Before Superbowl Sunday, I took 25 sleepy UCLA freshmen on a field trip to see the Playa Vista community located just north of LAX, 2 miles from the beach and just south of Marina Del Ray and Venice. This was my 2nd trip there and I'm still a big fan of the entire project. This upscale housing has created a new walkable small town where there is a community pool, park and good stores and restaurants that people can walk to. There were plenty of children and dogs running around. While no buildings there appear to be over 4 stories tall, there is still much higher population density than in Santa Monica's 90402 zip code because people in Playa Vista live in townhomes rather than having their own back yard. Several of my students expressed their desire to have their own backyard. While they have the right to consume such housing products, these students didn't fully appreciate the private benefits they would enjoy if they lived in Playa Vista rather than some suburban home in the Valley.
1. It is nice and cool if you live 2 miles from the beach (think of Climate Change adaptation).
2. Your commute to work in Santa Monica or downtown will be shorter
3. You can walk and interact with more people who are likely to have a similar world view as you in this community.
4. Good schools and services will pop up where there is concentrated demand for such services.
5. This area does need access to good public transit. As the scale of people living there increases, it is interesting to ask whether such lumpy investments are efficient.