History of Santa Monica, California - 2000s

2000s

On July 16, 2003, George Russell Weller drove his Buick at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour through the busy downtown Farmers Market, which was held on a city street that was closed to vehicular traffic by temporary signage at each end. The 86-year-old driver killed 10 that day and injured 63, stopping only due the Buick's engine and transmission being clogged with body parts. The city vigorously fought against accepting its responsibility in causing the death and injuries of market patrons through the lack of any barricade. In the wake of numerous civil lawsuits filed against the City of Santa Monica and the company organizing the Farmer's Market, a new policy was adopted requiring portable concrete barricades to reliably block vehicle access for pedestrian street events.

Santa Monica passed a law in 2003 restricting the distribution of food to homeless people in the city. Some organizations have deliberately disobeyed these laws.

The increasingly upscale nature of the city - not just the northern part, which was always affluent, but the southern Ocean Park neighborhood as well which has become a favorite of those in the entertainment industry - has created some tensions between newcomers and longtime residents nostalgic for the more bohemian, countercultural past. Nevertheless, with the recent corporate additions of Yahoo! (2005) and Google (2006), gentrification continues.

During the 2000s, LA Metro has developed plans to return rail transit to Santa Monica, which was gone after the dismantling of the Pacific Electric Railway during the 1960s. It has developed two plans, including the Metro Expo Line and Metro Purple Line both which would extend into Santa Monica. The Purple Line was originally to be extended into Santa Monica, but was stopped due to legislative action. However, Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, one of those who opposed the Purple Line's extension has recently reconsidered extending the Purple Line into Santa Monica. The proposal to extend the Red Line has been described colloquially as the Subway to the Sea. It is estimated that if successful, both lines will be in service by the late 2010s.