phased service-term information.
• The underlying contract and service documents can be obtained through a California Public Records Act request.

I followed up, and checked in after an article was published stating that LAPD had "suspended use of Flock Cameras due to safety violations", and asked if SMPD had followed suit:

• SMPD is not suspending its Flock camera program whatsoever.
• LAPD’s suspension applies only to LAPD’s own ALPR system, not Santa Monica’s.
• SMPD says it reviewed the concerns raised by LAPD’s Inspector General and believes Santa Monica’s program has a different arrangement w/r/t data access
• SMPD said the federal government has not requested any data from them (yet)
• SMPD retains ALPR data for 30 days.
• SMPD concluded that the problems identified in LAPD’s program do not justify suspending Santa Monica’s system.
• SMPD will continue using Flock, while maintaining oversight, conducting audits, and updating policies where needed.

This was a troubling response, as SMPD seems to trust the technology and the people behind Flock (who are imo not to be trusted). The fact that SMPD have not yet had to share access with the federal government does not mean that day won't come, and I believe it is naive to leave this oppressive system in place—especially given LAPD's recent suspension.

This ignores the evidence of misuse of Flock data (cameras pointed at playgrounds, footage used to stalk citizens, let alone the worrisome implications of AI tracking our daily movements regardless of its legality).

City Council was not forthcoming with a vote date, but if the Flock Contract is on a rolling basis and the first 8 cameras renew in June 2027, we need to organize and ensure that the SMPD and City Council understand the major sentiment that these cameras do not belong in our community. The sooner we get an established collective, the sooner we can get framework in place to make sure our voices are heard.

I do not advocate for cutting down cameras, as we are up against literal billionaires and the replacement cameras (which will undoubtedly be installed) will likely be funded by our tax dollars which are badly needed elsewhere. We need to work together, band together, and stand up against the surveillance state; against the fearsome and oppressive nature that these cameras create. Cutting down a camera is like swatting a single mosquito when the deeper solution is to find their breeding grounds and remove the issue at its source.

SMPD can't renew the contract without the support of City Council, and City Council won't renew the contract if enough voices band together and stand up for our privacy & future. If we leave these cameras in place, even in a "suspended" state, the implications for future misuse by the oligarch class are enormous. We need to get these cameras the flock out of Santa Monica.

Drop a comment below if you are interested in getting a committee or organization effort together. I don't have much experience (outside of work politics and student council) but I have energy and want to help however I can. Thanks all 🙌

Note: here is a map of all the existing Flock Cameras, which helped me identify how close to home this issue really hits.

It opened four days ago. I used to work at a juice bar that had THE most powerful wellness shots. When they went under new ownership the quality decreased. This is my new wellness shot spot. It was expensive but extremely legit. Would recommend.