Maybe we need a new plague. Perhaps a month of rain? Or maybe we need to see some law enforcement for once. As you may know I live in Santa Monica. There is so much to love about this city, the weather, beaches, culture, dining, etc. For that reason I am willing to pay a much higher cost of living, tolerate traffic, and deal with the scarcity of parking. The single biggest problem facing this city is the Homeless problem. I am a tolerant person by nature, what I am not tolerant of are shouting at people minding their business, accosting shoppers for money, making idiotic comments as I jog by on the palisade, breathing foul order as they make lewd comments towards my girlfriend or female friends, pissing in my garage, invading the park I live near (Reed) so I can never enjoy a picninc there without smelling alcohol and weed, etc.
This is NOT a political liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a police department and City Hall that fails miserably to do their job. God forbid you smoke outside in Santa Monica or have a car that emit's carbon dioxide... but it is okay to infect visitors and residents with social decay. It's quite a paradox that we have here. I came to SM thinking that it was one of the most progressive cities in the Nation, I was wrong. I would hate to leave, but I can not raise children around here if I don't even feel comfortable with my girlfriend walking to the grocery store midday. This needs to be resolved. We need our pier, palisade, and promenade returned to glory.
