The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Environmental Affairs Committee met on Wednesday (Feb. 3), and some interesting information was presented. I’m on the committee, reprsenting Green Building Solutions, Inc., a Chamber member.

Sustainable Works (http://sustainableworks.org) coordinates Santa Monica’s Green Business Certification program and their residential greening program, as part of their mission to foster a climate of sustainability. They work with businesses to make feasible recommendations, and some businesses may be certified as green businesses. The residential program includes a free Green Living workshop that meets once a week for six weeks, and teaches Santa Monica residents about concepts of sustainability. See http://sustainableworks.org/resident.html.

I didn’t know that Santa Monica is working on a single use bag ordnance; the city already encourages use of reusable bags in various ways. Several cities have been working together on the required Environmental Impact Report, which should be completed by the end of this month.

And the City bans use of Styrofoam cups, although the police won’t come get you

CVS has a “GreenBagTag™” program: get a tag on your reusable bag, swipe it every time you buy at CVS, and $1 will be credited to you at every fourth use.

The Committee is working on adding a list of books on “green” topics to the monthly newsletter, and starting a series of talks on environmentally oriented subjects that would be recorded and put onto the Chamber website for the public to enjoy at their leisure.

Lots of good stuff going on through the Chamber Environmental Affairs committee. We did a beach cleanup last fall, and a cleaning of Main Street is coming up April 3 from 8AM to 12 PM; to participate, just show up.

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Calendar for February:

Friends of Sunset Park — Board/Membership meetings — Feb 11, Mar 11, April 8, May 13

February 1 — Bridge & Scrabble — Mondays, 1 to 3 — Fairview Library — 21st & OPB

February 2 — “Write-Away” — Tuesdays, 12 to 2:30 — Fairview Library

February 2 — SMC Board of Trustees — 7 PM – Business Building, Rm. 117, 1900 Pico –
Agenda: http://www.smc.edu/apps/pub.asp?Q=544&B=1

February 3 — Youth & Family Chess Club — Tuesdays, 3 to 6 PM — location moved
from Fairview to the Ocean Park Branch Library, OPB & Main St.

February 3 — Planning Commission — 7 PM — City Hall — Paseo Nebraska development agreement
“float-up” — 5-story 58-ft high, 356,000 sq ft facility, with 545 residential units averaging
500 sq ft, 80,000 sq ft commercial, and 1,000 parking spaces, on Olympic Blvd. between
28th/Stewart & Centinela. Staff report for agenda item 7-A posted at
http://www01.smgov.net/Planning/PlanningComm/PlanningAgendas.htm. Email comments
for the Public Record to Roxanne.Tanemori@smgov.net and Kyle.Ferstead@smgov.net

February 4 — “What’s New this Week?” moderated by Jack Nordhaus — Wednesdays, 1 to 2:30 PM –
Fairview Library

February 6, 7, 13, 14 — William Steig’s “The Amazing Bone!” – A musical pig tale for kids 4 to 104 –
Saturdays & Sundays at 11 AM — 2627 Pico Blvd. — www.morgan-wixson.com

February 9 — City Council — 6:45 PM — City Hall — Item 3-A: Study Session on the LUCE
Environmental Impact Report (posted online at http://www.shapethefuture2025.org) –
Agenda: http://www.smgov.net/departments/council/

February 10 — S.M. Planning Commission — 7 PM — City Hall –
Draft LUCE Environmental Impact Report — Study Session.

February 11 — L.A. Planning Commission — Bundy Village & Medical Park — Development on
Olympic & Centinela, wrapping around Martin Cadillac to Bundy — 1.3 million sq ft;
12 stories high; 20,073 new daily car trips, impacting many intersections
in Sunset Park. Phone L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl at 310-575-8461 to comment,
and/or email Councilman.Rosendahl@lacity.org , Luciralia.Ibarra@lacity.org
(L.A. Planning Department), and info@BrentwoodCommunityCouncil.org
(www.StopBundyVillage.com)  — refer to “Bundy Village, Case No. VTT-66732-CN-DB-GB”
Draft EIR: www.CityPlanning.LACity.org/EIR/BundyVillage/DEIR/Index.html

February 11 — FOSP Board/Membership meeting — 7 PM — Mt. Olive Church,
14th & Ocean Park Blvd. — www.FriendsofSunsetPark.org — Updates on S.M. Airport
(City of Santa Monica vs. FAA), Big Blue Bus (fares tripling for seniors/disabled),
Crime/Safety (NRO Artis Williams out of the office due to injury), SMMUSD
(parcel tax on May 25th ballot), Development agreement “float-ups” — Agensys,
Bergamot Village, Paseo Nebraska, Roberts Business Center, 2834 Colorado,
plus Bundy Village & Medical Park, New Roads School expansion, SMC Academy
of Entertainment & Technology expansion — 3.3 million square feet of
development being planned directly north of Sunset Park –
Draft LUCE Environmental Impact Report.

February 11 — LA Chamber Orchestra — 7 PM — SMC Performing Arts Center — Broad Stage –
11th & Santa Monica Blvd.

February 13 — Resume Assistance — 10 AM — Fairview Library (Call for appointment: 310-458-8681)

February 13 — Literature Book Group — monthly — 11 AM — Fairview Library — Things Fall Apart

February 14 — Musica Angelica — 4 PM — SMC Performing Arts Center — Broad Stage –
11th & Santa Monica Blvd.

February 16 — 1st day of spring semester at SMC! — traffic & parking alert!

February 17 — Planning Commission — 7 PM — City Hall — Public hearing for a Development Agreement
“float up” for Agensys, Inc. – 1800 Stewart/28th — 153,000 sq ft with 300 parking spaces.
Email comments to Planner Brad.Misner@smgov.net and Planning Commission Secretary
Kyle.Ferstead@smgov.net
Agenda: http://www01.smgov.net/planning/commission/agendas/pc2010/index.htm

February 18, 19, 20, 26, 27 — “Rent” — Santa Monica High School — http://www.SamohiTheatre.org

February 18 — SMMUSD Board of Education — 5:30 PM — District Office, 1651 16th St. –
www.smmusd.org

February 20 — Neighborhood Council — 10 to 12:30 PM — Ken Edwards Center — www.sm4residents.net

February 20 — SMC Board of Trustees — Winter Study Session — www.smc.edu

February 20 — “Citywide Reads” — 1:30 PM — Main Library — Little Bee — author Chris Cleave –
www.smpl.org

February 22 — Airport Commission — 7:30 PM — City Hall — Annual Environmental Workshop –
Agenda: http://www01.smgov.net/airport/

February 23 — City Council — 6:45 PM — Agenda: http://www.smgov.net/departments/council/

February 27 — “Citywide Reads” — 11 AM — Fairview Library — Little Bee — www.smpl.org

March 2 — SMC Board of Trustees — 7 PM — Business Building, 1900 Pico — www.smc.edu

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Do numbers baffle you?  Its my job to look at numbers and make sense of the real estate market in Santa Monica.  After all, my clients depend on me for trends, analysis, and letting them know of a great deal when it becomes available (or maybe even before it comes to market).  Here are the condo and single family home stats for January 2010.  We can see that inventory is still tight and I suspect that it will start to grow in the coming months as spring is upon us.  Plenty of overpriced listings are still sitting on the market unsold as well.

Condos for sale in Santa Monica

Picture 1

Single Family Homes for sale in Santa Monica

Picture 2

I do love that homes sold are withing 93 to 95 percent of the original list price.  This tells us that sellers who are realistic and really want to sell their homes are doing so and in just a little over 2 months time.  And of course, there are the tired expired listings.  Which one would you rather be?  And which one would you rather buy?  Check out the stuff on the right of the page for more information.

We make real estate fun because we are always

Working Hard So You Don’t Have To.

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The new FHA and how it affects Santa Monica real estate

by WestsideDB January 22, 2010

Are you one of the fortunate ones who can get a loan with FHA?  Well, after April 5th 2010 the times they are a-changing as the song goes.  The window of opportunity is shrinking on current conditions.
The Federal Housing Administration is making a few changes to its guidelines and if you are an FHA buyer, [...]

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UCLA Family Commons Grand Opening

by WestsideDB January 20, 2010

A good friend of mine has been working with this organization for awhile now.  Its a perfect opportunity to learn more about how you can be connected to your community as well as be a part of family wellness.  Check it out and tell them DB sent ya!

                [...]

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The fight against leafblowers in Santa Monica

by WestsideDB January 7, 2010

I just read about this new site where you can report about leaf blowers in Santa Monica (after all, the gas powered polluting kind are illegal).
The Santa Monica Daily Press wrote about it and you can check out the site for yourself at http://stopleafblowers.com/

I once knew a guy who owned a gas powered leaf blower [...]

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Eradicate Christmas tree deforestation guilt by going green and recycling your tree!

by WestsideDB January 3, 2010

The City of Santa Monica Solid Waste Division is offering free Christmas tree recycling for the entire month of January.
Residents with curbside recycling service may place their cut-up tree in their yard waste collection container.  Please remove tinsel, ornaments, and stands from the tree.
It is unlawful and a fire hazard to leave trees at the [...]

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January’s Calendar for Sunset Park FOSP

by WestsideDB January 2, 2010

We’re back!  After a little holiday hiatus, samolive is back in full swing.  Here’s the calendar of activities sent to us by our friends over at Friends of Sunset Park:
Calendar for January

Friends of Sunset Park Board/Membership meetings – Jan 14, Feb 11, Mar 11, April 8, May 13

January 4 — SMMUSD Board of Ed – [...]

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Ride Blue – Go Green

by WestsideDB December 18, 2009

Our friends over at http://www.voiceofsantamonica.com have a great article about the green movement in Santa Monica and how you and Big Blue can make our city of Santa Monica more sustainable.
Go check it out http://www.voiceofsantamonica.com/ride-blue-go-green-local-art-students-use-their-creative-holiday-display-at-big-blue-bus-store-to-spread-the-message/
               

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December’s Calendar

by WestsideDB December 7, 2009

From the Friends of Sunset Park:
December 8 — City Council – 6:45 PM – City Hall
December 8 — Orchestra & Choir concert – 7 PM – John Adams Middle School
December 8 — SMC Board of Trustees – 7:30 PM – Business Bldg.,  Rm. 117
December 9 — Band & Choir concert – 7 PM – John [...]

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Santa Monica Main Street Christmas Tree Lighting is Nigh

by WestsideDB December 3, 2009

Will we see you down on Main St this Saturday at 5pm?  Rumor is that Santa will be there.  Let us know if you are going and we’ll see you there!  Look out for the shopping cart Christmas tree – candlelight walk at 6pm for daring souls.   Raffles, sidewalk sales, and holiday parties abound!
http://www.mainstreetsm.com/holiday-09/
  [...]

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7 Cool Free things to do with kids in Santa Monica

by SM mom November 30, 2009

Before I became a Santa Monica real estate agent, I was a stay at home dad for four glorious years with an infant and a toddler and was always looking for fun things to do that didn’t cost anything, or at the very least a minimal amount of money.  And given the nature of the [...]

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Parking – everyone’s favorite pastime

by SM mom November 24, 2009

Cool article about the fate of vacant buildings in Santa Monica that have been slated to be developed into parking structures.  Do we really need more parking structures or just better management of existing ones?
http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2009-11-23-65443.113116_What_the_future_may_bring.html
               

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What? Pollution due to the Santa Monica airport?

by SM mom November 18, 2009

Finally.  Someone is making a story about this and presenting some facts.  Sunset Park residents have been up in arms about the airport forever, and especially active are the Friends of Sunset Park.  If you are concerned about your health and you live in Sunset Park or Ocean Park, take a read.
Click here for the [...]

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Santa Monica Farmer’s Market has a new treat

by SM mom November 5, 2009

I went to the farmer’s market on Wednesday and was pleasantly suprised to find a new vendor: Charlie Graham from Santa Barbara. I haven’t had fresh lobster in a long time, so I splurged.

Needless to say, it was delicious. I split em down the length of their bodies, grilled on high heat meat [...]

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Calendar of Events for Santa Monica

by SM mom November 1, 2009

This is from the Friends of Sunset Park:
Calendar of events for November:
November 12 – “Can We Talk?” – 7 PM – The annual Sunset Park meeting at which city staff, including the City Manager and representatives from departments such as Airport, Community and Cultural Services, Fire, Human Services, Open Space Management, Planning and [...]

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How to have an 8 dollar electricity bill in Santa Monica – I did it, so can you.

by SM mom October 29, 2009

With very little effort involved, I have a cheap electric bill and am doing something good for the planet at large.  It’s easy and you can do it too.  Here’s how:
My family and I purchased a great home in Sunset Park a few years ago and one of the selling points was that it has [...]

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Todays Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Treat

by WestsideDB October 14, 2009

I visit the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market almost every Wednesday morning, preferably early since the best stuff goes quick (kind of like everything in life)
And every time I visit, I try something new – today was this incredible creature – an organic tropical dragon fruit.  Made me think I was visiting Kauai again with the [...]

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Pico Art Walk and Car Show This Saturday

by WestsideDB October 13, 2009

Come on down to Santa Monica’s very own Pico Blvd and check out some great art, cool cars, workshops, studios, grub, and businesses this Saturday the 17th from 10am – 5pm. There’s even free parking at SMC with a free shuttle on a double decker bus from Starline Tours.
For more information, please visit the picopassport.com [...]

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Shadow Buyer on Wordpress wants to buy your Home

by WestsideDB October 12, 2009

This is something I’ve never seen before, but I think its brilliant.  This guy seems like the real deal and I told him I would blog about his quest.  He’s a family man looking to buy a home that is currently not on the market.  Price range 1.6MM-3MM.  There are what some circles call “shadow [...]

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