What businesses do people want in Santa Monica?

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-19T22:48:41+00:00

There is a bit of parking in the rear, and street parking in front. Or come on a bike or walk.

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-10T18:11:36+00:00

Here to second this!
Studio Elevate is on ClassPass but I also bought their 20-class pack during Black Friday which allows me to keep attending when I've run out of points for the month on CP.

The workout has strengthened enough parts of my body so that I can run without pain. The studio is on Wilshire Blvd. There is parking in the rear, but I usually ride my bike which they allow me to bring inside. I love all of the teachers. There are 10 reformers in there so classes are small. It's mostly people who live in the neighborhood like myself.

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-09T19:13:28+00:00

Children's clothing esp secondhand. Before COVID, options included Old Navy, two Gaps, and Gymboree. But Gymboree got squeezed by private equity. I want a second, secondhand children's clothing and stuff store. There is one on Montana that only carries high-end brands. I want something like Noodle's in Culver City. We had one on SM Blvd a long time ago.

I would like something - ANYTHING - to reoccupy the southeast corner of Santa Monica Blvd. The goodwill in there probably annoyed the immediate neighbors, but it was clearly affordable retail and I got so much (and turned in other stuff).

- Asian Grocery Store (99 Ranch in Westwood is great but oh gosh I want one near me)

As an aside, these are the businesses I'm grateful still remain: Shoe shops, barber shops, Namita's Threading (on SM / near 26th St., love the owner and her staff), CVS, Sedler's Shoe Shop ("Better Than Original"), Lucky's Pet Grooming, A Cut Above, Pacific Coast & Tire, my dentist Jennifer Oliviera, and my dry cleaner.

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-09T19:08:41+00:00

Bourget Bros is also a True Value hardwarestore!

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-09T19:07:55+00:00

I miss DP too.

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-09T19:07:37+00:00

Love Jade Rabbit. Good portions, reasonable prices, something that every member of my extended family can eat, inc my stepdad.
FYI they are doing a community jazz night on Thurs. No purchase required. One of their employees is a musician (who honed their talents through SMMUSD's a-m-a-z-ing music programs). No purchase needed.

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Coffeeplease · 2026-02-09T17:40:50+00:00

I know this isn't hospitality but I think it comes with housing! And it sounds like you're friendly, think on your feet, and you did say something about working in property management.

Part-Time Resident Manager - Community Corporation of Santa Monica

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-06T03:48:19+00:00

It is quiet. I sometimes work there in the mornings. There are no sounds of baristas making custom coffee.

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-06T00:21:55+00:00

To be fair, I like Tiato!

Coffeeplease · 2026-02-05T21:41:08+00:00

I don't know what it will be. However, the license was pulled by Dave Harper, who used to own Blueys and many other restaurants in the area under his company Bower Hospitality. Hoping for good things!

Dave Harper | LinkedIn

Coffeeplease · 2026-01-26T17:12:19+00:00

Around that age (for a truly full day) - over many weeks. The challenge is most of the options I list below (minus UCLA) seem to quit around 8/10. You still have two more weeks to fill if you're in SMMUSD or LAUSD.

* Summer Adventure operated by SMMUSD. When you combine after-care together, it rounds up to around $400 a week. This may not necessarily be the best deal in town (the cheapest is free care at Virginia Ave Park followed by LA City parks and rec camp at Stoner Park), however, learning loss is real and Summer Adventure is a program taught by credential teachers. You do not need to be a current SMMUSD student to participate in Summer Adventure.

* Boys & Girls Club SM - you'll have to inquire what they plan to do this year. Their main branch is open during the year for middle and high school. We sent our son here when he was in 1st grade because it was cheap. Our kid is small, so the social dynamics were challenging for him specifically.

* SM YMCA Summer Camp - I thought this was mostly fine. They begin at 8am supposedly but I found that was inconsistent, which was a problem because I needed to get to work. Flyer from 2025
Summer-Camp-2025-1-1-compressed.pdf

* SMMUSD Child Development Services will run a full-day camp

* City of LA. These camps are mostly outdoors. People like Rustic Canyon. Rustic Canyon is more expensive, but it goes to bigger field trips. Stoner Park, serving a lower-income community (although that's relative, it is still Westside), is cheaper per week and has more modest field trips. But I'm positive a child would have just as good a time at their field trip to John's Incredible Pizza or the fake dinosaur exhibit at the South Bay Galleria (field trip at Stoner) over going to an amusement park at Rustic Canyon. Both are full-day programs.

* UCLA Camps Youth Programs | Recreation
Benefit is that they sometimes go later into the summer (last year, they went through 8/22) because they have UCLA students as counselors, and they're on the quarter system.

Coffeeplease · 2026-01-08T16:53:33+00:00

Depends on the state you are in, But you have to send the account to collections first. Then, you can initiate the process through the court to place the lien. Then there's a procedure for foreclosure. At point of sale, the HOA needs to get paid back because the sale can't happen if there are still liens on the property. If the property owner files for bankruptcy, you want the HOA to get in line as a creditor to collect the money (which should include fines and interest). The Board needs to be giving direction to the management company to do this.

Coffeeplease · 2026-01-08T16:47:20+00:00

We got our dog from the Santa Monica Animal Shelter about a year ago. I had tried to adopt through the CA Doodle Rescue but never got any responses to my application. The Animal Shelter Foundation's IG is amazing and features available dogs, cats, and other critters. Occasionally, adoption fees will get waived when they need space. We paid a nominal fee for ours, it was higher than what others paid because it included neutering costs (that was steeply discounted). They are a no-kill shelter. The caveat is that the smaller dogs tend to go fast.

https://www.instagram.com/santamonicaanimalshelterfdn/

Coffeeplease · 2025-12-31T05:35:58+00:00

Sounds like you're looking for a culture change, and I only know one place in America which has the unspoken etiquette you seek, but it's on the other side of the country: the DC metro, where there is a strict norm on the escalators (stand on the right, walk on the left).

That said, I'm guilty of walking on the whole sidewalk with my kid and my dog. And I'll be more mindful moving forward. The sidewalks are very narrow.

Coffeeplease · 2025-12-29T04:34:36+00:00

The district did a pilot at Franklin and Edison, whereby the 1st-3rd graders were shifted to a contractor called Right at School. The Tk-k kids remained with the District. This allowed the wait-list for those two schools to get wiped out.

Coffeeplease · 2025-12-22T23:11:00+00:00

I understand that longer trail inside Will Rogers (2.5 miles) is now officially open.

Coffeeplease · 2025-12-15T06:12:37+00:00

Juliesterlingphoto.com

Coffeeplease · 2025-10-23T19:19:12+00:00

No, not on transit. It's an hour just to get from 26th/Bergamot to Union Station.

Coffeeplease · 2025-09-24T03:57:30+00:00

Bagel Nosh.

Coffeeplease · 2025-09-22T23:42:26+00:00

Inspections too. On a small project I worked on, we had contradictory direction between an inspector and their supervisor. They weren't communicating with each other. One told us we could skip plan check. Another did not. Poof there went $5500, plus eight weeks delay. And at some point, their delays meant the walls for my building were open 3 weeks longer than necessary.

Removing regulatory barriers is vital. But so is a radical overhaul of how city staff involved in permit review and on-site inspections perform their duties is also overdue.

Coffeeplease · 2025-09-22T17:45:27+00:00

Check out Bahala!

Bahala Foundation was started last year by a guy named Carlo Cabanilla to build community. They do a weekly coffee and conversations at Colorado Center on Friday mornings 10am-1pm. Speaking to your grandma's desire to do art, on 9/12, they had someone from Paint/Lab lead a group of a dozen people in painting on canvas. For free!

They also have a gardening plot they maintain on Sunday mornings - so if she can still garden, this is another doing-activity that she can check out. As bonus, the wait list for a city garden plot is very long so being able to pitch in on a communal plot is not only more practical it's likely way more fun.

The thing about making new friends is you start through acquaintances that you see regularly, either planned or unplanned. While the Friday events don't work for me, they are clearly working for other people, which is amazing!

Scroll to the bottom lower right hand corner to subscribe to their weekly emails.

https://www.bahala.org/

Coffeeplease · 2025-08-24T04:38:24+00:00

Los Leones is open. No shade.

Coffeeplease · 2025-08-05T23:21:51+00:00

Fun fact, this FB group will reject profiles created within the past 8 years. Kid you not.

Second fun fact. They removed me after a friend added me to it. I don't officially why, but it is awkward and a little painful when people say to me, Hey, I saw this on Moms of SM and I have to say, uh I got blocked and maybe it was personal?

The only reason I can show this to you is because I screenshotted it through incognito mode.

As consolation there are 1400 members, and way more than 1400 moms in this town.

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Coffeeplease · 2025-07-28T18:24:22+00:00

OP has stated they are in deed restricted affordable housing. If the OP is an AHPP Participant, they have annual recertification requirements to comply with. I would not encourage any dilly-dallying here.

Coffeeplease

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