I spoke to a cop who frequently patrols at the bottom of Pacific Coast Highway below Geoffrey’s. He told me he gives out an average of six tickets per hour from that location. That’s not very many! (Until you realize that it takes nine and a half minutes to pull over violators, give the ticket and get back to the sneaky hiding place in the shadows).
The special disclosure form that local Realtors give to prospective buyers about Malibu risks, issues, government regulations and natural hazards is now up to six pages. In small print.
The 1970s was the decade of new condos in Malibu. These complexes were built in the 1970s: The Malibu Villas, Malibu Gardens, Malibu Canyon Village, Zuma Bay Villas, Tivoli Cove (then called Latigo Bay Villas, as apartments), Malibu Bay Club, and La Costa Beach townhomes. Specifically, all that construction occurred between 1972-1975, and accounts for nearly half the condos that exist in Malibu today.
I’m excited about the proposed hotel at Malibu Canyon and PCH. It would be a beautiful facility and a welcome addition to Malibu, which badly lacks visitor housing. And, ideal for that location.
I think the cramped, confusing parking lot at the Zuma Plaza at Busch Drive would be much better off with five long rows of parallel parking and no parking along the sidewalks. Of course, to create so many more spaces and make it efficient, three trees would have to come out.
Forty years ago in Malibu, here were the real estate companies operating with more than a few agents: Busch & Associates, Posey Carpentier & Associates, Corrodi & Corrodi, Crain Associates, Deneen Associates, General Realty, Robert Knutzen & Associates, Malibu Realty, Pritchett Real Estate, Red Carpet Realtors.
The original coast road through Malibu went along Malibu Road, Latigo Shore Drive and Malibu Cove Colony, as well as Broad Beach.
When explorer Juan Cabrillo visited Malibu in October 1542, he named the area “Town of the Canoes” because of the many Chumash canoes he found at the lagoon.
The origin of Malibu Creek is behind Boney Mountain in the upper Yerba Buena area. The watershed flows through five dams/lakes: Lake Sherwood, Westlake Lake, Malibou Lake, Century Lake in Malibu Creek State Park and then the dam in the middle of Malibu Canyon.
There is life at Pepperdine University and there is life in Malibu, but rarely do the paths cross. It is a shame that more Pepperdine events do not take on a local feel, especially involving the winning sports teams.
A note about the June Malibu High School graduation. As I have written before, it seems every kid these days has his or her own first name. The latest example: At the MHS graduation, 173 students were listed as graduates, with 146 different names. Only 22 names had multiple users. (In fairness to the faculty, of the 60 names listed, there were 57 different names). Among the unique kids names: Kailie, Hana, Englebert, Itze, Kfier, Reign, Devon. And Jalina. As in, Jalina Wallace.
Our Malibu kids will now go forth and multiply. Well, at least they will go forth to multiple locations. The 173 seniors from this year’s class are beginning to attend 143 different colleges throughout the nation and the world. Each with their own name, going to their own place.
Norma Desmond, in “Sunset Boulevard,” circa 1950, to screenwriter Joe Gillis: “Why don’t you come out to my house in Malibu, and you can have the whole ocean.” The first-ever mention of Malibu in a movie?
I began a project many years ago that I still have not finished. It would be called “The 100 Things That Made Malibu Malibu.” It would be a collection of essays for the 100 places, events, influences, trends, etc. that are most notable in Malibu history. My idea, perhaps yet to come to fruition, would be to offer it to Arnold and Karen as a 12-15 part series in The Malibu Times. I already identified the 100 things I would recap, and many of the essays are written.
I reveal this now, because among all the stories of Malibu Pottery, the creation of the pier, the establishment of Pepperdine, incorporation night in March 1991, Chevy establishing the “Malibu” brand in 1965 and 95 other features, there would be only one individual biography on the list. That would be Judge John Merrick, Malibu’s most influential and esteemed citizen of all time. May he rest in peace.
During the 1930s and 1940s, one of Malibu’s most notable landmarks seen along the PCH was a two-home estate on current-day Broad Beach, built by actress Pauline Fredrick. It including a large lighthouse-shaped villa and a huge boat-shaped home right next to each other.
I have a great idea: As long as they are doing all this work at the lagoon, why don’t they just turn it into a golf course?