Venice, Ital. Venezia, city (1991 pop. 309,422), capital of Venetia and of Venice prov., NE Italy, built on 118 alluvial islets within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice (an arm of the Adriatic Sea). The city is connected with the mainland, 2.5 mi (4 km) away, by a rail and highway bridge. Between the islands run about 150 canals, mostly very narrow, crossed by some 400 bridges. The Grand Canal, shaped like a reversed letter S, is the main traffic artery; its chief bridge is the Rialto, named after the island that was the historical nucleus of Venice. Gondolas, the traditional means of transport, have been superseded by small river boats (vaporetti), but there are numerous lanes (calles), public squares, and a few streets. Houses are built on piles.

Venice is a tourist, commercial, and industrial center. The tourist trade is stimulated by many annual festivals, including ones devoted to painting, motion pictures, drama, and contemporary music. The Venice Biennale, which exhibits various kinds of modern art every other year, has been held there since 1895. Manufactures include lace, jewelry, flour, and Murano glass, and the city is a center for shipbuilding. Porto Marghera, the modern port of Venice (founded in the 1920s), located on the mainland, is a major shipping facility and also has considerable industry.

Points of Interest

The center of animation in Venice is St. Mark's Square and the Piazzetta, which leads from the square to the sea. On the square are St. Mark's Church; the Gothic Doges' Palace (14th-15th cent.), from which the Bridge of Sighs (c.1600) leads to the former prisons; the Old and New Law Courts (16th-17th cent.); the campanile (325 ft/99 m high; built in the 10th cent.; rebuilt after it collapsed in 1902); the Moors' Clocktower (late 15th cent.); the elegant Old Library (1553); St. Moses' Church; and the twin columns supporting the statues of St. Theodore stepping on a crocodile and of a winged lion of St. Mark (the emblem of Venice). On an island facing the Piazzetta is the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (1566-1610) and on a nearby tip of land is the Church of Santa Maria della Salute (17th cent.).

Among the city's numerous other points of interest are the churches of Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari (with paintings by Titian), San Zanipolo (1234-1430), and San Zaccaria (with a Madonna by Bellini); the Academy of Fine Arts, with fine paintings by Bellini, Carpaccio, Mantegna, Giorgione, Veronese, and others; the Scuola di San Rocco, with a series of paintings by Tintoretto; the Scuola degli Schiavoni, with paintings by Carpaccio; and the palaces Ca' d'Oro (1440; late Gothic), Rezzonico (1680), and Pesaro (1710; baroque). The fashionable beach resort of Lido di Venezia is on a nearby island.

History

Founding and Rise of Venice

With Istria, Venice formed a province of the Roman Empire. In the 6th cent. refugees fleeing the Lombard invaders of N Italy sought safety on the largely uninhabited islands. The communities organized themselves (697) under a doge [Lat. dux=leader]. Favorably situated for handling seaborne trade between East and West, the communities grew, and by the 9th cent. they had formed the city of Venice.

The city secured (10th cent.) most of the coast of Dalmatia, thus gaining control of the Adriatic, and began to build up its eastern empire, obtaining trade and other privileges in the ports of the eastern Mediterranean. The influence of the Middle East, particularly Byzantium, which characterizes much Venetian art and architecture, is most clearly expressed in Saint Mark's Church (rebuilt 1063-73), located on the city's principal square. In 1204 the doge, Enrico Dandolo (see under Dandolo, family), led the host of the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades) in storming Constantinople. Strategic points in the Ionian, the Aegean, and the E Mediterranean were taken, notably Crete (1216). The great traveler Marco Polo represented the enterprising spirit of Venice in the 13th and 14th cent.

Queen of the Seas

After defeating (1380) its rival Genoa in the War of Chioggia, Venice was indisputably the leading European sea power; its sea consciousness was expressed in the symbolic marriage ceremony of the doges with the Adriatic, celebrated with great pomp on the huge gilded gondola, the Bucentaur. All citizens shared in the prosperity, but the patrician merchants obtained political privileges. Membership in the great council, which by then had replaced the general citizenry as an electorate in the election of the doges, became restricted to an oligarchy. In reaction to an unsuccessful conspiracy in 1310, the Council of Ten (see Ten, Council of) was instituted to punish crimes against the state. The Ten, by means of a formidable secret police, acquired increasing power, and the doge became a figurehead.

In the 15th cent. Venice, known as the "queen of the seas," reached the height of its power. The city engaged in a rich trade, especially as the main link between Europe and Asia; all Venetia on the mainland was conquered; and Venetian ambassadors, creators of the modern diplomatic service, made the power of the city felt at every court of the known world. The arsenal (founded 1104; rebuilt in the 15th and 16th cent.), where ships were built, was one of the world's wonders.

The decline of Venice can be dated from the fall (1453) of Constantinople to the Turks, which greatly reduced trade with the Levant, or from the discovery of America and of the Cape of Good Hope route to Asia, which transferred commercial power to Spain and other nations to the west of Italy. The effects were not felt immediately, however, and Venice continued its proud and lavish ways. In the Italian Wars, it challenged both the emperor and the pope; the League of Cambrai, formed (1508) by Pope Julius II to humble Venice, merely resulted in a few minor losses of the city's territory; the naval victory of Lepanto (1571) gave Venice renewed standing by undoing Turkish sea power.

The Renaissance marked the height of Venice's artistic glory. Architects like the Lombardo family, Jacopo Sansovino, and Palladio, and the Venetian school of painting, which besides its giants—Titian and Tintoretto—also included Giovanni Bellini, Jacopo Palma (Palma Vecchio), and Veronese, gave Venice its present aspect of a city of churches and palaces, floating on water, blazing with color and light, and filled with art treasures. Freedom of expression was complete except to those who actively engaged in politics; the satirist Aretino, the "scourge of princes," chose Venice as his place of residence, and John of Speyer, Nicolas Jenson, and Aldus Manutius made the city a center of printing.

Decline of Venice to the Present

The fall of Cyprus (1571), Crete (1669), and the Peloponnesus (1715; see Greece) to the Turks ended Venetian dominance in the E Mediterranean. Although the dramatist Goldoni and painters such as Tiepolo and Canaletto still made Venice the most original artistic city of 18th-century Italy, they represented to some extent the decadence that accompanied the city's commercial and military decline. Politics in 18th-century Venice was aristocratic and stagnant. When, in 1797, Napoleon I delivered Venice to Austria in the Treaty of Campo Formio, the republic fell without fighting. During the Risorgimento, however, Venice played a vigorous role under the leadership of Daniele Manin; having expelled the Austrians in 1848, it heroically resisted siege until 1849. In 1866, Venice and Venetia were united with the kingdom of Italy.

Since the 1950s, the city increasingly has been swamped by periodic floods, in part because it is sinking. Increased air pollution from cars and industrial smoke has contributed to the deterioration of the ancient buildings and works of art, and the high phosphorus and nitrogen content of the lagoon has stimulated algal growth, which has depleted marine life. Such environmental problems have led to a steady depopulation of Venice to the mainland over the past several decades. A major international aid program, begun in the mid-1960s by UNESCO, has searched for ways to preserve Venice; several government studies of Venice's problems have also been undertaken. In 1988, engineers began testing prototypes for a mechanical barrage, or sea gate, which could be raised in time of flooding to close the lagoon, and construction of system of sea gates began in 2003.

Italian Venezia

City (pop., 2004 est.: 271,663), capital of Veneto region, northern Italy. Built on a lagoon, Venice encompasses some 118 islands, the whole 90-mi (145-km) perimeter of the lagoon, and two industrial mainland boroughs. Refugees from northern invasions of the mainland founded settlements in the 5th century AD that were built uniquely on islands as protection against raids. Venice was a vassal of the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century. Beginning with control of a trade route to the Levant, Venice emerged from the Fourth Crusade (1202–04) as ruler of a colonial empire which included Crete, Euboea, the Cyclades, the Ionian Islands, and footholds in Morea and Epirus. In 1381 it defeated Genoa after a century-long struggle for commercial supremacy in the Levant and eastern Mediterranean. In the 15th century, with the acquisition of neighbouring regions, the Republic of Venice became an extensive Italian state. It gradually lost its eastern possessions to Ottoman Turks, with whom Venice fought intermittently from the 15th to the 18th century; it gave up its last hold in the Aegean in 1715. The republic dissolved and the territory was ceded to Austria in 1797. Incorporated into Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy in 1805, it was restored to Austria in 1815. A revolt against Austria (1848–49) eventually resulted in Venice being ceded to Italy in 1866. It suffered little damage during World War II, but flooding along its many miles of canals caused severe damage in 1966. The waters of the lagoon rise and flood the city on a regular basis, complicating efforts to preserve its architecture, which includes Italian, Arabic, Byzantine, and Renaissance forms. There are some 450 palaces and homes of major historic importance in Venice. Notable among its 400 bridges is the Bridge of Sighs (built circa 800) and among its churches St. Mark's Basilica. Most of the city's workers find employment in tourism and related industries, though Venice also plays a key market role within the vibrant economic system of the Veneto region.

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Venice is a district in western Los Angeles, California. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, which features performers, fortune-tellers and vendors. Throughout the summer months, the boardwalk is actively entertaining, and this tradition continues on weekends in the winter. It is an important tourist attraction in Southern California, and has retained its popularity in part because it is an attractive location for walking and bicycling. . It was home to early Beat poets and artists in Los Angeles. Its area codes are 310 and a 424 overlay. Its ZIP Code is 90291.

History

Venice of America was founded by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town, west of Los Angeles. He and his partner Francis Ryan had bought two miles (3 km) of oceanfront property south of Santa Monica in 1891. They built a resort town called Ocean Park on the north end of the property, which was soon annexed to Santa Monica. After Ryan died, Kinney and his new partners continued building south of Navy Street in the unincorporated territory. After the partnership dissolved in 1904, Kinney built on the marshy land on the south end of the property. His intent was to create a seaside resort like its namesake in Italy.

When Venice of America opened on July 4, 1905, Kinney had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential area, built a 1200-foot-long pleasure pier with an auditorium, ship restaurant, and dance hall, constructed a hot salt-water plunge, and built a block-long arcaded business street with Venetian architecture. Tourists, mostly arriving on the "Red Cars" of the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles and Santa Monica, then rode Venice's miniature railroad and gondolas to tour the town. But the biggest attraction was Venice's mile-long gently sloping beach. Cottages and housekeeping tents were available for rent.

The town grew in population, annexed adjacent housing tracts, and changed its official name from Ocean Park to Venice in 1911. The population (3119 residents in 1910) soon exceeded 10,000, and drew 50,000 to 150,000 tourists on weekends.

Attractions on the Kinney Pier became more amusement oriented by 1910, when a Venice Scenic Railway, Aquarium, Virginia Reel, Whip, Racing Derby and other rides and game booths were added. Since the business district was allotted only three one-block-long streets, and the City Hall was more than a mile away, other competing business districts developed. Unfortunately, this created a fractious political climate. Kinney, however, governed with an iron hand and kept things in check. But when he died in November 1920, Venice became harder to politically govern. With the amusement pier burning six weeks later in December 1920, and Prohibition (which had begun the previous January), the town's tax revenue was severely affected.

The Kinney family rebuilt their amusement pier quickly in order to compete with Ocean Park's Pickering Pier, and the newly built Sunset Pier. When it opened it had two roller coasters, a new Racing Derby, a Noah's Ark, a Mill Chutes, and dozens of other rides. By 1925 with the addition of a third coaster, a tall Dragon Slide, Fun House and Flying Circus aerial ride, it was the finest amusement pier on the West Coast. Several hundred thousand tourists visited on weekends. In 1923 Charles Lick built the Lick Pier at Navy Street in Venice, adjacent to the Ocean Park Pier at Pier Avenue in Ocean Park. Another pier was planned for Venice in 1925 at Leona Street (now Washington Street).

For the amusement of the public, Kinney hired aviators to do aerial stunts over the beach. One of them, movie aviator and Venice airport owner B.H. DeLay, implemented the first lighted airport in the United States on DeLay Field (previously known as Ince Field). He also initiated the first aerial police in the nation, after a marine rescue attempt was thwarted. DeLay also performed many of the world's first aerial stunts for motion pictures in Venice.

By 1925, Venice's politics became unmanageable. Its roads, water and sewage systems badly needed repair and expansion to keep up with its growing population. When it was proposed that Venice be annexed to Los Angeles, the board of Trustees voted to hold an election. Those for annexation and those against were nearly evenly matched, but many Los Angeles residents, who moved to Venice to vote, turned the tide. Venice became part of Los Angeles in October 1925.

Los Angeles had annexed the Disneyland of its day, and proceeded to remake Venice in its own image. They felt the town needed more streets for automobiles, not canals, and paved the bulk of them in 1929 after a protracted three-year court battle led by canal residents. They wanted to close Venice's three amusement piers, but had to wait until the first of the tidelands' leases expired in 1946.

In 1929, oil was discovered south of Washington Street on the Venice Peninsula. Within two years, 450 oil wells covered the area and drilling waste clogged the remaining waterways. It was a short-lived boom, that provided needed income to the community, which suffered during the Great Depression. The wells produced oil into the 1970s.

Los Angeles had neglected Venice so long that, by the 1950s, it had become the "Slum by the Sea." With the exception of new police and fire stations in 1930, the city spent little on improvements after annexation. The city did not pave Trolleyway (Pacific Avenue) until 1954 when county and state funds became available. Cheap rents for run-down bungalow housing attracted predominantly European immigrants (including a substantial number of Holocaust refugees), and young counterculture artists, poets and writers. The Beat Generation hung out at the Gas House on Ocean Front Walk and at Venice West Cafe on Dudley. Police raids were frequent during that era.

Venice and neighboring Santa Monica were hosts for a decade to the Pacific Ocean Park (POP), an amusement and pleasure-pier built atop the old Lick Pier and Ocean Park Pier by CBS and the Los Angeles Turf Club (Santa Anita). It opened in July 1958. They kept the pier's old roller coaster, huge airplane ride and historic carousel, but converted its theaters and smaller pier buildings into sea-themed rides and space-themed attractions designed by Hollywood special-effects people. Visitors could travel in space on the Flight to Mars ride, tour the world in Around the World in 80 Turns, go beneath the sea in the Diving Bells or at Neptune's Kingdom, take a fantasy excursion into the Tales of the Arabian Nights on the Flying Carpet ride, visit a pirate world at Davy Jones' Locker, or visit a tropical paradise and its volcano by riding a train on Mystery Island. There were also thrill rides like the Whirlpool (rotor whose floor dropped out), the Flying Fish wild mouse coaster, an auto ride, gondola ride, double Ferris wheel, safari ride, and an area of children's rides called Fun Forest. Sea lion shows were performed at the Sea Circus.

Since attendance at the seaside park was too low to operate during the winter, and there was competition from Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and Marineland, it was sold after two seasons to a succession of owners, who let the park deteriorate. And since Santa Monica was redeveloping the surrounding area for high-rise apartments and condos, it became difficult for patrons to reach the park. It was forced into bankruptcy in 1967. After the park suffered a series of arson fires beginning in 1970, its rotting structure was demolished by 1974. Another aging attraction in the 1960s was the Aragon Ballroom that had been the longtime home of The Lawrence Welk Show & the Spade Cooley Show, and later the Cheetah Club where rock bands like the Doors, Blue Cheer & many other top bands of the time, performed. It burned in the 1970 fire. The district around POP is known as Dogtown, which was home to pioneering skateboarders the Z-Boys, as profiled in the documentary film, Dogtown and Z-Boys.Little known is that POP pier ended in Santa Monica, where Ocean Park meet the beach.

Producer Roger Corman owned a production facility, the Concorde/New Horizons Studio, on Main Street for many years, in which a large number of his films were shot. This facility was torn down to build lofts.

Attractions and neighborhoods

Venice is today one of the most vibrant and eclectic areas of Southern California and it continues a tradition of progressive social change involving prominent Westsiders. The Venice Family Clinic is the largest free clinic in the country.

Many of Venice's houses have their principal entries from pedestrian-only streets, and have house numbers on these footpaths. (Automobile access is by alleys in the rear). However, like much of Los Angeles, Venice is also well-known for traffic congestion. It lies away from the nearest freeway, and its unusually dense network of narrow streets was not planned for the demands of modern traffic. Mindful of the tourist nature of much of the district's vehicle traffic, though, its residents have successfully fought numerous attempts to extend the Marina Freeway (SR 90) into southern Venice.

Venice Beach

Venice Beach is understood to include the beach, the promenade that runs parallel to the beach ("Ocean Front Walk" or just "the boardwalk"), Muscle Beach, the handball courts, the paddle tennis courts, Skate Dancing plaza, the numerous beach volleyball courts, the bike trail and the businesses and residences that have their addresses on Ocean Front Walk.

Along the southern portion of the beach, at the end of Washington Boulevard, is the Venice Fishing Pier. A concrete structure, it first opened in 1964, but was closed in 1983 due to El Niño storm damage, only reopening in the mid-1990s. On December 21, 2005, the pier again suffered damage when waves from an unusually big northern swell caused the part of the pier upon which the restrooms was located to fall into the ocean. The pier remained closed until May 25, 2006, when it was reopened after an engineering study concluded the pier was structurally sound.

The Venice Breakwater is an acclaimed local surf spot in Venice, located north of the Venice Pier and Lifeguard Headquarters, and south of the Santa Monica Pier. This spot is sheltered on the north by an artificial barrier, the breakwater, consisting of an extending sand bar, piping, and large rocks at its end.

This spot has differing breaks depending on swell intensity, swell direction, tide and time of the day. However, with intense swells such as those of the winter of 2005/2006, Breakwater boasts a clean right.

Downtown Venice

The areas along Abbot Kinney and Grand Boulevards and Main Street form the traditional downtown of Venice. During the 1920s and 1930s, the area's nightlife was quite active, with thousands of Angelenos arriving every night by streetcar. (Before he burst onto the national scene, Benny Goodman had a brief residence as a bandleader in Venice). Nightlife boomed again in the late 1960s as the area became a center of hippie culture. Since the late 1990s, downtown Venice has been especially popular, with many bars, nightclubs, art galleries, and edgy apparel shops occupying both its older brick and Art Deco storefronts and hyper-modern glass facades.

Oakwood

The Oakwood neighborhood of Venice, also known as Ghost Town and the "Oakwood Pentagon", which lies inland a few blocks from the tourist areas, is one of the few historically African American areas of in West Los Angeles, although Latinos have comprised the overwhelming majority of the residents. During the age of restrictive covenants that enforced racial segregation, Oakwood was set aside as a settlement area for blacks, who came by the hundreds to Venice to work in the oil fields during the 1930s and 1940s. After the construction of the 405 freeway passed through predominantly Mexican and immigrant communities, they moved further west and into Oakwood.

The Venice Shoreline Crips and the Latino Venice 13 gang, which are under a shaky truce, continue to remain active in Venice. The Venice White Boys, another gang, disappeared decades before the 2000s. By 2002, numbers of gang members in Oakwood were reduced due to gentrification and increased police presence. According to a Los Angeles City Beat article, by 2003, many Los Angeles Westside gang members resettled in the city of Inglewood .

Near the end of the 20th century, gentrification has greatly altered Oakwood. Although still a primarily Latino and African-American neighborhood, the neighborhood is in flux. According to Los Angeles City Beat, "In Venice, the transformation is....obvious. Homes are fetching sometimes more than $1 million, and homies are being displaced every day." Author John Brodie challenges the idea of gentrification causing change and commented "...the gunplay of the Shoreline Crips and the V-13 is as much a part of life in Venice as pit bulls playing with blond Labs at the local dog park. Xinachtli, a Latino student group from Venice High School and subset of MEChA, refers to Oakwood as one of last beachside communities of color in California. Chicanos and Latinos comprise over 50% of Venice High School's student body as of 2007.

East Venice

East Venice is a racially and ethnically mixed, residential neighborhood of Venice that is separated from Oakwood and Milwood (the area south of Oakwood) by Lincoln Boulevard, extending east to the border with Mar Vista, near Venice High School. Aside from the commercial strip on Lincoln (including the Venice Boys and Girls Club and the Venice United Methodist Church), the area almost entirely consists of small homes and apartments as well as Penmar Park and (bordering Santa Monica) Penmar Golf Course. The existing population (primarily composed of non-Latino whites, Latinos, and Asians, with small numbers of other groups) is being supplemented by new arrivals who have moved in with gentrification.

A housing project, Lincoln Place, was built nearby by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles to accommodate GI's returning from the war and in need of affordable housing. It later came to house working class families. Lincoln Place is currently in the midst of an extensive legal battle between past and present tenants and the owner, AIMCO. The developer, which acquired the property in 2003, plans to demolish it and build a mixed-use condominium and retail structure on the site. Only 13 tenants remain, all of them elderly or disabled.

Notable residents and businesses

Venice has always been known as a hangout for the creative and the artistic. In the 1950s and 60s, Venice became a center for the Beat generation. There was an explosion of poetry and art. Major participants included Stuart Perkoff, John Thomas, Frank T. Rios, Tony Scibella, Lawrence Lipton, John Haag, Saul White, Robert Farrington and Philomene Long.

Prominent residents of Venice include actresses Julia Roberts, Kate Beckinsale, Lana Clarkson and Anjelica Huston, actors Tom Conway (brother of actor George Sanders), lived here in the 1960s, Nicolas Cage, Chaney Kley, Tim Meadows, Robert Hegyes, Michael T. Weiss, Fairuza Balk, Taylor Negron and musicians Perry Farrell, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, Saint John of Saint John and the Revelations, Joshua Kadison, John Lydon (who owns a sizeable amount of rental property in Venice), John Frusciante, Fiona Apple and Mike Muir and most of his Suicidal Tendencies bandmates. Filmmaker Tao Ruspoli and his wife, actress Olivia Wilde live in Venice. Architect Frank Gehry is a longtime resident who has bought a huge vacant lot on Harding Avenue in Venice where he plans to build his new personal residence.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. kept an apartment on the boardwalk during the 1990s. Harding Avenue is also where the Lennon Sisters of Lawrence Welk fame grew up. Jim Morrison lived in Venice for two years where he met Ray Manzarek to form the nucleus of The Doors. Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting career began after becoming a regular bodybuilder at Venice's famous Gold's Gym, whose present facility claims to be "The Mecca of Bodybuilding." Restaurateur Wolfgang Puck has owned and operated noted eateries in the area since the 1990s. Other notables include actors Viggo Mortensen, Rutger Hauer, Bryan Callen, and Elijah Wood, and film directors Henry Jaglom and Paul Mazursky. For many years, pro wrestlers Hulk Hogan and Sting were announced as residing in Venice Beach as well. Standup comedians and street performers have proliferated in Venice, Wavy Gravy and Swami X being two of the more recent hippie busker alumni. Political contributions have been sent from homes in Venice from the actor Dennis Hopper and Simpsons creator Matt Groening. South Park creator Matt Stone lives in Venice as well. Harry Perry, the famous street entertainer, is one of the boardwalk's key performers. Photographer Helen K. Garber maintains a studio on Ocean Front Walk. Graffiti/Street Artist and painter Jean-Michel Basquiat lived in Venice in the 80's. Immature, an R&B group from the 1990's, used to perform on the boardwalk prior to becoming famous.

WWE and WCW professional wrestlers Hulk Hogan and Sting are billed as being from Venice Beach, CA. However they actually hail from Tampa, Florida and Omaha, Nebraska respectively.

Venice is today a vibrant area of Southern California and it continues a tradition of progressive social change involving prominent Westsiders. The Venice Family Clinic is the largest free clinic in the country. The Venice Community Housing Corporation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the economic, racial and social diversity of Venice and the surrounding area, provides affordable housing, economic and community development opportunities and needed social services to low income residents. Women in Recovery, Inc., a non-profit organization offering a live-in, 12-step program of rehabilitation for women in need, was founded by a longtime resident of Venice, Sister Ada Geraghty. Geraghty and her organization on Coeur D' Alene Avenue annually honor those who've made a difference in helping women overcome substance abuse problems. The 2006 honoree for Women in Recovery was Christopher Lawford; past honorees have included Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Lansbury, and Anthony Hopkins.

Los Angeles County Lifeguards

Venice Beach is the headquarters of the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Division of the Fire Department. It is located at 2300 Ocean Front Walk. It is the nation's largest ocean lifeguard organizations with over 100 full-time and 600 part-time or seasonal lifeguards. The headquarter building used to be the City of Los Angeles Lifeguard Headquarters until they were merged into the County System in 1975. The department is commonly referred to by Angelenos as Baywatch Lifeguards.

The Los Angeles County Lifeguards safeguard of beach and of coastline, from San Pedro in the south, to Malibu in the north. Lifeguards also provide Paramedic and rescue boat services to Catalina Island, with operations out of Avalon and the Isthmus.

Lifeguard Division employs 120 full-time and 600 seasonal lifeguards, operating out of three Sectional Headquarters, located in Hermosa, Santa Monica, and Zuma beach. Each of these headquarters staffs a 24-hour EMT-D response unit, and are part of the 911 system. In addition to providing for beach safety, Los Angeles County Lifeguards have specialized training for Baywatch rescue boat operations, underwater rescue and recovery, swiftwater rescue, cliff rescue, marine mammal rescue and marine firefighting.

Emergency services

Fire service

The Los Angeles Fire Department operates Station 63, which serves Venice.

Police service

Los Angeles Police Department operates the Pacific Community Police Station at 12312 Culver Boulevard, 90066, serving the neighborhood.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Venice is served by many Los Angeles Unified School District schools. The neighborhood is served by Coeur d'Alene Avenue Elementary School and Westminster Avenue Elementary School. Students go on to Mark Twain Middle School High school students attend Venice High School, which is actually in the neighborhood of Mar Vista.

Private schools

Saint Mark Elementary School is a private school in the area.

Public libraries

Los Angeles Public Library operates the Venice - Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch.

Educational organizations

Venice hosts numerous organizations including Venice Arts: In Neighborhoods which offers free art education to youth.

Venice in the media

Dozens of movies and hundreds of television shows have used locations in Venice, including its beach, its pleasure piers, the canals and colonnades, the boardwalk, the high school, even a particular hamburger stand. Various Venice venues are visible in this list of selected media:

Venice on Film

• 1914- Kid Auto Races at Venice (Charlie Chaplin)
• 1921- The 'High Sign' (Buster Keaton)
• 1923- The Balloonatic (Buster Keaton)
• 1927- Sugar Daddies (Laurel and Hardy)
• 1928- The Circus (Charlie Chaplin)
• 1928- The Cameraman (Buster Keaton)
• 1933- Fish Hooky - Our Gang Comedies (Little Rascals)
• 1935- Dante's Inferno (Spencer Tracy, Claire Trevor)
• 1950- Quicksand, (Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre)
• 1958- Touch of Evil (Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles director) - Venice is used for lonely Mexican town.
• 1961- Night Tide (Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, written and directed by Curtis Harrington) - Shot entirely in Venice and shows the deteriorated nature of the area in the 1950s.
• 1964- Inside Daisy Clover (Robert Redford, Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer)
• 1966- The Wild Angels (Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern)
• 1966- Blood Bath (William Campbell, Sid Haig)
• 1968- I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (Peter Sellers)
• 1971- "The Outside Man" (Ann-Margret)
• 1972- Cisco Pike (Kris Kristofferson, Gene Hackman, Karen Black) - Kristofferson, playing a small-time drug dealer living on Ocean Front walk, gets involved with a crooked cop, played by Hackman. Climax on the beach.
• 1976- Mother, Jugs and Speed (Bill Cosby,Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel ) Dark comedy about the Fishbine Ambulance Company, dealing with social issues of the day, great cameos of Venice, located at 425 Rose Ave., now the Venice Ranch Market.
• 1978- Grease (John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John) - Venice High is the setting for Rydell High.
• 1979- Roller Boogie (Linda Blair)
• 1980- The Jazz Singer
• 1980- Xanadu (Olivia Newton-John)
• 1983- 'Breathless (Richard Gere
• 1984- Breakin'
• 1985- The Falcon and the Snowman (Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton)
• 1986- Roller Blade (Skate or Die! Venice Beach skaters.)
• 1986- Thrashin' - The skaters visit Venice Beach throughout the movie.
• 1988- Colors (Sean Penn, Robert Duvall) - The scene with C.R.A.S.H. officers arresting High Top.
• 1991- The Doors
• 1992- White Men Can't Jump (Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson) - The pickup games were set at the public courts, but filmed in a doubled location in a Venice beachside parking lot.
• 1993- Falling Down (Michael Douglas) - Final scenes are on Venice Pier, closed at the time but since repaired.
• 1993- GIFT (Perry Farrell)
• 1993- Point of No Return (Bridget Fonda) - Lead character moves into an apartment on Venice Beach.
• 1994- Clean Slate - Maurice Pogue lives in a (fictitious) apartment on the Boardwalk; noted Venice muralist Rip Cronk also appears.
• 1994- Monkey Trouble
• 1994- Speed (Keanu Reeves) - The first bus explosion occurs in Venice (in front of The Firehouse at Main and Rose), as referenced later on in the film.
• 1995- Strange Days
• 1995- The Net (Sandra Bullock)
• 1996- William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet - set in a fictional "Verona Beach", very similar to Venice Beach.
• 1997- Romy and Michele's High School Reunion - Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) live in a Venice boardwalk apartment, whence they journey back to their hometown.
• 1998- American History X
• 1998- The Big Lebowski - The Dude, (Jeff Bridges) lives in Venice, as can be seen from the address listed on the check he signs at the beginning of the movie.
• 2000- Bounce - Buddy (Ben Affleck) stays at an Ocean Front Walk property overlooking volleyball courts.
• 2001- Dogtown and Z-Boys
• 2003- Hollywood Homicide - Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett chase Kurupt through the neighborhoods of Venice.
• 2003- Thirteen (film)
• 2004- 2Pac: Resurrection - 2pac does an interview with MTV's Tabitha Soren on the Venice boardwalk.
• 2004- Million Dollar Baby - The lead character works at the On The Waterfront Cafe, runs along the water on the beach and the Venice Pier can be seen in two scenes. Also, the church Clint Eastwood's character attends is St. Mark Catholic Church in Venice.
• 2005- Lords of Dogtown
• 2006- Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny
• 2007- Because I Said So
• 2007- Smiley Face
• 2007- Wild Hogs
• 2008- Southland Tales
• 2008- Disfigured

Television

• Adam-12
• Beverly Hills 90210
• CHiPs
• The L Word
• MADtv (for Lorraine visits the beach)
• Simon and Simon
• Baywatch (shot at various beaches around Los Angeles)
• Pacific Blue
• The A-Team
• Huff
• Freakazoid (An episode with Vorn the Unspeakable featured Venice Beach as a haven for weirdos, and many jokes were made about the residents' strangeness)
• Three's Company (The opening titles for the first three seasons of the show were taped here.)
• Gilmore Girls Jess comes to live with his father. His father owns a hotdog stand there.
• Just Legal was based in Venice and starred Don Johnson as a lawyer.
• Rob & Big In one episode, Rob Dyrdek and Big Black visit the crowded Venice Beach for "Go Skateboarding Day" where they meet a skateboarding dog and his owner.
• One On One (Season 5 only)
• The Rookies
• Starsky and Hutch
• 24 Season 6
• Alias It is revealed in the fifth season that Sydney Bristow resides in Venice.
• X-Files Season 7 - Episode 151 - X-COPS: The city name used was 'Willow Park' but this entire episode was filmed in Venice, CA, primarily on the avenues of Sunset, Rose, 4th and Electric.
• Yo! MTV Raps(1989)-The whole episode is shot in Venice co-hosted by N.W.A.
• South Park 2007 episode "Night of the Living Homeless" ends with shots of Venice and a parody song with lyrics, "…city of Venice; Right by Matt's house, you can chill if you're homeless."
• "The Venice Walk (An Original Internet Series)" Revolves around a former NYPD Gang Cop Robert Hegyes turned Venice Beach Juvie Probation Officer and the seven Venice High School delinquents who must report to him.
• Californication (2007) - Main character Hank Moody's daughter and ex-girlfriend live in Venice. Several characteristic places and marks of the district, such as the Ballerina Clown, the Venice letter sign, the canals, and the beach, are seen in establishing location shots, the opening credits intro video, and some scenes.
• Wipeout (2008) - season ending episode was filmed at Venice Beach.

Books

• Bradbury, Ray. Death is a Lonely Business Knopf 1985, ISBN 0-394-54702-0 . Hard boiled detective mystery taking place in Venice circa 1949.
• Garber, Helen K.. Venice Beach, California Carnivale, Xlibris 2005, ISBN 1-4134-9108-1 . Photographs of the surreal life on Ocean Front Walk. Official Commemorative Book of the Venice Centennial (1905 - 2005).
• Stanton, Jeffrey. 'Venice California: Coney Island of the Pacific' Donahue Publishing 2005, ISBN 0-9619849-3-7 . Comprehensive history of the beach town and its amusement piers including Pacific Ocean Park with 367 historic photographs. (Available from Venice History Site - see below)
• Myerhoff, Barbara. 'Number Our Days'

Dan Wakefeild "Home Free"

• Powers, Tim. Expiration Date first published -UK- HarperCollins, March 1995. ISBN 0-586-21856-4 . A Fantasy- Psychic thriller involving the pursuit of the Ghost of Thomas Edison, and the young boy who hosts him, by mortal psychic vampires; with many scenes in and around Venice, the canals, & the Queen Mary. (Perhaps inspired by the name "Ghost Town")

Video games

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Venice Beach is a playable level.
• Tony Hawk's Underground, Venice beach is an unlockable level which is an exact replica of the level in THPS2, but without the goals.
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas's Verona Beach is based on Venice Beach.
• True Crime: Streets of L.A., you can drive and fight on the streets of Venice along the beach.
• NBA Street, Venice Beach is a playable level.
• NBA 2K7, Venice Beach is a playable level for the streetball option.
• Street Hoops, Venice Beach is an Unlockable/Playable Court.
• LA Rush, You can drive through the streets of Venice and along the beach.
• Thrasher: Skate and Destroy Venice Beach is a playable level.

External links

• Venice Farmers Market - Friday 7-11 AM Fresh flowers, produce and community
• The Venice Forum (online resource for news and community events)
• Free Venice Beachhead (Venice Newspaper)
• Venice Neighborhood Council
• VenicePaper (Local news)
• YoVenice! (Local Independent News Blog)
• Venice California travel guide from Wikitravel
• Venice Beach 360° Webcam - From the Los Angeles County Lifeguard headquarters
• Streaming Venice Beach cameras
• Venice California History Site (Articles, Maps, Timelines, Historic Photos)
• Venice Centennial
• Venice Community Information
• Dogtown Ink (Indy Guide to Venice Beach and Venice-based Humor Reader)
• Los Angeles Times, Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: "Venice canals: The renaissance of Venice" (January 232005)

References