The Best of the Westside: Santa Monica Just Made a National “Best” List — Here’s the Local Read

Every so often the national press catches up to what Westsiders already know. This month it was Travel + Leisure, which named Santa Monica one of Los Angeles’s best family destinations — year-round sunshine, a famous pier, and ocean views included.

The write-up hits the familiar landmarks: the Pier, Montana Avenue’s 150-plus boutiques, the twice-weekly farmers market, the 22-mile Marvin Braude Bike Trail, the Cayton Children’s Museum. It also flags what locals call the “secret summer” — September through November, when the June gloom is gone, the crowds thin out, and the coast is at its absolute best. And the food scene gets its due, from Michelin Bib Gourmand winner Cobi’s to the omakase counter at Brothers Sushi. The Santa Monica Proper’s inclusion in Travel + Leisure’s 2026 World’s Best Awards rounds it out.

As someone who sells homes a few miles up the coast, here’s my read on why this kind of recognition matters beyond tourism.

The Westside trades on livability, and livability is exactly what gets ranked. When a national outlet scores a beach city on sunshine, walkability, schools-adjacent amenities, and a genuine everyday food scene, it’s effectively publishing a livability report. Those are the same fundamentals that hold property values through cycles. Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and the beach cities don’t compete on square footage — they compete on the life you get per square foot.

Santa Monica’s spotlight is Pacific Palisades’ tailwind. The Palisades sits fifteen minutes up PCH from everything in that article — same ocean, same light, same “secret summer” — with a quieter, more residential character. Buyers who fall for the Westside through Santa Monica very often end up writing offers in the Palisades. And right now the Palisades has its own story to tell: the rebuild is underway, buyers are back and disciplined, and homes that are done right — renovated, documented, and independently tested where it matters — are the ones that trade. Our recent closing at 1227 Tellem Drive said exactly that.

For owners, “destination” status is an asset to manage. If you own on the Westside but aren’t here year-round — and plenty of owners aren’t — this is the market where a well-kept home earns its keep. That’s the entire reason I run Beautiful Home Property Management: for owners who aren’t around, don’t want to deal with the day-to-day, but don’t need a full-time in-house estate manager either.

The Westside’s best-of lists will keep coming. The through-line is always the same: this stretch of coast is one of the most livable places in the country, and real estate here reflects it.

Thinking about buying, selling, or holding on the Westside? I’m happy to be a resource — no pitch, just a straight read on your street.

Ryan Grossman | The Agency | DRE 01955835 · 310.739.7679 · grossmanestatesgroup.com

Source: Lindsay Cohn, “This Beach City Is One of L.A.’s Best Family Destinations — With Year-round Sunshine, a Famous Pier, and Ocean Views,” Travel + Leisure, via Yahoo: https://travel.yahoo.com/guides/articles/beach-city-one-l-best-111500112.html