Venice

Los Angeles, California Travel Guide

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Venice

Area: Along the coast on the west side

Overview: When you visit Venice, California, you say to yourself, “Wow. This ain’t Kansas.” Venice, a fairly large coastal community in Los Angeles, sits south of Santa Monica and north of Marina del Rey. Marine Street tops off Venice and Washington Blvd anchors it. Walgrove Avenue contains Venice on the east side and of course, the Pacific Ocean prevents Venice, California from taking over the entire wild west.

The (in)famous area, Venice has one of the more intriguing histories of any Los Angeles districts. Originally founded in 1905 by tobacco business mogul Abbot Kinney, “Venice of America” was originally an unusable marshland. The early twentieth century saw the rise and fall of the Venice, Italy replica with all of its frills such as the grand canals, amusement park pier, trolleys and amphitheater. The glitter of Venice soon died out with the annexing of Venice into Los Angeles. Los Angeles turned Venice into a practical area with roads and oil drilling. The Depression carried with it hardships. But, by the late twentieth century, Venice was on the rise again, powered by the locals and a new 18 mile Bike Path from Santa Monica to Torrance.

Venice is a fairy enigmatic area even for the local angelenos. But, who cares! Venice has the famed and always fun boardwalk, which is always in the top three places to take visitors in Los Angeles. The Venice Boardwalk is a microcosm of Venice, California as a whole; it’s eclectic. Some of the most interesting and bizarre action and scenes in Los Angeles happen right on the boardwalk. You have herculean bodybuilders at Muscle Beach working out at the outdoor gym, colorful sidewalk performers, shops ranging from cool to scammy shops.

The people of Venice are really what makes up Venice. The dichotomy of the Venice crowd is that it is both hipster and rough around the edges mixed in with a lot of homeless, pan handlers and drug users. During the day, the locals and tourists hang out around Wynward Ave, Rose Ave and Westminster Ave, which are three (parallel) streets that run east and west from the beach off Pacific Avenue. Around these three streets are a lot of bars, restaurants, cafes and shops. Wynward Ave is especially fun and you will know when you hit Wynward Ave when you encounter the circular loop a block east from the beach. In addition, a few blocks east of Venice Beach are the Venice Canals and the famed Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Click on the links for more information.

WARNING: you’re better served if you don’t hang out around Westminster and alleyways and even the boardwalk at night when the night crawlers come out to play. Keep your eyes open to all that Venice, California has to offer and you will come away entertained and spirited.

Accessibility: Venice is wheelchair accessible though some of the residential streets don’t have ramps at the corners of the sidewalks. And, Venice is an old area with lots of uneven pavement. But, still wheelchair accessible.

Getting There: www.bigbluebus.com, www.metro.net, http://www.culvercity.org/bus/bus.asp