What to know as Venice beach celebrates 120th anniversary

Venice Beach just turned 120, and locals and visitors alike are reflecting on what makes this iconic LA neighborhood so special — and why it continues to stand the test of time.

As the sun sets over its famous boardwalk, casting a golden hue across palm trees and waves, it’s clear why Venice remains one of Southern California’s most legendary destinations.

Relaxed, creative, and constantly evolving, Venice blends laid-back beach culture with big-city energy.

It’s a place where bohemians, artists, tech workers, and athletes all cross paths.

Each year, millions of tourists visit this vibrant corner of Los Angeles for its beach, boardwalk, and unforgettable vibe.

“Venice holds a special place in American culture, even with its rough-around-the-edges reality,” said photographer Karen Ballard, who lives there.

“It has served as the backdrop for a myriad of movies, commercials and television shows, going back to Charlie Chaplin’s Kid Auto Races in 1914, to Steve Martin’s L.A. Story in 1991, and the recent blockbuster, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.”

Ballard has been documenting Venice for 15 years. Her connection to the place goes back to 1986, when she visited for her 17th birthday.

“The whole place — Los Angeles in general, but Venice in particular — was just alive,” she said.

“It was bursting with energy, sunshine, youth, the ocean — all the things that attract people here. … Even though I thought Venice was just wildly weird — and it still is — the seed was planted that someday I might move out here.”

Ballard began her career in Washington, DC, covering international news and politics. She moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s to work in the film industry.

“I moved to Los Angeles knowing that I would start a personal documentary project on Venice,” she said.

“I wanted to work on something in between movie assignments, something that I could develop slowly, on my own time.”

Her photos capture both the beach’s electric energy and its peaceful, quieter moments — often at sunrise or sunset.

This year’s July 4 celebration marked the 120th anniversary of Venice’s founding in 1905.

Abbot Kinney, its founder, dreamed of recreating the charm of Venice, Italy, by the California coast.

“He had this grand idea to create a seaside recreational artistic playground — his ‘Venice of America’ for the residents of Los Angeles, complete with canals and gondolas,” Ballard said.

“There was a pier that opened that day, including shops, a dance hall, a roller coaster and even a hot saltwater plunge pool.

That pier burned down 20 years later, but the spirit and his vision remains, including a few of the original canals.”

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Venice was annexed by Los Angeles in 1926, but it has always maintained a strong, independent identity.

It’s long been a haven for artists and creatives — something you can still see today in its murals, galleries, and street art.

“Venice has played host to all kinds of artists: Ed Ruscha, who’s kind of like the quintessential living LA artist of our time right now; John Baldessari; (Jean-Michel) Basquiat. They all made Venice their home,” Ballard said.

“Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury lived here. The famed furniture makers, the Eameses, made their home in Venice at one point. … The Beatniks lived here in the ’60s, and it’s where Jim Morrison created The Doors.”

A mural of Morrison still overlooks the boardwalk, where pop-up musicians and artists add to the scene.

Venice is also home to two major subcultures — bodybuilding and skateboarding.

Muscle Beach, the famous outdoor gym, has been here since the 1950s.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno both trained there.

The nearby Venice Skatepark, opened in 2009, draws skaters from around the world.

“Today’s Venice Skatepark is one of the major attractions,” Ballard said. “People come from all over the world to skate in the Skatepark here now.”

But Venice has changed rapidly over the past decade.

“The last decade has really seen some major gentrification,” Ballard said. “Google moved in here in 2011, and that was the beginning of flipping Venice on its head.”

“Abbot Kinney Boulevard, named after its founding father, is the main thoroughfare that runs through town. Today that street has completely changed and is full of boutique shops, high-end retailers and trendy restaurants.”

The shift has brought tension. As wealth moved in, rents soared, and longtime boardwalk businesses began to close.

“There were some longstanding businesses that had to close because rent skyrocketed over the last decade, and that created a lot of tension among the locals,” Ballard said.

Things were especially difficult during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Venice has often had unhoused folks landing on the boardwalk, taking a patch of grass or crashing on a street corner for the night,” she said.

“But during the pandemic, the boardwalk literally became an encampment.”

Tents lined nearly all of the two-mile stretch. Many stayed for months.

“Eventually, about 200 unhoused folks were moved into temporary shelters or hotels,” Ballard said. “But from the summer of 2020 until 2021, especially at night, it could feel like you had entered an episode of The Twilight Zone.”

In January, wildfires near LA added another scare.

“I got a call from a neighbor asking if I had seen the smoke coming from the Palisades neighborhood around 1 p.m.,” Ballard said.

“I immediately grabbed my cameras and went up to my roof and could see the flames on the hillside already… It was honestly one of the scariest things I’d ever seen.”

Despite everything — gentrification, wildfires, and a housing crisis — the spirit of Venice endures.

“One of the things that makes Venice so special is the community and the locals who live here,” Ballard said.

“It’s a small place.”

With nearly 40,000 people living in just three square miles, the neighborhood has built a strong sense of pride and resilience.

“Somehow, the community adapts and inevitably moves forward,” Ballard said.

(CNN)

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