Santa Monica Canyon

The western border of Santa Monica, California is the 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Santa Monica Bay. On its other sides, the city is bordered by various districts of Los Angeles: the northwestern border is Pacific Palisades, the eastern border is Brentwood north of Wilshire Boulevard and West Los Angeles south of Wilshire, the northeastern border is generally San Vicente Boulevard up to the Riviera Country Club, the southwestern border is Venice Beach and the southern border is with West Los Angeles and Mar Vista.

Though not part of the city of Santa Monica itself, but part of the Santa Monica Post Office code 90402, Santa Monica Canyon is a misleadingly named adjacent neighborhood, facing out upon the Pacific Ocean. With winding roads and steep canyon walls this small enclave shares more with wooded Topanga Canyon than the city of Santa Monica. Home to musicians, movie stars, and aging beach bums, Santa Monica Canyon is part of the city of Los Angeles, and its Canyon Charter Elementary School is one of the most prestigious elementary schools in the LAUSD. The border between Santa Monica Canyon and the Palisades is Chautauqua Blvd.

San Vicente Boulevard is the northernmost major street in Santa Monica.The streets north of San Vicente are generally considered a subsection of the North of Montana neighborhood, but distinguished because of La Mesa Drive. Homes on La Mesa Drive are among the most expensive in Los Angeles County and often contain views of the Riviera Country Club with peeks of the Pacific Ocean or the picturesque Santa Monica Canyon. Lot sizes vary between 15,000 sq feet up to 60,000 sq feet. Home prices range from $5 million to $30 million. La Mesa Drive is one of the least known in the city, planted with a dense canopy of rare Moreton Bay fig trees the street makes a picturesque driving or walking location. Twenty blocks closer to the ocean the Santa Monica Steps are a popular set of 189 public steep steps that lead down into the canyon. Rather than being used as a convenient direct route from the Canyon Charter school to Adelade drive, they are more often utilized for intense workouts and are an excellent place for spotting sweating celebrities. Streets north of San Vicente are usually short and contain gated estates. North of San Vicente the streets are La Mesa Drive, La Mesa Way, Gale Place (Developed by one of the area's prolific post-depression contractors, Cecil Gale), Woodacres Road, Esparta Way, Ermont Place, Foxtail Drive, Larkin Place, Winnett Place and Adelaide Place. This is part of the "North of Montana" 90402 zip code.

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