Like Collis Huntington, the Southern Pacific Railroad owned who tried to push Santa Monica as a port by building a massive pier; tobacco tycoon Abbot Kinney had a big plan for neighbouring Venice. Kenney’s dream, however, was a tad more fanciful than a harbour: he wanted to recreate the city of Venice, Italy, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. And not just the canals either, for Kinney’s vision also encompassed the exotic trappings of Venetian and Renaissance culture, including theatres , concert halls, architectural icons, restaurant sites, and a café society.

Today’s Venice is pulsing mix of Architectural Digest homes and businesses, plain bungalows, and positively condemnable shacks. The population is a vital, cross-cultural community. The Grand Canal, at Windward Avenue and Main Street, where all the canals originally met, has long since been a paved-over traffic circle. Several of the remaining canals and bridges have been refurbished, and can be seen form the southeast corner of Venice Boulevard and Pacific Avenue.