Santa Monica, California

:For the Philippine municipality, see Santa Monica, Surigao del Norte

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Santa Monica is a coastal city located in western Los Angeles County, California, USA, by the Pacific Ocean, south of Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, west of Westwood, Los Angeles, and north of Venice. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 84,084. Santa Monica is named for Saint Monica of Hippo, the patron saint of wives and abuse victims. In the skateboard and surfing communities Santa Monica's Ocean Park neighborhood and adjacent parts of Venice are sometimes called Dogtown.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles County, California - USA - Pacific Ocean - Pacific Palisades - Brentwood - Westwood - Los Angeles - Venice - 2000 - Saint Monica of Hippo - Skateboard - Surfing - Dogtown

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Because of its agreeable weather, Santa Monica was a famed resort town in the early 20th century. Now, the city has been subsumed into the welter of towns in the greater Los Angeles area, but is still considered a pleasant place to live. Santa Monica has experienced a tremendous economic boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth, and increased tourism.

Related Topics:
Weather - Resort - 20th century - Greater Los Angeles area - Tourism

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Santa Monica is famous for its progressive politics, including local policies that favor renters, consumers, and homeless persons. Residents of the city are among the largest contributors in the nation to Democratic Party candidates. Because of its political leanings the city has been jocularly labeled The People's Republic of Santa Monica and "Soviet Monica". The city was well-known for its strict rent control ordinance, which had been enacted in 1978 and was partially-overriden by state law in 1999. Santa Monica is sometimes called the "Homeless Capital of the West" due to its tight housing market and homeless problem; satirist Harry Shearer calls it "The home of the homeless."

Related Topics:
Progressive - Democratic Party - Rent control - Homeless - Harry Shearer

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