DISQUS

Been to this place several times. Food is awesome, wine selection is second to none. Service is not for those on the run. Frankly we Americans need to learn to make dining more of a social event and take our time and enjoy the company we are with. I have been to il Poggio Italiana just a few blocks south, also on Atlantic. A different faire, but equally as good. Bixby Knolls has come a long way over the past 3 years. Less hustle and bustle than 2nd St or Pine, and parking is no prob!

Call it what you will. A tax, a bond, a new pot of cash. LB desperately needs to be invested in. Too many are worried that some of this dough will be spent on something other than a road, curb or sidewalk. Therefor they want to throw the whole thing out. Of course some of it will make it's way to somebody's "special interest," it's being managed by politicians for Gods sake. Listen, if they spent the entire amount on nothing more than hosing the sidewalks off, removing grafetti, and a pot whole here and there, thats ok... WE NEED IT ! How much longer are we going to let LB rot away. We have catered to the poor, uneducated, unemployed, who have been "takers" of this city for way too long. It's time to INVEST in LB. It's a whopping $120 a year, who cares? Raise the damn money and lets get to sprucing-up our city. WE NEED IT DESPERATELY! Anyone who can't afford the $120 a year, needs to move to Riverside, it's more afforable.

ProgressiveMan... Brilliant !!! Now there is the best idea of heard yet!. However, I can't believe that LBC leaderhip would actually ever adopt and execute on an idea as great as this. They seem to capitalize on consistant stupidity instead. If they did "expand" the oceanfront property, I'm sure they'd build subsidized housing with Waterfront Walmart and Denny's.

Will she not be able to show up now for school or work? Is she going to have to miss taking her children to school in the morning or maybe she won't be able to make her husband breakfast and send him off to work? Why do these good people always get picked on by the police. It seems like they have been picked for years now, as the have "records" of the police being mean to them. We need to help these people relocate to a nicer city perhaps, where the police will just leave them be so than can work and pay their taxes like I'm sure they want to.

O come-on people, who needs surf and clean water? A vibrant beach/surf culture along LB’s waterfront? Millions of dollars in revenues coming in? I’m mean look what clean water/surf has done to La Jolla, San Diego, Carlsbad, Pacific Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, etc….. God knows we don’t need that happening here. We would rather have the empty beaches each weekend in the good ol’ LBC. Some thugs with their BBQ’s a-burn’n, drinking cans of Bud… now that’s a beach scene good enough for a painting.

LB leadership has all but ruined our city's greatest natural attractions. Well just this past weekend, an annual swim contest was cancelled... you guessed, these snobby swimmers wouldn't swim in our toilet water... (how dare they expect a few homeowners down on the peninsula to want the rest of LA county to have a clean water front that millions of tax paying citizens could enjoy... just so they don't have to worry about some "possible" flooding). Maybe they should have looked up the word "peninsula" before moving there!

LBch past 70 of leadership is a textbook example of what NOT to do. I pray that West and Foster can turn things around.

As a long time surfer (before moving to surfless LBch), history shows if it's the right thing to do in LBch, it WILL NOT get done. This city has the most amazing track record of making text book cases of how to screw up what could LA's county's crown ocean front jewel. I won’t even attempt to start the list of idiotic catastrophic errors.

I've called GPC numerous times, they've most always been out within a day or two max (area is Bixby Knolls). I'm sure there are areas/times when this is not the case. But... what about this idea... heavily increasing the penalty for tagging/graffiti. I mean real heavy, like jail time/community service etc. Make it very painful to committ this crime. No fines etc... these people can't pay attention much less pay a fine. Lets try addressing the real problem here at its source, not just the cover up of the crime. No pun intended.

Took a bike ride there today. Awesome little paradise, LBch can be proud of. However they little thugs have already started their tagging to once again ruin everything they can. Outlaw spray paint in CA!

I will say, it's nice to see we are raising hell, not allowing "just anything" in our fine neighborhood. Some architecture is absolutely worth keeping and we should fight to keep the dozers away. Neither the Gaska center nor Expo Furniture falls into this category. I would classify them as Potash Provincial (save the entry way tile to Roberts). However the Marshals proposal just feels like we are settling, both architecturally and business wise. The renderings are typical of Marshalls everywhere. And if it does open, it will become the Nordstrom’s of NLBch... ROCA Wear, FUBU, BabyPhat, Nike... and other special high end lines of apparel. It will not add to what many of us would like to see in da Knolls, nor will it bring other preferred retailers/restaurants. But hey, if that’s all we deserve, (according to our city leaders) well. “Uptown” was a destination place for all of LB. People who not only lived here enjoyed what it had to offer, but LB’rs from all over came (ie…destination). Until we give the rest of LB a reason to come “uptown” why should they. I think we all agree that a Marshalls is not the attraction that will cause Nancy and Bob and their shore friends to travel our way. I don’t even think they know how to get here. If they did decide to venture up, we would however have to inform them not to take the Atlantic exit off the 405N… it’s been closed for over 6 months now, due to some dirt that washed down on it last year. Maybe BK should stop spending our money in the shores and downtown, since they won't spend their or they city's money up here.

It will not be long until some aggressive young attorney figures out that there is a Erin Brokovich sized settlment waiting in the wings... against the ports and their shipper customers for what they have done to our city. I smell class action in those black plumes of smoke! They willingly employed these trucks, it was cheaper than building out thier own newer fleet of semi's.. not to mention the bunker fuel they choose to burn while parked in our fine city.

Well, well, well... Can LBch actually function without its cronyism? Can we put the best interests of the city first, over greasing a few "well connected?" Maybe we can aim to achieve something great, instead of falling for anything and everything! Keep up the great reporting. Don’t let them get away with it any longer.

Thank you Pat West for saving our city from this bad idea. Thank you for being one of the first city leaders to take a stance that LBch is not going to settle any longer. So very refreshing to know that we won't have to explain away further LBch blight

E-Billboards, ain't going to happen. Mark my word. Next few days we will all come to hear.

Come on LBch, enough settling!!! No one is opposed to the "potential revenues" that "might" be generated. God knows this city needs money. BUT, can't our elected leaders come up with something better than these flashing massive eye-sores...all to generate (maybe) somewhere between $500k-$2mm. I find it hard to believe that anybody really wants any billboard anywhere. Is this amount of money really going to amount to any lasting improvement of anything in LBch? Are the desperate LBch politicians that sell-out for anything with a glimmer of revenue hope, still in office? Look at what this way of thinking has done for the city thus far. At best, the city gets a few bucks, and we end up being the desperate, unsightly city-by-the-sea for another 10 years. Mr. Pat West how does this pass your “windshield test.”

And, Jaun's comment above, adds a whole new insight. Same old LB tricks perhaps? District/Smolar please don't lets this stone go unturned.

Common LBC (Gary DeLong) are you that desperate...? for what will most likely end up being a few hundred grand a yr at best? Can't you think of any way/method to raise revenues that we actually would feel good about, that would be a positive to LBC's image? The potential defense litigation costs (right or wrong/ win or lose), once the first freeway accident occurs with the excuse "that flashing billboard" being the cause, will negate any and all "potential" revenues. AND... they look like shit. I guess when you have council salaries of a whopping $36K a year, this is the quality of thinkers you get! LBC lets step it up and let the new school brilliant thinkers start to take control. WE ALL DESERVE IT !!!

Show me 1 (just 1!) REAL beach community on the west coast that looks/feels like LB's. Most don't even have the advantage of having urbania butting up against the water. We could have the greatest place on the west coast. ANY and ALL surfable, beachable lifestyle/communities that have the beach as it's core asset have "contibutors to society" visiting and living in them. The thugs are never around because they can't afford to even step in. Vibrant beach communities are always the most desireable & expensive areas of their cities. LB has a few worry-worts that ignorantly protect their little domains, while the rest of the entire city suffers tremendously. To date, we have ruined and abused our greatest asset to the point where it has become our greatest liability. A castostrophe beyond comparison. We should fess-up and get it fixed NOW !

Fine, Fine , Fine.... lets just leave it all be. Afterall, look at all of the great progress the LB coastline has had under the previous leaders and their way of thinking. We've got the wonderful Pike, tons of empty commercial properties on Pine in the heart of downtown, unusable beaches, brand new condos that they can't give away, 6 "delayed" development projects, a train that brings people from the hoods inland who can't afford a cocktail or a decent meal... but they can afford a $2 bus fare. The tax paying, working, good people of LB won't even go downtown because they're afraid of being shot, Heck, we've pissed away our greatest asset for the last 70 years, no reason to start changing things at this point! LB, just stay the course... damned these innovative positive thinkers!

Maybe a bunch of hip-hop and gangsta rap concerts in the off season at our new stadium. That will get John Morris' Smooths good and busy.

LB city owes nothing to the homeless. LB taxpayers owe nothing to the homeless. The studios owe nothing to the homeless... no more than any of you owe anything to any of us. This is the USA, a capitalistic, democratic country. You "get stuff" by working hard, paying taxes, saving, voting and being responsible to yourself, your community and your society. If you choose not to participate in contributing, you end up getting run out of "the park" sooner or later. Welcome to America! If you don't like it, go to the USSR where they will give you everything you NEED! Lets get back to reality now.

Imagine that, clean water, a vibrant downtown and beachside community with tax paying citizens who have money to spend IN LB... all because we'll have a beach that you can enjoy, and surf, and let your kids play in. Ever know a real beach/surf community that wasn't the most expensive real estate in the area? Yet LB is always settling for 2nd or 3rd best. A city called LONG BEACH that has a reputation more about "THUG LIFE", Snoop Dogg and the dirtiest beaches in on the west coast. I won't hold my breath.

Here's my bet. Well get a number of "studies" which will get reported to some committees, which will "go to vote" by the "board"... all of which will cost a few million dollars... for them to come back and tell us all..."well the water is filthy because... that big wall out there, and yes if it wasn't there, LB would be a much better place in many ways... however we don't have any more money due to the cost of all of those studies, and committees and board members, but if we did we would recommend that it should be removed." And then they'll all be off to another study. The LB Circle Jerk goes round and round and round and round.

BRILLIANCE from JOHN MORRIS - As a recent resident to LB (after 21 yrs in San Diego) I am amazed at how screwed up this city is. SD like LB has miles of oceanfront, as well as a downtown shoreline. Like SD, LB was a Navy town. Like SD, LB has had a defense industry that is all but gone. However, take a look at the tremendous assets that SD has never had: Oil at $90bbl, a major shipping port, close proximity to all of LA and OC and their several million consumers. 5 airports within 30-45 minutes of each other, 100's of major corporate office headquarters within 30 minutes drive, numerous architecturally and historically significant neighborhoods, ... I could go on and on. No I'm not trying to state how great of a job SD has done moving their city along. No I'm not saying I regret moving here. I could go back to SD tomorrow. For some CRAZY reason I love LB. I just am amazed at how much potential LB has and just hasn't been able to get it right. But it goes without saying, if you cater to the poor, you will have all the poor you want. LB has 26% of it's citizens living below the poverty level. Well, we can brag on our success at that I guess. STOP managing the city to the lowest denominator. Shame, shame, shame on LB's former caretakers for letting all of our greatest assets become our greatest liabilities.

--redrati