Santa Monica turns to authorized, open-container consuming to revive Promenade

Finally some excellent news in regards to the Third Street Promenade space of Santa Monica, which has seen rampant closures in latest months and years.

Mayor Caroline Torosis informed the California Post the Entertainment Zone mannequin that enables for open alcohol consumption, adopted in the summertime of 2025, is working.

“We’re testing out what works and what doesn’t and we’ve had some really successful activations,” Torosis stated. “We’ve seen no increase in any sort of elicit activity. And in fact last year we actually saw a decrease in Part 1 crimes by 12.5 percent.” (Part 1 crimes are a set of great offenses utilized by the FBI’s crime reporting unit that embrace assault and housebreaking.)

In 2024, as California struggled to get well from the pandemic, Senator Scott Wiener authored SB 969 to permit cities to ascertain leisure zones the place adults might devour alcohol bought from bars and eating places on the road.

The invoice was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September of 2024 and sooner than you may say “chug,” San Francisco’s Front Street hosted an Oktoberfest that attracted 2,000 folks, in contrast to some hundred in earlier iterations with a fenced-off consuming patio.

“It just makes it feel more warm and welcoming and not something you have to purchase your way into,” Melissa Buckminster, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Downtown San Francisco Partnership, stated. “It’s great to see it has a very tangible impact for our small businesses. They can make as much in one night as they do in one week.”

Six months later, Santa Monica carried out California’s first longterm authorized open container rule on Fridays by means of Sundays from 11 am to 10 pm.

“We were watching Senator Wiener put this together,” Torosis stated. “We were watching what was happening in San Francisco. We talked with our public officials and our business community to figure out what kind of framework would work for Santa Monica. What is something that puts Santa Monica on the cutting edge of innovation?”

Santa Monica officers lately voted to broaden the Entertainment Zone mannequin to the Santa Monica Pier, Main Street and Montana Avenue, for particular occasions, not each weekend.

“It’s really enabled us to activate more foot traffic for our downtown,” Torosis stated. “And we’re really excited to build off the momentum that we’ve had not just for the FIFA World Cup that’s coming, but our amazing beachside festival that’s going to happen later this summer put on by the same time people as Coachella, and of course, the Olympic Games.”

While California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is seeing elevated curiosity in Entertainment Zones throughout California, it’s not been an in a single day sensation, in keeping with Public Information Officer Devin Blankenship.

“In general, it’s been kind of slow to spread,” he stated. 

San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter nonetheless practices a ban on open containers anyplace outdoors of their bars and eating places and their respective patios or parklets, and Executive Director Michael Trimble stated the area isn’t contemplating turning into an Entertainment Zone, citing security considerations from the native police division. 

California’s famed seashores and public parks usually are not turning into Entertainment Zones any time quickly both, though Jorge Moreno, Southern Communication Manager for California Parks, stated alcohol is allowed in designated elements of some parks, seashores and campgrounds.

For extra on the place Angelenos can drink al fresco, watch the hooked up video, a part of The Post’s, California Explained, sequence.