Santa Monica highlight
Third Street Promenade
A car-free shopping and dining district in downtown Santa Monica, redesigned in 1989 as a pedestrian gathering space and cultural hub.
Third Street is the pedestrian center of downtown Santa Monica, a car-free zone where residents and visitors walk, shop, and dine among street performers and open-air restaurants. The current design opened in 1989 after a major redevelopment effort, replacing an older shopping mall. Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., a nonprofit organization, partners with the city to manage the district's vitality and public character.
The Promenade thrives because it invites lingering: benches for resting, a clock tower as a landmark, diverse retail and food options, and the kind of street-level activity that makes a place feel alive. It has become a destination for the broader Los Angeles region, not just Santa Monica residents, making it a significant economic and social center for the city.
A thriving downtown depends on people feeling secure enough to linger and invest in their neighborhoods. For those who work in Santa Monica or rely on downtown vitality, life insurance provides the foundation that allows your family to maintain their connections to the community if your income is interrupted by illness or death.