3rd Street Promenade — Attraction in Santa Monica

The outdoor mall is trendy and cool. It’s convenient for stand alone shopping, as well as an attraction for visitors! It’s been around for as long as I can remember, tho now closed off to traffic with retractable bollard’s as a pedestrian walking mall. It’s attractive with it’s facades, footpaths, fixtures, landscaping, topiary and public seating areas. Because of the proximity to the waterfront at Palisades Park and the Santa Monica Pier, the 3rd Street Promenade adds an extra dimension to the mention of shops, restaurants, activities and available leisure space, as part of a complete visiting experience! The Santa Monica Place Mall at the south end is enclosed and further adds to the overall things-to-see list. Parking lots at the mall are charged by time and have space indicators showing the amount of available spaces before entering. Some things never change, as the decline of shopping malls in general may be somewhat here, if not for its presence by the oceanfront and all that go with it. Likewise, the street people have long been attracted to the area and are still seen, despite efforts of local business to clean up and gentrify the neighborhood, though some businesses are sympathetic and tolerant, with the welcome mat to everyone. Vagrants may now be seen occasionally here and there, tho usually keep to themselves, as there’s a Santa Monica Police security outpost and lots of surveillance to keep things...

Decent outdoor shopping center in Santa Monica. Essentially it’s three blocks of restaurants and shopping with no vehicles allowed. Variety of national brands and local stores combined with casual and upscale dining. There’s an AMC movie theater along the promenade as well.

At one end of the promenade is a shopping center with three floors of stores and a food court on top. The shopping center is “anchored” by Nordstrom, and also includes other popular brand stores such as Nike and Louis Vuitton.

There are numerous paid parking lots along the promenade so parking should be easy to find. Though, there are occasionally lines of cars waiting to get into lots.

There are also a variety of stores and restaurants on the adjacent blocks, and the ocean is only a couple of blocks away. You will also find the entrance to the famous Santa Monica pier within easy walking distance. You could easily spend an entire day in the area without needing a car or other...

Wounded beauty. I have been going to this famous tourist attraction for over 20 years, and I had never seen that it would loose its vibrant colors, spirit, and beauty. Since the prolonged destruction and looting, stealing, vandalizing happened on Summer, 2020, this famous beauty had been injured and may never recover from its pain and scars. Many famous shops are shut down and may never come back, including Express, Forever 21, Super Dry, Gap, Restoration, Old Navy, book store, Starbucks... needless to say about the historical and various fun sports bars and restaurants...it is very sad to walk on the 3rd street and to find out and feel that this fun place is never going to be the same. I saw less people walking, less street music performance and less shops to walk in, and less places to eat, due to the looting and Co-Vid since 2020,...