“By the early 1920’s, Laguna Beach had become an exciting, active location in the Southern California scene. It was already an artists’ colony, home to renowned plein aire painters. Hollywood celebrities frequented the hotels that were jumping with live music, dancing and partying. Movies were made in the pocket coves on sets built right on the sand. Summer people pitched tents and camped for weeks to escape the months-long inland heat.”
That’s from Lake Perry’s delightful new book, The Beach House, about the history of the iconic “Witches House” in North Laguna. And what a story it is, with her great aunt Bertha and grandfather Vernon Barker at the creative and executional helms, with little experience but boundless imagination. Because in those days, “there were no laws, no ordinances, no building permits, no inspections, no nothin’.”
Ever get the feeling you were born a century too late? That Laguna Beach must have been heaven on earth, when Main Beach was a giant party, and people would dance to live music under the stars. Or camp on the beach if they wanted. Money has ruined everything, with ever-wealthier people moving in and demanding order, safety, and sterility.
But we do have our own version of a new, happening place to congregate and party: Forest Avenue Promenade. Whoop whoop. It only took a pandemic to get our city to try something that most have wanted for decades — a car free plaza with ample outdoor dining options. And now we are commissioning plans for a permanent space. Which means, at the very least, losing the curb and making one, single level surface. So we can eliminate the “farm corrals” used to level the dining areas and make it a real plaza.
A smart design that would benefit merchants would be to move the dining further to the center and make the walking areas on either side, forcing people to window shop. And by all means let’s add programing, like a Tuesday or Wednesday night farmers’ market – like they do in Palm Springs. We can also use the Forest alley and lower Park Avenue, so there’s plenty of room. How about regular concerts, theater, art fairs, even an outdoor movie night, like we did at Park Plaza to great enjoyment. And yes, dancing al fresco too. Isn’t that better than a parking lot?
Speaking of which, it will be quite easy to replace the lost parking. Build a garage either at Act V or attached to the Digester Building (Jorg Dubin’s free design). We’re in good shape financially. Put electric bike rental kiosks at the parking structures, all over downtown, and most certainly adjacent to our neighborhood parks, so residents can use them to avoid traffic (and have a way better time getting around). Add better and safer bike infrastructure, like a dedicated bike lane on Glenneyre Street and Laguna Canyon Road. While we’re at it, let’s buy Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road from CalTrans (for a dollar) and remake Coast Highway from Ocean Avenue to Legion. This tired stretch of zooming cars could be transformed into an extension of downtown by narrowing to one lane each way, putting an express transit line down the middle, and bringing out the sidewalks so there’s outdoor seating for the restaurants, and display areas for merchants. Now before you curse me out by saying it will produce unprecedented traffic snarls, remember that much of the traffic on Coast Highway is “pass through” to begin with. They’ll switch back to the freeway. Add a congestion-pricing toll that charges visitors’ high rates to drive or park in the center of town, as opposed to a park and ride option on the peripheries, and you’ll reduce congestion considerably. But it really doesn’t matter because you’ll be getting around on a bike, golf cart, ride share or transit. Cars are so COVID-18. Just imagine how pleasant, clean, and quiet that stretch of Coast would be.
Finally, this pedestrianized stretch would now connect the wonderfully remodeled and raucously lively Hotel Laguna to the Forest Avenue Promenade, making a true downtown core that could be “jumping with live music, dancing and partying” again. Downtown has been moribund for far too long. With a remodeled Hotel Laguna and a Forest Avenue Promenade, we’ve enhanced the character and charm of downtown, and could once again be “an exciting, active location in Southern California.” Just took us 100 years to put people first and cars back in their place.
Billy hosts “Laguna Talks” on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on KXFM radio.
