Next time you visit Los Angeles, here’s a unique waterfront neighbourhood hidden in the sprawling Californian city, to discover away from the crowds on the Venice Beach boardwalk.
Officially known as the Venice Canals Historic District, the area consists of three blocks set around six man-made canals: Grand and Eastern, which run north to south; Carroll, Linnie, Howland and Sherman, which stretch east to west.
Day trip to the Venice Beach canals
Discovering this serene sanctuary, it’s hard to believe you’re just a few minutes’ walk east of Venice’s crowded boardwalks and traffic or mile-long Abbot Kinney Boulevard with its high-end shops, restaurants and galleries.
A walkable area of car-centric Los Angeles, you can easily spend an entire morning or afternoon exploring, weaving your way along the quiet pathways and over the arching wooden pedestrian bridges on foot.
Quick History of the Venice Canals
It all started once upon a time in America when they attempted to recreate the canals and the old-world charm of Mediterranean Venice. The man behind this crazy idea was Mr Abbot Kinney, a millionaire developer, who founded the whole area of Venice as a seaside town in 1905.
Before 1929, the entire area between Abbot Kinney, Pacific and Venice boulevards consisted of Kinney’s man-made canals. In the city’s earliest years, visitors to Venice of America would arrive by streetcar or railroad and travel through the city by footpath.
At one point, there were even gondoliers brought in to row tourists for a fee while singing in Italian – and a miniature railroad that circled the development. Imagine! Residents could also travel through the waterways with their own canoes and boats.
Then came the car culture and by the 1930s, these canals became an outdated attraction and most were filled in to make roads. By 1940, the remaining canals had fallen into disrepair and the pavements were condemned by the city.
the Venice Canals district today
Although no gondoliers are waiting to row you around and sing to you in Italian – or miniature railroad to ride on exists – thankfully after being neglected for so long, the area found its renaissance in the 1990s. Since then, with its renovated canals and waterways has grown to become one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in LA.
It’s no wonder, with its turn-of-the-century cottages with offbeat gardens of herbs and palm trees, palazzo-style villas and stylish contemporary homes, which are now some of the most expensive properties in the city. In 1985, you could buy one for around $150,000, now you need well over a million.
I love the fact that almost every house has a dock. Imagine if you lived here and you could walk outside your door, get in your gondola, and travel down the waterway to the neighbour’s house!
A curiosity of the Venice Beach canals neighbourhood
To understand what the area looked like in its heyday, don’t miss a peek at another unexpected curiosity of Venice Beach: the ‘peephole box’. It’s located at the junction of Abbot Kinney Boulevard and Windward Avenue.
This art installation, by local artist Robin Murez, transports viewers back to a time in Venice’s history when the street was a canal and a lagoon with an 80-ft high diving platform, giant swing, and a rollercoaster…imagine!
How to Visit the Venice Beach Canals
There are several ways you can enjoy a visit to the Venice Beach Canals. You can explore the area on foot, or by boat as long as it doesn’t have a motor and you enter via the launch ramp at Venice Boulevard. Find more details, here.
If you don’t have your own boat, you can rent one here, or join one of these private boat tours which look fun. If you arrive by car, we parked up at the end of Venice Boulevard, and walked south on the boardwalk to 25th Avenue, where we cut into the canals.
where to find the Venice beach canals
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4 Comments
As a third generation Venice native, my earliest memories of the Canals are from the 70’s. Venice then was far from the desirable real estate that it is now. My brother, my good friends and I would walk through the canals on our way to the Venice pier to go fishing. The unmistakable scent of marijuana and incense was pungent, as a bunch of 7, 8, and 9 year olds made our way through. Unfortunately, the water levels have been lowering. Still, a beautiful place.
I’d love to haven seen the area in the 1970s when it was affordable and had a different character.
Your article just popped up on my phone. Im glad you enjoyed the peek in my Peep Hole Box. I have several other sculptures in Venice and I’m currently making a Venice themed, bicycle powered, hand carved carousel. I hope to have it up this summer. See: http://www.veniceflyingcarousel.com
Hi Ellie,
In the later 1970’s, my friends and I would roller skate along the boardwalk, where we regularly would spot Arnold S. Working out on Westminster Ave, or Brooks. The place was practically a ghost town back then, not the boardwalk of today that see’s tourists all summer long. I’ve been working in Venice now for the last fifteen years, no longer wearing roller skates…and have discovered something that I was hoping you may be able to comment on. You know the very old brick walk up building located at 120 Westminster? Well deep in the basement of this landmark, which has been an apartment dwelling for many, many years, I came across a very intriguing piece of history, that has been quite difficult to identify. Believe me when I say it is very unique, and a fascinating item that I suspect may have been part of the original canal construction. It defies adequate description, and I’d love to send you photos of this mysterious thing, if it isn’t presumptuous of me. I’ve had possession of it now for fifteen years, and have been offered a substantial price for it, despite the fact that no one has definitively identified what it actually is!
I can send the pics to you, but think I must wait for you to reply with an address that would reach you. I hope this isn’t too much to ask of you, or anyone you know who may have a greater knowledge of these things than I do.
Sincerely, Michael