On Thursday evening, I drove down Palos Verdes Drive South and noticed lights on at our new Terranea Resort. A call to Ara Mihranian, Project Planner at the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, confirmed that the contractors are working extended hours in the enclosed interiors of the site. It is the developers intent to have the project finished by June 2009. Photo above is of the entry court of the main...
Good news for Palos Verdes Peninsula residents. There is a new banner (shown above) on the former Golden Lotus Restaurant site in the Golden Cove Center indicating Trader Joe's may be coming to Rancho Palos Verdes after all. The initial plans were scrapped after the landlord decided to rescind his application with the city of Rancho Palos Verdes after some neighbors complained. However, the...
What are the names of the Bays and Coves in Palos Verdes? That questions was asked of me a couple of weeks ago. And as a 30 plus year resident, I could not name them all. How lucky are we here on the Palos Verdes Peninsula that we have so many that we can't count or name them all! Our coastline is truly magnificent! Matt Waters at Rancho Palos Verdes Parks and Recreation Department did some...
Recently, I answered a question on Trulia Voices regarding property taxes for Palos Verdes real estate and thought it was worth a mention here also. When a property is purchased, it is reassessed by the Los Angels County Tax Assessor using the sales price as the base. The new property tax will be 1% of the purchase price plus any local bonds and assessments (usually averages another .0025 of the...
Palos Verdes Peninsula School District students had an average API (Academic Performance Index) score of 904 which is 5 points higher than last year. Scores range from 200 to 1000. Cornerstone Elementary School scored 977 which was the highest mark of any school in Los Angeles County (and 12 points higher than last year). Peninsula High School scored an 879 (8 points higher than last year)....
Here is another great spot which was submitted by Mary McPherson. This is the Ocean Estates Trail in Rancho Palos Verdes. This is an easy walk along the bluff of our beautiful Palos Verdes coast looking out at the ocean and several coves. It is quiet and peaceful. There are benches to sit and take it all in. The Trail is located on the ocean side of Oceanfront Estates. At the end of...
This is the first in a series of special places on the Palos Verdes Peninsula which many owners of Palos Verdes real estate are not aware of. You might say these are "secret" places. The Gazebo at Roessler Pointis located in Palos Verdes Estates. The entrance is at the northwest end of the parking lot for Malaga Cove School (Paseo Del Mar and Via Arroyo). The Gazebo ia a great spot for...
The Lunada Bay neighborhood is located in Palos Verdes Estates. My favorite things about this neighborhood are the ocean views and the coastline bluff trails for walking. My son would say it was when the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie was being filmed (photo above) two summers ago and the cliffs were lined with people (including us) with binoculars watching. The Lunada Bay area is .7 square...
Recently, there have been Blue Whale sightings only two miles off the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast near Point Vicente. The Peninsula News reported that the whales are here to eat the abundant krill that are attracted to the nutrients near the continental shelf off our coast. The blue whale is the largest mammal on earth (as long as 3 school buses) and can weigh up to 336,000 pounds. They are an...
The Malaga Cove neighborhood is located in Palos Verdes Estates. The best thing about this neighborhood is the the ocean view and many properties also have the "Queen's Necklace" view which is a view of the coastline from Redondo Beach all the way around the coast to Malibu. It is spectacular and one of my favorite views (above). The Malaga Cove area is .66 square miles and has approximately...