As a scenic California beach town, Santa Monica naturally attracts many tourists, and the people who make their living in the city waste no time. The retail industry alone makes up around 16 percent of the city's economy. There are approximately 450 restaurants in the city, one for every 200 of those wide-eyed sun-craving tourists. The famous Santa Monica Pier is an example of that tourism-friendly attitude, with theme park rides for kids bursting with energy after a long car ride and shops selling items like Route 66-themed T-shirts and pretty seashells.
Closely following the 16 percent of the city's economy that runs on shopaholics, the nerds make up another chunk, with 13 percent of the city's business powered technology. It's not all about looking good in Santa Monica-the city's part of the "Silicon Beach" region of metro L.A., and a number of sharp-minded people have struck gold here with start-up tech companies. In fact, almost 36 percent of all L.A. startups are right here, according to Fast Company. Here are a few you just might have heard of: eHarmony, Snapchat and Activision.
It's true, Santa Monica's demographics paint a pretty white picture: White residents in the city make up a significantly larger portion of the population than the total percentage of white residents in California and nationwide. That high number of white residents has stayed about the same since 2000.
There's no excuse for families not to spend time together and enjoy the Santa Monica life with the live music downtown, farmers markets, and even "Shark Sundays" at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. In addition, residents with kids have plenty of options when it comes to parks, and students get a great education: GreatSchools.com has given very high ratings to several Santa Monica public schools including Franklin Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School and Santa Monica High School.
Around 70 percent of residents in Santa Monica are renters, compared to approximately 54 percent nationwide. Unfortunately this means that for people looking to buy a home the available options are limited, but renters can take their pick of properties.
People in urban areas tend to be more liberally inclined when it comes to politics, and Santa Monicans are no exception. This inclination is especially true when it comes to sustainability issues: The people chose to ban plastic bags starting September 2011, and many of the buildings in the city adhere to LEED sustainable standards.
The combination of all of the retail, restaurant, and entertainment options, combined with the generally happy attitudes of the people and the benefits for families, mean that the residents of Santa Monica don't feel a strong need to travel into the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles. They've got everything they need right where they are, so there's no need to go east of the 405.
It's not surprising that people would love living in a city by the beach, but Santa Monicans go above and beyond. They're given great perks like affordable housing and city parks (Santa Monica ranks near the top of City-Data's list of cities with the most government spending on parks and recreation), which motivates them to show their thanks with a very high level of social engagement and interest in city council and policies.
While Santa Monicans love where they live, trying to build something new isn't so pleasant. It's well-known to everyone that the process to get new building development going in Santa Monica can be much more lengthy than other cities (it was even publicly acknowledged by the Chamber of Commerce's director of government affairs last year), and frustrating factors including parking rules downtown and city zoning and development policies have contributed to this lack of growth. But so far even that's not enough to diminish the overall happiness of the people with their city.
One benefit (like there's only one) for people who live so close to the beach in the L.A. area is the absence of that pesky smog. And no one knows it better than Santa Monicans. They've got some of the cleanest air in the Los Angeles region according to the American Lung Association, due to the city's prime location by the beach and policies enforced to increase alternative fuels in public transit and encourage car sharing. People in the city of Los Angeles, by comparison, are breathing in a city with one of the highest ozone pollution levels in the country. No wonder Santa Monicans love taking advantage of going outdoors for the farmers market or playing in the parks Their lungs are safe.
