Venice scenes

I've been exploring Venice Beach lately, and learning about its fascinating history. Conceived at the turn of the century as a planned amusement and residential community, its design was inspired by Venice, Italy.

Real Estate tycoon Abbot Kinney built a residential district laced with canals. Black and gold gondolas floated beneath arched stone bridges, carrying tourists. The canals met to form a broad lagoon, surrounded by an amusement Midway featuring roller coasters and a bathhouse. A colonnaded business district with hotels and cafes connected the lagoon with a beachfront amusement pier.

Windward Avenue 1925 - LA Public library

It opened in 1905, and since then it's gone from boom to bust and back again. It's been a dazzling entertainment complex, a family resort, a tawdry carnival site and a crime-ridden dump. It's been an model community, an oil-polluted slum, a counterculture haven, and the birthplace of hip and avant garde. It's been the home of circus performers, beatniks, rockers, gang-bangers, homeless people, artists and celebrities. Venice is the cradle from which sprang creations as diverse as the roller coaster, punk rock, skateboarding, performance art and the best and showiest of modern architecture.

I'd like to share observations of Venice with you. If you have memories of your experiences in Venice Beach, post in comments or email me your stories.