Santa Monica benefited from a confluence of events, mostly planned, that virtually ensured its success. The city was already famous for its boardwalk pier (with its ferris wheel, roller coaster, and year-round carnival atmosphere) by the time the Santa Monica freeway was built, connecting it directly to the rest of the country. It is also the western end of historic Route 66.

A revitalized downtown and the immense success of the Third Street Promenade shopping and entertainment district have ensured Santa Monica's continued prosperity. The city has a diverse mix of residential properties, ranging from apartments and luxury condominiums to quaint neighborhoods of single-family homes to fabulous mansions. Parts of Santa Monica rival the most elegant parts of Beverly Hills and Brentwood.

Santa Monica, like Beverly Hills, is its own city, and therefore does not have to depend on the distant, Los Angeles bureaucracy. So many movie studios and Hollywood power brokers have opened up offices in the city that it has started becoming known as "Hollywood-by-the-sea." A great many celebrities already own homes in Santa Monica, so this development was perhaps inevitable.

Santa Monica is one of those rare communities where you can spend as much or as little as you want on a home. A good real estate agent will be invaluable in finding the Santa Monica homes for sale that best suit your wants and needs. BeverlyHillsPeople.com can help you find just such an agent. Call us at 310.248.2772 or email us at info@beverlyhillspeople.com to start the search, or just to have a few questions answered.