Topline:
Barnes & Noble is opening on the popular pedestrian shopping center, next summer, after a five-year absence.
Why it matters: The book chain's return is part of a revitalization project to turn the outdoor shopping strip into an entertainment venue, after the pandemic left stores vacant.
But... Critics say the city must also find a way to take care of its most vulnerable residents, as homeless continues to plague the beachfront city.
A familiar retailer is returning to the Third Street Promenade, and Santa Monica leaders hope it will act as a bellwether for the area's transformation.
Barnes & Noble is opening on the popular pedestrian shopping center next summer after a five-year absence. Its return is part of a project to turn the outdoor shopping strip into an entertainment venue, with pickleball courts, tattoo parlors and more.
“I never consider us to be a mall in your traditional sense,” said Andrew Thomas, the CEO of Downtown Santa Monica, a commercial property management group behind the Promenade.
It’s not the first transformation for the three-block pedestrian mall. In the 1960s, it went from a car-friendly district to a pedestrian-only attraction. In the 1980s, some $10 million were spent on improvements to bring back shoppers and diners. In the 1990s, new commercial chains were settling in, turning the strip into a shopping destination.
But boom times ended in the late 2010s, when rising rents kept businesses from renewing leases. Then the pandemic hit, which essentially shut down in-person shopping.
“It was very painful. We really haven't had any significant downturns at all until the last three years,” said Wally Marks, who owns the building where the new Barnes & Noble will move in.
The Promenade’s taxable sales dropped from more than $435 million to just about $200 million between 2017 and 2023, according to Santa Monica Public Information Officer Lauren Howland.
And as one business shuttered after the other, an uptick in unhoused people took root in Santa Monica’s commercial echelons.
Over the summer, angry business owners pushed the city council to address the growing unhoused issue. One owner draped a sign on his shuttered promenade store declaring, “Santa Monica Is Not Safe,” later changing it to “Santa Methica Is Not Safe.”
“That's probably when we put our foot on the gas and realized that we needed to do everything we possibly could to support our business community,” Thomas said.
New zoning ordinances eliminated obstacles so new kinds of businesses can open. A focus on making the city accessible to middle-class families, compared to the adjoined mall’s luxury offerings, was also a priority.
In June 2022, Marks cold-called Barnes & Noble. His current lease would be ending and he wanted to know if the bookstore chain had any interest in returning to the Promenade.
To his surprise, the answer was yes.
Barnes & Noble first left the shopping strip in 2018, amid high rent and the onslaught of online book sales. Its Santa Monica return is part of the book retailer's bigger turnaround plan.
“They're trying to give more local control to their store managers, so it's not top down but bottom up, and that's very appealing,” Marks said.
Marks longs to see the building return to the days of book readings and community events nestled within its exposed brick walls and hardwood floors. In the early 1990s, his building was home to the indie bookstore, Midnight Special Books.
He called Barnes & Noble's return “serendipitous.”
“We just really believe in the power of books and the power of magic that it brings to people,” Marks said.
Barnes & Noble will join a number of new businesses in the area. According to Howland, the city has seen 400 new businesses and issued almost 100 outdoor dining permits this year alone.
But the city must also find a way to take care of its most vulnerable residents, housing and homeless advocates say.
Santa Monica declared homelessness a local emergency this year as it rose 15% from 2022, but some say resources have not met the uptick.
"That's what Santa Monica does — it's a big tourist community and they care more about money and more about looking good for the tourists that are coming in as opposed to taking care of the people. So it's just a really bad situation," said Joey Trachtman, a local volunteer.
Trachtman has lived in Santa Monica for 25 years, and was part of a group of volunteers who provided food for the unhoused population of 100 or so people who had congregated on the Promenade during the pandemic.
As the Promenade remakes itself post-pandemic, the unhoused problem isn't going away.
“It’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week issue. Homelessness does not exist during just business hours, Monday through Friday, and we haven't made a strong enough attempt, especially downtown,” Santa Monica councilmember Phil Brock said.
17 new police officers have been approved to patrol the downtown area. Brock says more social work teams and supportive housing is needed, more than what the city has agreed to provide.
Brock added that people still feel unsafe, justifiably or not, in the area.
“We're still struggling to get back to what residents and visitors feel a lot of times is a really safe, clean, inviting place to shop, to walk, to eat,” Brock said.
In this edition:
Get $1 churros, see the Grove tree lighting, Sheryl Crow live and more of the best things to do this week.
Highlights:
A big thank you to all the service members who’ve served our country this Veterans Day. There’s lots going on to honor them, including a ceremony on the beach in Santa Monica, a celebration at the VA and more.
Elsewhere on LAist, you can learn about one couple who chose the LAUSD coffee cake for their wedding, come hang out with us at CicLAvia in Pasadena and grab tickets for FilmWeek’s screening of Sideways.
Licorice Pizza has your music picks for the week ahead — it is Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction time, after all — including:
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday, Nov. 11
El Moro
Multiple locations (Echo Park, Costa Mesa, La Habra)
COST: $1; MORE INFO
What better way to get through the rest of the week than with $1 churros to celebrate International Churro Day? Mexico City institution El Moro now has three L.A. area locations where you can score a deal on the fried treat all day long, plus get a complimentary 12th churro when you purchase 11.
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 7:15 p.m.
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
We lost the great Brit-turned-Angeleno artist David Hockney this year, but his legacy in L.A. is remembered in author James Cahill’s new book, The Beverly Hills Housewife: Hockney’s Californian Muse and the World Beyond the Pool. The book tells the story of David Hockney’s pivotal early years in Los Angeles, his unlikely friendship with a Beverly Hills collector named Betty Freeman, and the city itself — all through the lens of a single painting, Beverly Hills Housewife (1966-67). Cahill will be in conversation with writer David Ulin.
Through Saturday, Nov. 21
6 Rose Ave., Venice
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Australian artist Cj Hendry has taken over churches, swimming pools and more around the world with her bright creations. Her latest installation, Flower Shop, takes over the Rose Room in Venice, where you can purchase one of her felt flowers starting at $10 — the perfect headstart on unique holiday gifts.
Through Sunday, Nov. 15
Pantages Theatre
6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
COST: FROM $45; MORE INFO
Fun fact: The Who’s Tommy was the first show I saw on Broadway in 1995 (starring the great Michael Cerveris), and now I’m dating myself by saying the revival is on tour at the Pantages. The Who’s timeless 1969 soundtrack follows the story of Tommy, a child struck by tragedy who wins hearts with his pinball prowess. Pete Townshend and director Des McAnuff reunite to tell the story again for a new generation. Tommy, you’re a sensation.
Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m.
The Wallis
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
COST: FROM $27.50; MORE INFO
I saw the live National Theatre production of The Importance of Being Earnest in London last year, and it’s laugh-out-loud funny, with great performances from Doctor Who himself (Ncuti Gatwa) and Sharon D. Clarke as Lady Bracknell. Directed by Max Webster, the Oscar Wilde classic mistaken-identity comedy took the West End by storm, so don’t miss a chance to catch the filmed-live version at the Wallis. If you just can’t get enough "Earnest" this week, the Bardfly Theatre Co. has their last live performance of the sendup of Victorian England at the L.A. Arboretum the same night.
Saturday, Nov. 14, 4 p.m.
Sunset Strip
Sunset Blvd. between San Vicente Blvd./Clark Ave. and North Doheny Drive, West Hollywood
COST: FREE, RSVP REQUIRED; MORE INFO
Sheryl Crow will play 'til the sun comes up on Santa Monica Boulevard (well, more likely 'til just after it goes down) at the free concert on the Sunset Strip, Live on Sunset. The nine-time GRAMMY Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee joins a host of other performers, including Local Natives and Empress Of, at the block party show.
Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 p.m.
Academy L.A.
6021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
COST: $39.95; MORE INFO
Art collective Meow Wolf is opening soon in L.A., but you can catch the vibe early with this DJ set at Academy L.A. The music takeover will feature some of Meow Wolf's favorite characters and oddities from their unique multiverse, alongside DJ performances from Desert Hearts and house producer Justin Martin.
Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Downtown San Pedro
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
The Second Saturday Art Walk takes over downtown San Pedro this weekend, with galleries, record stores and more opening their doors to celebrate independent artists in the harbor town. Plus, the San Pedro International Film Fest will present two ocean-themed documentary short series at the John Olguin Auditorium at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
Thursday, Nov. 12, tour at 11:30 a.m.
UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
The O.C. Museum of Art opens its fall exhibit, Hello Again, with a public celebration on Thursday featuring a tour with curators. The show leans on “thematic fluidity” in the curation rather than chronology, with a focus on California art of the 1960s and '70s as well as more contemporary work. The first exhibit from newly-appointed director Kathryn Kanjo, it “reveals how regional landscapes, domestic spaces, and urban culture remain fertile territory for material and conceptual experimentation.” The exhibition includes work from many artists you’ll be familiar with and some to discover, including Glenn Ligon, Suzanne Lacy, Robert Rauschenberg, Betye Saar, Ed Ruscha, Narsiso Martinez and more.
Monday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m.
The Grove
189 The Grove Drive, Fairfax District
COST: FREE; MORE INFO
It’s that time of year again. The annual Christmas Tree lighting at the Grove happens next Monday — just 39 days till Santa gets here, folks. This year’s party features performances from Nicole Scherzinger, Jason Mraz, Mark Ambor, Jamie Miller, “O” by Cirque du Soleil, American Authors, Kenedi Anderson, JYT and more.
Topline:
Huntington Beach nonprofit Bolsa Chica Conservancy is fundraising to replace equipment damaged in recent coastal flooding. It's anticipating the need for more repairs, as the flooding forecast around Thanksgiving and Christmas could be even worse.
What was damaged: Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s executive director, Carissa Macias, said that despite its efforts, a pump used for its aquarium shorted out due to water damage and needed to be replaced. (The aquarium houses a tide pool, various fish species and a shark.) The conservancy has since replaced the pump and taken measures to protect the surviving equipment.
Future risk: The organization’s Interpretive Center, which hosts its aquarium and exhibits about the region’s ecology, is in a modular trailer-style building. “The threat that we are concerned about is that if we get enough water flow underneath the buildings and saturating the soil underneath the buildings, that it's going to compromise the stability of the buildings,” Macias said. Regardless of whether that happens, Macias said she expects supplies will be needed to divert floodwater and make more repairs.
Why it matters: Current forecasts show that high tides in late November could be up to 7 feet — higher than those seen in October, without taking into account other factors that could make the tides even higher. Macias said that traditionally, their buildings haven’t been affected by coastal flooding other than water getting into some parking spaces.
About the organization: The Bolsa Chica Conservancy is an educational nonprofit that aims to protect over 1,300 acres of coastal habitat that offer up-close views of some 200 species of birds. The conservancy offers free programming to teach people about wetlands of Southern California, nearly two-thirds of which have been lost to development and parking.
How to support: The conservancy said it may need volunteers in the weeks ahead, but the best way to help is by donating, which you can do here.
Topline:
Dan Shimell, an attorney and a new face to local politics, is Santa Ana’s next mayor after an unexpected win against incumbent Valerie Amezcua.
Why it matters: Aside from Shimell, progressives Sandra de Anda and Isuri S. Ramos are also projected to win City Council seats, deepening the Santa Ana City Council’s progressive bench.
Read on … for what this race says about Santa Ana politics.
Dan Shimell, an attorney and a new face in local politics, is Santa Ana’s next mayor after a shocking win against incumbent Valerie Amezcua. His win has become one of the most surprising upsets in Orange County’s general election and marks a shift for a city that previously elected its first Latina mayor.
Amezcua congratulated Shimell on social media late Monday night after the last round of election results nearly doubled Shimell’s lead. As of Tuesday night, Shimell held a 5-point lead over Amezcua. Amezcua did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Santa Ana,” Amezcua said in a post. “Together, we have accomplished great things. We invested in our neighborhoods, expanded opportunity for families, and strengthened the services that make Santa Ana home. Our work was never about one person. It was about all of us moving this community forward.”
Aside from Shimell, progressives Sandra de Anda and Isuri S. Ramos are also projected to win City Council seats, deepening the Santa Ana City Council’s progressive bench.
A flashpoint in Amezcua’s re-election campaign was during the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that rattled much of Southern California, including Santa Ana, Orange County’s only sanctuary city. The raids sparked protests that drew a heavy law enforcement response from Santa Ana police, including rubber bullets and tear gas.
In Amezcua’s first public response, she accused protesters of inciting chaos and violence. She later walked back her comments in a city statement, saying most protesters were demonstrating peacefully and that she did not support the raids.
Shimell told LAist he thinks Santa Ana voters, especially young and first-time voters, went to the polls to vote for those who can't.
“Those who have been or might in the future be impacted by immigration policy and enforcement,” Shimell added. “Taking a bold stance on immigration and police accountability seemed to resonate with voters I spoke with, and stood in stark contrast to the [police]-backed candidates who remained largely silent on those issues.”
Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento served as mayor of the city from 2020 to 2022, and his current district includes Santa Ana. Sarmiento told LAist that the results were surprising but reflected the change voters want to see in their elected officials.
“I think the underlying message is that money and establishment conventional politics no longer is the formula to success in a campaign in the city,” Sarmiento said. “It's really the influence of people and voters over money. That's really the theme here.”
Santa Ana City Councilmember Thai Viet Phan told LAist that the race results were somewhat surprising — but spoke to a larger trend.
“[In] the election results throughout the country … you saw a very leftward shift, with not just candidates but also just how voters voted,” Phan said. “I think that was reflected here in Santa Ana on the council.”
Shimell raised about $28,500 in his campaign for mayor. Amezcua raised more than $75,000 and received more than $200,000 in outside support — more than half of that came from the Santa Ana Police Officers Association.
Mike Moodian, a public policy professor at Chapman University, told LAist that in many ways, the races capture the zeitgeist of Santa Ana.
“Here we saw that there was a police union-backed group, and there was a resistance to that,” Moodian said. “People might have seen the incumbent mayor as part of a police union-backed establishment."
He explained that voters may have looked at Shimell as a fresh face who can represent more people and that the city is experiencing a deeper progressive shift.
“I find the residents of Santa Ana tend to be much more involved and engaged in local politics than most other cities in Orange County. So you also have a well-informed, engaged citizenry that showed up, and the voices were heard in Santa Ana,” Moodian said.
Moodian said Amezcua may have lost support from some voters because they were unsatisfied with her response to immigration enforcement.
Ballots are still being counted. The OC Registrar of Voters posts updates every day, except Sundays, at 5 p.m. Election results will be certified by Dec. 3. You can find updates on key measures and other races here.
Topline:
South Asians, especially those in the Little Bangladesh ethnic enclave, are celebrating Nithya Raman’s election as mayor of Los Angeles.
Invisible constituents: Nazmul Chaudhry, the owner of Deshi Food, a restaurant and grocery store in Little Bangladesh, says they are happy for Raman’s election because no other mayoral candidate has spent time in the historic ethnic enclave the way she did this fall. Mayor-elect Raman is of Indian descent and an immigrant. When she takes office, she will be the first South Asian mayor of Los Angeles.
Overlooked concerns: For seven years, Chaudhry has been trying to get a city official’s attention to fix the cracked sidewalk in front of his store. Nothing has been done about it. He hopes Raman will finally get it done.
Shift away from identity politics: Raman’s Indian background was a feature of her campaign, but it was “not the central thesis,” said Sara Sadhwani, associate professor of politics at Pomona College. “ When the economy is bad, identity slips away as the top issue on someone's mind,” she said.
For seven years, Nazmul Chaudhry has been trying to get the city of Los Angeles to fix a broken sidewalk in front of his store.
Chaudhry owns Deshi Food, a restaurant and grocery store in Little Bangladesh. Before I could even begin our interview, he led me to the front of his store to show me the sidewalk that pedestrians sidestep and electric scooter riders slow down around.
He said he’s tried to get the attention of city officials, but nothing has been done.
He’s hoping that will soon change. He said then-candidate Nithya Raman spent time in the historic enclave just north of Koreatown this fall, talking with community members about their problems. For the first time since he moved to the United States in 1989, Chaudhry is excited about a mayoral election.
“Everybody's happy because we've never seen anyone [come] like that directly to us,” Chaudhry said.
Mayor-elect Raman is of Indian descent and an immigrant. When she takes office, she will be the first South Asian mayor of Los Angeles. Chaudhry is proud of that distinction. But what means more to him is that Raman spent time walking the streets of Little Bangladesh, visiting businesses and speaking to community members about their concerns. Chaudhry said that, because of that, he asked all his customers and family members to vote for Raman. At dinner parties, Chaudhry said, Bengalis would share how they were excited to vote for Raman in this election.
In the Little Bangladesh area, vote returns to date show Raman with a 2-to-1 margin over Mayor Karen Bass.
"Hopefully she's gonna take care of the city," Chaudhry said.
His business has been hit hard after federal immigration raids ramped up in Southern California. People are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And for those who do come to his store, he said, they are met with increased prices because of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on imported goods.
"Everybody's suffering actually these days," Chaudhry said. “If you see, Nov. 3 is a huge change because people [are] fed up."
Chaudhry also said city services don’t do a good job keeping the streets clean. So he takes it upon himself to pick up trash in front of his shop.
A few weeks before Election Day, Raman posted a social media video from Little Bangladesh addressing the trash along the street.
His relatives in New York told Chaudhry that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, also of Indian descent, has “changed the whole city.” He’s hoping for some of that change in Los Angeles when Raman takes office in December.
While Raman’s Indian background was a feature of her campaign, it was “not the central thesis,” said Sara Sadhwani, an associate professor of politics at Pomona College and a senior researcher with AAPI Data.
In 2020, when Kamala Harris, also of Indian descent, was running for vice president, Sadhwani said, she conducted research on Indian Americans who wanted to see more representation in politics. In 2024, some of them turned away from Harris.
“When the economy is bad, identity slips away as the top issue on someone's mind,” she said.
Identity politics, Sadhwani said, was important in 2008 when the nation elected the first Black president, Barack Obama.
“ We're ushering in a new political generation of millennials and Gen Z; diversity is just expected at this point amongst a vast majority of Americans,” she said, highlighting how at the last census more people identified as multiracial.
Nationally too, Sadhwani said, thec ountry is seeing a shift. South Asians have gone from “model minority” to “governing minority.”
”The old script was that for Indian Americans, for South Asians, that being that quiet professional is what success meant,” she said. “When we look at Raman and also Mamdani, they're fighting for executive power in very visible, very messy city politics, and they won not by following the rules, but they won by challenging the status quo.”
That idea resonates with Faizah Malik, managing attorney for housing justice at Public Counsel and a former L.A. City Council candidate.
“When we were growing up, our parents said, ‘Just keep your head down, go to school, get educated, make a nice life for your family, and that's it,’” she said. “Politics was not really part of the conversation, but I think what we're seeing is that we can run for office, we can win by being our full selves.”
This is an exciting time, she said, for “South Asian political empowerment,” with Raman set to join Mamdani in leading the country’s two largest cities.
Malik said that, as a housing advocate, she cares about Raman’s fight “to build more housing around the city that people can afford, her fight to keep renters in their homes, to prevent homelessness, her fight to try and really solve our homelessness crisis but also be efficient with our public dollars.”
Nikita Chaudhry, an actor and political organizer, wants to see Raman revitalize L.A.’s film industry, “to call the city the home of Hollywood again.”
“Having that kind of representation and knowing that it exists is really exciting because I think and hope it will activate South Asian Americans of all ages to get more involved in their communities,” Chaudhry said.
Raman's and Mamdani’s victories were years in the making, Chaudhry said: from organizing in their communities to holding other elected positions to engaging voters who are otherwise ignored by elected officials. And she hopes that it will inspire other South Asians to become more involved in their communities.
“If you're feeling activated, if you're feeling excited, that's great," she said. "Take that energy and the time and the skills and the specificity of what fires you up towards your local organization, towards your neighborhood, towards your community.”
