Santa Monica, located in western Los Angeles County. is an idyllic beachfront town. Home to the Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica became a boom town in the 20th century and has continued with new growth into the 21st century.

Santa Monica offers first-rate shopping in areas like Third Street Promenade. Other notable parts of Santa Monica include the Santa Monica Pier, the Santa Monica Film Festival, and the annual Taste of Santa Monica festival every fall.

Santa Monica first began to develop in the early 1900s with the construction of the Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica is a popular vacation spot, and place to live, because of its Mediterranean climate which affords the city an average of 310 days of sun per year. This beach attitude is reflected in the surrounding industry, mostly around tourism. Santa Monica was also instrumental in the rise of the skateboarding culture in the 1960s.