(Both photos are courtesy of Nick Antonicello.)
Looks like the path is completely gone in this spot. It is all beach. Little fellow tries to ride it through. Others walk their bikes.
By Nick Antonicello
In a city where our elected officials claim to be all for getting people out of their cars and hitting the pedals, why is Los Angeles ignoring the deteriorating conditions along the Venice bike path?
Part of a far-larger, 22-mile coastal bicycle route that also includes Segways, the Venice bike path was that one reliable venue that relieved this community of more cars and vehicles – especially on a crowded weekend!
(Segways and multi-wheeled scooters will be illegal on bike path, all sidewalks, and Ocean Front Walk (OFW) from Washington Blvd to Santa Monica border shortly, if not already. Section 63.44 was revised and recently passed by City Council that prohibits Segways and multi-wheeled scooters from these areas. See Update, 16 June.)
For over a year, numerous inquiries have been made to the 11th Council District Office as well as the Third District LA County Supervisor’s staff with no solutions or results!
Threats of remediation of the grassy knolls that separate the bike path from the pedestrian walk have surfaced from time to time, but neither county nor city government will take responsibility for fixing this continuing dilemma.
Instead, we have the proverbial finger-pointing by bureaucratic officials that becomes seemingly irritated by the slightest criticism rather than enthusiastically embracing and solving the problem that needs fixing!
County government cleans and sweeps the bike path, but the problem is the deteriorating conditions of the once, grassy covered knolls.
City government and specifically the 11th Council District Office refuses to acknowledge the situation as dozens of inquiries have been made to staff that for the most part have gone unanswered or ignored!
Decades old and in need of restriping and resurfacing, north bound access from the Venice Pier to Santa Monica remains a struggle as mounds of sand spill onto the path that hinders travelers, especially those bicycles that include multiple ridership with children on board.
One of the issues that faces Venice Beach everyday is the notion that this is a local “park” versus the international destination mecca that draws nearly 17 million people every year.
With seemingly no one in charge, Venice Beach continues to be ignored as maintenance and general day-to-day cleanup is minimal.
Unlike other tourist destinations, such as Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Central Park in Manhattan, Ocean Front Walk has become a social receptacle for drugs, alcohol, homelessness, crime and a feeling this is not a place you want to visit after sundown!
Instead of being appropriately treated as an economic engine and the crown jewel of Los Angeles, Venice is this step-child and depreciating asset run amok!
It is a place where clean restrooms don’t exist despite the amount of foot traffic, and there is no plan of action to fix this undervalued asset.
Despite the random auto killing of an Italian honeymooner last summer, little has changed or been implemented to correct the structural deficiencies that exist at the beach. The general deterioration of the amenities offered is sad to me as a long-time resident of this eclectic and unique destination for locals as well as tourists.
Most importantly, out-of-the-box thinking is rarely considered, as the short-term and long-term vision for Venice Beach is clouded by such temporary oddities like the proposed Ferris wheel, failed zip-lines and the notion people will ice skate at a temporary rink nobody really desires.
Instead of permanent solutions and partnership with private investment to improve the conditions at Venice Beach, we seem to be in this constant mode of waiting for someone, anyone to step up with a specific strategy to improve what could be so much more here at the beach.
Windy days leave the bike path victim to large accumulations of sand, especially on the weekend when sweepings do not occur.
With so much to fix and address at Venice Beach, why is something so seemingly remedial like a bike path unable to get the attention of those in charge?
According to today’s Los Angeles Times, DataQuick reports that 242 single-family homes sold in the 90291 Zip Code last year at a median price of over $1.3 million per transaction. That’s a 29% increase from 2012!
With Venice drastically changing and home prices surging, will government’s lack of action adversely impact prices in the future that could lead to a housing crash?
Good schools, quality municipal and county services are essential to continue the popularity of Venice as a place to live, work and visit. That means political courage to address homelessness and provide the services essential to get these people into housing.
The lack of action and “paralysis by analysis” lends to the notion that cityhood and more drastic alternatives might be something for Venetians to consider as this detached, downtown mentality that represents this truly unique community is failing at the most elementary of levels.
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