Just wanted to let you know about the commute as I was working in the area today. I left Santa Monica (20th St) at 3:40 and it took me until 4:30 to reach Manhattan Beach. So that was 50 minutes and I am sure the traffic only got worse because this was before 5 pm.
I was traveling on the 405. Sometimes you can make better time on surface streets but the last time I tried to head south on Lincoln in the afternoon, the traffic was so bad, I was wishing I was on the freeway!!
Manhattan Beach is a great area-just keep in mind commute time.

That's the biggest drawback of the Southbay coastal cities and PV peninsula. Very difficult commutes, even to nearby cities.

Commutes in and out of Santa Monica/Marina del Rey/Venice heading south are being made unbearable thanks to the Playa Vista development and the attendant construction on Lincoln Blvd. The brain-dead powers that be have allowed all this development to occur simultaneously, driving traffic to standstills at Rush Hour. And since there are no good alternatives for those of us heading south to the Bay Cities (or, in my case, to grab the 405 south of LAX to head to Long Beach), we just accept the ridiculous snarlups.

I'm ready to try grabbing Olympic all the way to Sepúlveda and taking that south-- but that specific intersection is a parking lot at Rush Hour too.

Oh well-- at least you can turn on Jefferson and head to Vista del Mar to get to Manhattan Beach (love that town!)....

rjw-I couldn't believe how bad Lincoln was, I think this was the beginning of November. I did see the construction you were talking about. How long is the construction going to take? Probably forever!! I just don't know how you do that commute everyday from SM to Long Beach. It's a killer. I usually do it once or twice a month and I have the advantage of taking other freeways if the 405 is bad since I am heading to San Diego county.

Thank you for the commute information. I can't wait to come down for our visit.

Hey, people! It's 10 days until Christmas! Traffic is bad everywhere right now. Throw in multiple major construction projects all over the Westside AND on the 405, and it makes you want to stay home and shop local. (Which is what I did today!)

But some day the construction will be completed, some day Christmas will be over, we won't have to hear those carols again until one minute past midnight next Halloween! and the commute between S.M. and M.B. will be back to 30-40 minutes.

Hey Jean! Was that you who beat me to the parking space today? I was out doing my shopping locally, too.

Nope. My car's in the shop (great timing?!), so I walked to the mall. Saw that parking lot and was glad I was on foot!

Jean,
Maybe you were in front of me in line at See's Candy then...lol, bet we could find a friend, an organization or bank we have in common!