Santa Monica Place - Update

At the end of the promenade once stood a dilapidated mall called the Santa Monica Place that originally was opened in 1980, during the large indoor mall boom that this country went through. Although it was designed by one of my favorite architects, Santa Monica's own Frank Gehry, and had also been in several films including the Terminator and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the mall had seen better days. It became a relic of the 80's with the subpar chain retail stores and greasy food court eateries. The malls of the 80's and early 90's are no longer desirable places to shop, especially in Southern California where the weather is too nice to spend a full day of shopping indoors. The only time I would go there was to shop at Macy's but the rest of the mall was very quiet and kind of eery.

Macerich, a REIT (I work for a REIT as well) based out of Santa Monica purchased and has completely gutted Santa Monica place and is putting in more of an open air shopping center with outdoor dining terraces and high end retail stores.

From Macerichs website:

The retail attractions of Santa Monica Place include a new Bloomingdale’s and a new Nordstrom plus a growing roster of specialty stores: Burberry, Kitson, Nike, CB2, Tory Burch, Juicy Couture, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Ted Baker, AllSaints Spitalfields, 7 For All Mankind, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Coach, Ed Hardy, True Religion, Joe’s Jeans, Swarovski, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Angl, Bernini, Charles David, Parc 81 (formerly Michael Brandon), East 5th Hub (formerly ROC/Republic of Couture), Eva Varro and Solstice Sunglass Boutique. Newly signed for the property are, on the first level, Betsey Johnson, Barneys Co-Op, Johnny Was, Pandora, L'Occitane, White House Black Market and Bird Pick Tea & Herb; and on the second level, Chilli Beans, Tous, Foreign Exchange, Kensington Luggage, Sea of Silver, and GNC. As well, Love Culture will open a larger, 10,069-square foot store rather than the 7,500-square foot space originally planned.

The rooftop Dining Deck will offer ocean and city views and a carefully selected set of chef-driven restaurants and quick-casual dining options. Already announced restaurants include two concepts from nationally recognized restaurateur Richard Sandoval, Zengo and La Sandia, plus Pizza Antica, Ozumo Sushi, and XINO Restaurant + Lounge.


I think this will be a great extension of the Third Street Promenade, whose retail stores are more aimed towards tourists. It will be nice to not have to drive to Century City or South Coast Plaza to get some nice shopping in. I am sure traffic will be worse now, but at least we are walking distance to the Santa Monica place.

SoCal Meteorologist Rankings - #5 Dallas Raines

Here's the thing about Dallas Raines, you either love him or hate him. There is no middle ground on his likeability. I personally used to hate him but now fall into the latter group. Initially I had a "you have got to be effing kidding me" moments when I first watched Dallas doing our local weather several years ago. Who is this guy with a ridiculous name, orange overtanned skin, and cheesy car salesman persona. I couldn't stand him. But he grew on me like mold. He is actually an extremely talented weatherman, second only to one other who shall be mentioned later. He communicates well, has a lot of energy, and seems to be much more detailed when we do have weather systems coming through the Southland. You just have to get over his shiny veneer and accept Dallas for who he is. And I have to give him some credit, he came out and was very forthright when he found out he had prostate cancer which was a very brave thing to do.


Knowledge and Professionalism: 9
Entertainment Value: 8
Appearance: 7
Total: 24

SoCal Meteorologist Rankings - #6 Elita Loresca

Elita, a native of the Philippines, who moved to LA when she was 10 months old and after a brief stint doing the weather for the folks of Miami came back to make Channel 4 her home much to the delight of many Angelenos. Although I rarely see Elita doing the weather since I don't watch the news in the morning or midday while she is on, I have definitely heard a lot about her due in no small part to her being voted "America's Sexiest Newscaster" in 2006 by the readers of FHM Online magazine while she was in Miami. As far as I know this is not an annual poll so she seems to be the only meteorologist to hold this distinction as of right now and there is definitely a lot of competition out there. I pulled up a few clips of her weather reports and she is an above average weather reporter who is very calming and has a good style about her. I also have to admit, she seems to have a ton of fan sites online which definitely helped her ranking. It also turns out she is good friends with rival meteorologist Maria Quiban who ranked #8 in this poll.



Knowledge and Professionalism: 7
Entertainment Value: 7
Appearance: 9
Total: 23

SoCal Meteorologist Rankings - #7 Johnny Mountain

So here we are #7 and the first truly cheesy weatherman name. Who knows if Johnny's real last name is Mountain and if so why not be called John Mountain? But what I do know is that Johnny Mountain is cheesy. After some thought, I think if I were to become a weatherman I would opt for a name with more local relevance such as Jimbo Ocean or Jimmy Heatwave... Johnny Mountain seems better suited for a Denver based meteorologist.

I actually came pretty close to not including Johnny in these rankings as he has recently announced his retirement... I guess I will consider this my homage to a long illustrious career of forecasting the weather for us grateful Angeleno's. Johnny, no stranger to the tanning salon has always been well dressed, wearing a big smile, and has had above average energy which made him more than tolerable. The good and the bad of this is that the lovely Jackie Johnson and the annoying Josh Rubinstein will be picking up more air time. I really hope this "retirement" wasn't another wave of "restructuring" due to the slow economy. In any case... we salute you and your 30+ years of service to us Johnny... godspeed my friend and feel free to change your name back to something somewhat normal.

Knowledge and Professionalism: 7
Entertainment Value: 7
Appearance: 8
Total: 22