Venice Los Angeles Business Directory

The palm-lined Venice Beach boardwalk — with its sidewalk vendors, street musicians, roller skaters and Muscle Beach bodybuilders… read more

— has become synonymous with Los Angeles, appearing on film almost as often as local luminary Dennis Hopper. The movie veteran's Frank Gehry-designed compound is one of many architectural standouts in Venice, a community that serves as a magnet for L.A.'s actors, musicians, designers and artists. Several piers and amusement parks have come and gone, battered by storms and fires. Now the performers congregate along the Venice boardwalk — skateboarders and stilt-walkers, musicians and magicians. Tattoo parlors, booths stuffed with sunglasses and beach clothes, and purveyors of street food line the scenic beachfront. Cyclists interweave between the pedestrians as the beat of conga drums fills the air. Basketball games on the beachside courts draw a crowd, especially on Saturday afternoons. Since its early days the city has attracted the odd and adventurous — artists and spiritual seekers, Beat poets and hippies. The best and bravest performers show their stuff on the beach's main stage; others vie with the vendors for sidewalk space to perform and hawk CDs and paintings. Local cultural highlights include the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), the literary center Beyond Baroque, and performance spaces at the Electric Lodge and the Pacific Resident Theatre. Just off the main drags are the narrow residential streets of Venice, a mix of lovingly restored bungalows, modest apartments and modernist architectural statements. Grass-lined streets, dog parks, recreational areas and well-tended gardens turn this densely populated neighborhood into a pleasant retreat. Venice is the number one seaside destination on the West Coast so please come visit Venice and be a part of its colorful history!