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I'm surprised he didn't mention Santa Monica's downtown. In the 80s it was generally considered seedy & filled with blight. The now-famous Santa Monica Pier was in disrepair. 3rd Street wasn't really a thing, nor was Santa Monica Place, Casa del Mar and so on.

Today the area is hot enough that it commands rents comparable to SF & Manhattan. The median rent for the area is $3,200 and one bedrooms in newer construction (w/o an ocean view!) can go for $5k.

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i've lived in sm for 6 years now. it's changed dramatically even in that short period of time.

i like to think of santa monica as an improved version of san francisco, with the rest of los angeles attached as a bonus. if you live and work (i.e. no commute) in santa monica, it's easily the highest quality of life in urban california, and i've lived in pacific heights, downtown san diego, and central LA proper.

San Fransisco has a more more diverse set of options for nightlife and culture compared to downtown Santa Monica.

If you bicycle around Santa Monica/Venice there's not much going on compared to SF. Sure you could hop in your car and drive to Hollywood, DTLA, or other parts of the city but that's not really the same as the work/live urban core ideal.

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