Always has been. Two decades ago Venice Beach was one of the most dangerous places in LA. Friends would warn me not to pass Rose Ave, the street that separates Santa Monica and Venice. A cab would not bring you to some areas in Venice at night.

These days it's much better. It's a mix of old Venice, professionals, artists, surfer dudes, families, ghetto and the rich that moved in the last decade or so. In the weekends you can see just as many high end cars on Abbot Kinney as on Rodeo Drive, but still with the occasional shooting at the Whole Foods parking lot. When you get closer to the beach it can get pretty hairy when the sun go's down, lots of homeless kids and loonies.

Small price to pay for living at the beach.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).