Venice Beach sucks
This weekend, I had the opportunity to see one of California’s original landmark, Venice Beach. Not surprising to say (at least coming from me), it was a big disappointment.
I am sure that back in it’s hay day, Venice Beach was a nice place with great sun, art, and street life. But on my visit, it was dirty, stinky, crowded with ghetto kids, and cheap. My main beef with Venice Beach is that it looked like a prison yard, minus the dirty restroom facilities (meaning prison probably has better restrooms). Besides the entertaining basketball game that was going on, the rest of the boardwalk made me want me to cling tightly on to my purse (if I had one).
However, I don’t think that the unfriendly environment at Venice Beach is unique. In fact, I would say that most of the beaches and boardwalk (ie. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) I’ve seen in California are very undesirable places to visit. It is a sad reality that we have all these great natural wonders, yet we do not take care of them. We let graffiti get painted on the walls, garbage to collect on the streets, and shady characters loiter around the corner selling drugs and panhandling.
Perhaps if we spend more money cleaning up these natural resources, it could become a source of tourism income for the local economy.
But that’s just my opinion. Some people wouldn’t let stuff like this bother them. Me on the other hand, I won’t be coming back to Venice Beach any time soon.
Vinh, you should really change the name from Blog to RANT. Cuz thats all I’m reading. Bitch bitch bitch, just like at that holiday inn hotel!
uh i’ve never heard anyone complaining about venice. but then norcal ppl hate everything in socal anyway. i wonder why ppl want to go to socal (hint hint haha) in the first place when they know it isn’t their thing
and hey, at least we have beaches where we can bath in, unlike norcal right?
I live in LA and I absolutely HATE Venice Beach too. It is no longer the artistic mecca that it was meant to be. It is filled with ghetto thugs, alcoholics, drug addicts and overall filthy disgusting people with no class. It is not safe to take your family there at all. People let their dogs shit everywhere and have no respect for their fellow human beings. There is nothing peaceful or human about that place at all.
Los Angeles is my hometown, and while I love many parts of the city, I have to admit that Venice is an open sewer. Wannabe bohemians from the mid-west seem to like it (as long as mommy and daddy are paying for them to live in expensive, secured buildings). Homeless people and panhandlers also seem to have an affinity for Venice. As for self-respecting people who don’t enjoy filthy, overcrowded conditions, you won’t find many of them in Venice. If you’re coming to the L.A. area, check out some of the hidden gems of this region like the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the Old Bank District in downtown L.A., and Stony Point in Chatsworth.
did you really just say people should visit palos verders and chatsworth instead of venice?! venice is eclectic, to say the least and it’s still the same great place it always was. if you want scenic beauty, visit palos verdes, if you want strip clubs, visit chatsworth, if you want diversity, culture and some great beach hotels in L.A., visit venice.
I love venice beach. I used to leave there for 5 years! I’m from Austria. I also think it’s safe, because there is always police around. At least in the daytime. You never get bored at venice beach. Besides, Santa Monica is just a short bikeride away. I remember the people being very friendly. The homeless people you do see are harmless. Besides, isn’t that the best place to be, when you are homeless. I’m looking forward going back to visit.
Now THAT IS what I’d call an insightful position on things. What I would suggest perhaps is talking to other people actively involved in the scene and bring to day any different points of view and then update your site or create a new post for us to stew over. I hope you’ll take my ideas, I’m looking forward to it! Try to cover off on some graffiti characters as well if possible, they’re quite popular at the moment.
Venice isn’t for everyone that’s for sure, but I’ve been there numerous times and have *never* seen so much as a pocket get picked.
You’ve got a lot of diversity which includes the good and the bad. The graffiti is like artwork and the bums actually earn their way by providing entertainment. One of them rollerblades around with a guitar and an amp playing music and is even on postcards!
Anyways, there are plenty of family friendly beaches in the LA area, and I’ll be the first to admit that venice isn’t one of them. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it isn’t safe to stroll through.