Bergamot Transit Village back to square one

Santa Monica has long been known as a great city, not only for its proximity to the Pacific, but also for its cultural impact. We've always been proud to be part of the city, especially Bergamot Station, the home of the Lois Lambert Gallery, Gallery of Functional Art and Our Gallery Store. Over the years Bergamot and the surrounding area has undergone several makeovers, and with the upcoming Expo Line, a future light rail line part of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail System, developers from all over are looking to redesign Bergamot Station. Recently one such proposed project to re-develop the area neighboring Bergamot came before the city council, only to be turned down due to widespread disapproval from the city's residents.

The proposal, called the "Bergamot Village Transit project", outlined a mixed-use development that, if approved, would have reached up to eight stories and included almost 2000 parking spaces. It's not surprising that residents opposed the idea, describing it as "too tall, too dense and...a beacon of intensified congestion to an already overburdened traffic corridor on Olympic Boulevard."

As a former and now future site of a public transit station, Bergamot will most likely go through a lot of changes, and rightfully so as L.A. County residents continue to embrace public transportation. We're incredibly excited to see how the area grows, and hopefully any future proposals can find a balance between the demands of a growing industry and the demands of the city's residents.

Photo source: Metro website