Centrality & Decentrality
Centrality of the City to the
Greater Los Angeles Region The emergence of Santa Monica as an independent economic node began in the 1990's when the Water Garden, a 17 acre business complex was built. The campus of neo-classical buildings consists of 1.27 million sq. ft. of office space, which houses tech giants like Amazon and Sony. Due to the proximity of Santa Monica to Los Angeles, the office park was able to jumpstart the economic engine of Santa Monica, thus turning the once bedroom community into an edge city. (Garreau 2011, 7) Bringing jobs to where people lived was only step one as the affluence of tech companies agglomerate into the coastal cities in Southern California, the region has gained its nickname of Silicon Beach. (Vertun) With the technological boom in the Southland, start-ups and co-working spaces furthered the clustering of technology companies in and near Santa Monica. |
Decentrality of the City to the
Greater Los Angeles Region Santa Monica as a city has always been an inner ring suburb to Los Angeles, just separated by thirteen miles. The City first served as a beach community for Los Angelenos' recreational uses between its five piers and was facilitated by the local transit system, the Los Angeles Motor Coach Company. Santa Monica's launch into a node in the mass of the Greater Los Angeles Area didn't happen until after World War II as the Douglas Aircraft company established the City as a technological center. Over the continuous development of the City, the population of Santa Monica grew from 37,146 in 1930 to 71,595 in 1950, due to the increase of migration from the Dust Bowl into the Los Angeles area. ("Census of Population,") The influx of population has helped Santa Monica jump start its own economy separate from that of Los Angeles, contributing to its autonomy as a node. |
References:
"Census of Population and Housing." United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html
Garreau, Joel. Edge city: Life on the new frontier. Random House LLC, 2011.
Vertun, Jeff. "Another Tech Giant Dropping its Flag in LA - Amazon to take 75,000 SF in Santa Monica." LA Commercial Real Estate Advantage. http://losangelescommercialre.com/2013/08/01/another-tech-giant-dropping-its-flag-in-la-amazon-to-take-75000-sf-in-santa-monica/ (accessed ).
"Census of Population and Housing." United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html
Garreau, Joel. Edge city: Life on the new frontier. Random House LLC, 2011.
Vertun, Jeff. "Another Tech Giant Dropping its Flag in LA - Amazon to take 75,000 SF in Santa Monica." LA Commercial Real Estate Advantage. http://losangelescommercialre.com/2013/08/01/another-tech-giant-dropping-its-flag-in-la-amazon-to-take-75000-sf-in-santa-monica/ (accessed ).