February 8, 2025 #1 Local News, Forum, Information and Event Source for Venice Beach, California.

Schwarzenegger on Venice, Google and 2nd Hand Smoke

“You never have to smoke a joint in Venice. You just go on a bicycle ride in the morning, you just inhale, and you live off everyone else.” – The awesome Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

From the New York Times:

Los Angeles: This city’s boardwalk community of Venice has long celebrated its seediness, accepting — embracing, really — the kind of sensory assaults that would faze more conventional places: beachfront bodybuilders, ragamuffin street vendors, tattoo artists, Hare Krishna chanters, skateboarders, drug dealers, gangs, homeless encampments, rowdy tourists, film crews and, more recently, a colony of medical marijuana dispensaries.

But Venice might have met its match in what many see as its most unsettling threat yet: Google.

“As soon as I walked in, they said: ‘You heard about Google? Why don’t you have your staff look into this?’ ” former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who began his professional career as a bodybuilder here 44 years ago, said after he emerged from a throng of worried muscle-bound admirers at Gold’s Gym. “It’s this conspiracy theory: ‘Google is coming! They are going to take over and wipe out our bodybuilding.’ ”

In November, Google moved an army of sales and technology employees into 100,000 square feet in two Venice buildings. It is negotiating leases on another 100,000 square feet, according to real estate agents. That includes the 31,000-square-foot expanse that is Gold’s Gym, the very bodybuilding symbol of Venice, if not the universe, where Mr. Schwarzenegger stopped by the other morning.

No matter that Google officials said they had no plans to displace the fabled gym. Although a spokesman, Jordan Newman, said, “We’re not taking over Gold’s,” the company’s reluctance to talk about its long-term ambition for Venice, or why it would want anything to do with the Gold’s building, has stirred a storm of speculation and anxiety.

“They’ll buy it, they’ll kick us out, and we’ll have to relocate,” said Jerry Martin, a bodybuilder standing in front of the gym.

Nathanial Moon, bulging with muscles, called it “the ultimate revenge of the nerds, the greatest way of getting back at all the guys that stuffed people from Google into lockers from high school and stole all their prom dates. And you can’t fight against Google, because they’ve got billions of dollars.”

“But,” he added, “I love their search engine.”

People are even beginning to refer to Venice — the Venice of movies, surfing and Muscle Beach — as Silicon Beach. That may sound like progress to some, but not to those along the boardwalk, where a synagogue shares the same strip of sidewalk with a freak show advertising a two-headed turtle.

“I don’t want to see Venice look like Santa Monica,” said DeAlphria Tarver, 26, who was selling handmade hats on a boardwalk crammed with vendors, stragglers and skateboarders as homeless people slept on the adjacent grass. Google, she said, will “want it to look a lot more polished, and not hippielike.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger said that the community was “freaking out” and that he appreciated why. “Google has bought everything in Venice that is available,” said the former governor, who has been buying and selling buildings here for close to 30 years.

But he welcomes Google as a neighbor and said the fears that it would turn Venice into a sanitized Silicon Valley on the Pacific were exaggerated. “This is the mecca of bodybuilding,” he said. “They will never leave.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger may well be Venice’s biggest fan, as he demonstrated during a two-hour tour of the place he came to as an aspiring bodybuilder and where he still keeps his office. Unabashedly nostalgic, he pointed out the fading remains of the sign on an old Gold’s Gym building; the wall outside the onetime home of Rudolph Valentino that he built as a bricklayer; and the outdoor gym at Muscle Beach, where he happily posed for pictures. (“Excuse me, are you the Terminator?” one boy asked nervously.)

Even as governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger preferred to greet out-of-town visitors at his private office, arguing that Venice presented a better face of California than, say, Sacramento. And most weekends, when he is not acting in movies, he comes here from his Brentwood estate for a bicycle ride down the boardwalk. Or tries to.

“There are days when we can’t get through,” he said. “It’s wild, because the homeless wake up in the morning when you get there. They are there with their bags. They are coming out of holes and places. And you smell the incense. The touch of the ’60s is all there, and all the street vendors are coming out.”

“This place is insane,” he said. “You never have to smoke a joint in Venice. You just go on a bicycle ride in the morning, you just inhale, and you live off everyone else.”

To continue reading this article at the New York Times (and you should!), click here!

Related Posts

Newly Built Mar Vista Home Listed for $6.25M

February 2, 2025

February 2, 2025

Interior features include Fleetwood sliding doors, custom Veneto Lucci light fixtures, and Roman Clay finishes A newly constructed five-bedroom home...

Venice Canal Home With Cathedral-Style Windows Asks For $6.5M

January 27, 2025

January 27, 2025

The property includes multiple fireplaces and a rooftop deck for panoramic views A newly constructed home on Sherman Canal in...

Venice Shorts: Councilwoman Park Addresses VNC

January 22, 2025

January 22, 2025

Councilmember reports to the community on the current state of the wildfires and the impact on Venice and Los Angeles...

Zooey Deschanel Mourns Loss of Childhood Home in Palisades Fire “Full of Too Many Incredible Memories to Count”

January 20, 2025

January 20, 2025

The home earned it the nickname “The Church” among her childhood friends Zooey Deschanel’s childhood home, a historic 1920s Spanish...

Red Flag Warning: Santa Ana Winds and Extreme Fire Danger Again Predicted This Week

January 19, 2025

January 19, 2025

Winds Up to 100 MPH Expected; Residents Urged to Prepare for Critical Fire Weather  The National Weather Service has issued...

Parts of Palisades Reopen as Containment Efforts Continue

January 17, 2025

January 17, 2025

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced the repopulation of several zones, marking a significant step in the recovery Parts...

Map Shows Where Palisades Homes Were Destroyed or Spared With Images

January 14, 2025

January 14, 2025

Over 5,300 structures have been destroyed with 12,000 threatened by the Palisades Fire, which has already charred 23,713 acres and...

Cost of New Mar Vista Complex Cut by $1.25M, Now Going for $10.75M

January 12, 2025

January 12, 2025

Completed in 2024, the four-story contemporary building features a rooftop deck with panoramic views of the city, including the skyline...

This 47-Unit Santa Monica Apartment Complex Is Going for $22M

January 5, 2025

January 5, 2025

The Half-Acre Lot Includes 33 On-Site Parking Spaces, Additional Driveway Parking and a Swimming Pool A midcentury multifamily property offering...

This 3-Bed Oceanfront Marina del Rey Condo is Going for $4.25M

January 5, 2025

January 5, 2025

Built in 1971 and Recently Remodeled, The Condo Combines Modern Design with Natural Materials A luxury oceanfront condominium offering panoramic...

OPINION: Los Angeles Is Decades Overdue to Switch Housing It Likes to Housing It Can Afford

January 2, 2025

January 2, 2025

Mark Ryavec Argues That Decades of Mismanagement and Costly Missteps Leave L.A. Ill-Equipped to Address Its Growing Homeless Crisis By...

$75M Malibu Estate Hits Market on Coveted “Billionaire’s Beach”

December 29, 2024

December 29, 2024

The Home Offers Sweeping Views of the Queen’s Necklace, Palos Verdes, and Catalina Island A sprawling estate on Malibu’s exclusive...

Vietnam War Veteran Killed in Santa Monica Hit-and-Run on Wilshire

December 25, 2024

December 25, 2024

Police Seek Public’s Help in Identifying Suspect After Fatal Collision The life of a Vietnam War veteran was extinguished in...

Ray Kappe-Designed Rustic Canyon Home Lists For Nearly $4M

December 24, 2024

December 24, 2024

The Property Includes Three Bedrooms, Four Bathrooms, and Numerous Balconies and Decks A striking home designed by acclaimed architect Ray...

$6M Spanish-Mediterranean Home in Pali Includes Canyon and Ocean Views

December 22, 2024

December 22, 2024

The 4,257-Square-Foot Residence Features Four Bedrooms and Five and a Half Bathrooms A Spanish-Mediterranean style home at 16647 Bienveneda Place...