Venice of Los Angeles
From the Beachhead
Archives
#2 – December
1968
By Jane
Gordon
History has ups and downs.
Venice started coming down after Abbot Kinney died. The powers interested in
Venice were at that time divided into two main camps: those that wanted to
adhere to Kinney’s principle or absolutely no limits on
business—i.e.,amusement concesions—and those who wanted Venice to be
a residential beach resort.
City mis-management brought this division
to a head. For one thing, politicians seemed to be helping themselves instead of
serving the people (1922: city treasurer vanishes with Venice’s
valuables.) Also, many were dissatisfied with public facilities. Motorists
needed more streets and parking. Population growth resulted in an overburdened
sewer system. There were complaints about the canals; since Kinney’s
death, the shallow canals were left untended and tidal flow was not adequate to
prevent stagnation. They were declared a health
menace.
So the argument shaped
up—annexation vs. independence. In 1923, annexation to Santa Monica as
well as to Los Angeles was to be voted on. Nobody knew for sure who was the good
guy, which plan would be better. No plan got a majority. By 1925, the
businessmen and other proponents of annexation to L.A. had got themselves
together. They argued that annexation would solve all the above problems and as
an extra-added attraction, Venice would get in on L.A.’s Chamber of
Commerce, Board of Health, Police force, water supply,
etc.
That is, the annex-ites were
willing to allow their community to be controlled from the outside in return for
financial gain. This was better than working with their neighbors to decide for
themselves and to provide the reforms and services Venice
needed.
The opposite faction felt that
residents’ interests in the community was more legitimate and sincere than
the speculators’ interest. They resisted the idea that others would be
making decisions about theoir community for them. Their slogan..ANNEXATION MEANS
SLAVERY.
But L.A. won Venice. The vote
was 3,139 to 2,197. That was in 1925. The L.A. Chamber of Commerce immediately
started announcing glowing plans for spending $10,000,000 to make Venice a more
famous and glittering amusement park than Coney Island. The Canals were on the
list, too. They were filled in and paved in 1927. Thus they took two birds with
one bulldozer, providing roads for the tourists, automobiles and doing away with
the health menace of the Canals. Speculators decided to continue L.A.’s
progressive direction by next filling in the lagoon to make way for a shopping
center.
As a side note, a court
decision was necessary before L.A. could touch the Canals—Kinney had
provided that they should always remain private property to foil just such a
plan.
Well. You can see just by looking
out your window that a Coney Island we ain’t. A Safeway, Post Office and
Bank don’t make much of a shopping center. What happened to LA’s
plan for Venice will be discussed next
time.
A word of thanks to the L.A. City
Planning Department, which let me come down there to let me look at their
material on Venice. They planned to let us see our past before they let us know
our future (see BEACHHEAD editorial). But they haven’t been able to get
enough money together to print the damn thing. Bodes ill for the
future.
Posted: Thu - July 1, 2004 at 07:28 PM