Dear Editor,
I am very distressed about extremely high density being proposed for new housing development in Santa Monica.
There is a property at 2501 Wilshire that was being planned as a four-story building with 71 units. Now, suddenly it has morphed into an 8-story building with 170 units.
That is appalling density. Follow my math below...
170 units built on a lot of 19,000 square feet
Assuming about 1.5 people per unit on average, that’s home to about
250 people
19,000 square feet is slightly less than one half acre
That means density for this project would be about 500 people per acre
640 acres per square mile
500 x 640 means density of a rate of 320,000 people per square mile
Santa Monica density is currently about 11,000 people per square mile
Santa Monica is 8.4 square miles
Applied citywide that density would mean a Santa Monica population of...
2,688,000 people
Current population is about 92,000
Projects like this, 30 times our current density, are proposed or currently under construction all over town and the impact on our city will be horrible. Buildings like this will become the tombstones to the passing of what was once a pleasant place to live.
Richard Orton
