Santa Monica is a coastal city in Los Angeles. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, The Palisades and Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles and Mar Vista on the east, and Venice on the south. Except for the Pacific Ocean to its west. As of the 2005 census, the city had a population of 96,500, but an early 2006 estimate has the population at 103,255. Santa Monica is named for Saint Monica of Hippo because the area on which the city is now located was first visited by Spaniards on her feast day. In the skateboard and surfing communities Santa Monica's Ocean Park neighborhood and adjacent parts of Venice are sometimes called Dogtown. Santa Monica is sometimes referred to with the colloquial abbreviation "SaMo," a precursor to similar terms such as NoHo and WeHo.
Because of its agreeable weather, Santa Monica had become a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core, significant job growth, and increased tourism.
.gif){kind=spacer}
