When Abbott Kinney founded what he called "Venice of America", I rather doubt he meant for Venice to turn out the way it is now.
Kinney sought to create a seaside resort. By the 1950s, Venice was so neglected it was nicknamed "Slum by the Sea". Venice gentrified in the 1990s and 2000s, and now it has a worsening problem with homelessness.
Most of Venice's canals were filled in long ago to accommodate cars. Houses along the few canals that remain are among the most coveted homes in Los Angeles.
A house on one of the canals has been empty since at least 2009. You may choose not to believe such a thing could be true, but the Department of Building and Safety has it on the abatement list with an effective date in 2009.
Google Street View pictures from December 2022 show a neglected house in a dead yard, surrounded by a chain link fence.
It's petite (under 800 square feet) and dates back to the days when Venice was still an independent city. While I can certainly understand there may be unique challenges involved in keeping an older home on a canal in good repair, I have to question leaving the house empty, and in poor enough condition to merit abatement, for fourteen years.
(420 Linnie Canal, Venice)
About C.C. de Vere
C.C. is a fourth-generation Angeleno and is horrified at what greed and hubris are doing to Los Angeles.
This website was built by her preservation pals at Esotouric.
