Marina del Rey Life

By Michael Dorausch, Marina del Rey Chiropractor

Oftentimes people ask me what they can be doing while visiting Marina del Rey (other than getting adjusted in my chiropractic office). One of the great features about the area is that it’s close to LAX airport. A cab ride from LAX to most locations in the Marina should not cost more than $25 (each way). Most locations in the Marina are only about 15 minutes away from LAX airport.

If you only have a couple of hours and want to go somewhere you can eat, browse, and maybe shop, there is a great center along Admiralty Way called Waterside. The Center is located between Mindanao Way and Fiji Way and the main address is 4700 Admiralty Way Marina del Rey, CA 90292. Here is an external link for a Google map of the Waterside on Admiralty location.

On sunny days, which is the norm for this area, you can enjoy a nice outdoor sea breeze while visiting this center. I use quite a few businesses at the Waterside center. Parking can get a bit hectic especially during business day lunch hours since lots of local office employees and local residents use the center at lunchtime (like me).

I have not yet eaten at Le Marmiton (a French gourmet bistro and deli) but it looks like a great place. I love California Pizza Kitchen. They have terrific pizza, pasta and salads. One of my favorite pizzas is the garlic chicken pizza. They are located at the far south end of the center (by Fiji Way).

Chipotle Mexican Grill gets really busy at lunchtime and the line can go out the front door. The line moves quickly and the burritos are great. There is a good amount of indoor and outdoor seating and I think a lot of people take their food to go. I’ve never had a problem finding a seat.

There is a Starbucks located not far from the fountains and the outdoor patios. There is a good amount of indoor seating at this Starbucks and you can gain entrance from Lincoln Boulevard if you are just stopping in for coffee. Parking on the Lincoln Boulevard side will save you some time but you can only access the lot if you’re heading southbound on Lincoln. Lot’s of people on their laptops every time I stop by Starbucks at lunch.

There is a Cold Stone Creamery which is a great place to get some ice cream. If you have not been to Cold Stone, it’s worth the visit.

There are other businesses in the center like a Bank of America, a US postal office (this one gets very busy), a dry cleaners, Rainbow Acres health foods, Ralph’s supermarket, Pier 1, Hallmark card store, Tobacco Trader and others.

There are quite a few other businesses but I have not used them all. The Waterside is a great place to walk around, do some shopping, get some daily chores done, and enjoy some good food, or just a mocha (my favorite Starbucks beverage). Oh, there is also a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf located inside the Ralph’s supermarket if you prefer their coffee and or products.

Enjoy Marina del Rey!

If you have not been on the 90 FWY East recently you may notice some pretty big changes when making a right onto the freeway from Mindanao way.

CalTrans is completing a long heldoff project that has resulted in a new 90 freeway onramp which is now BEFORE Culver Blvd.

Photo of 90 Expressway before construction

Drivers now have the option to either merge left (left lanes) and enter the freeway onramp or remain in the right lanes and continue on to Culver Blvd. Once at the Culver intersection commuters can make a left (under the freeway) heading East towards McConnell or go right (towards Playa del Rey) heading West, which will take you over Lincoln Blvd. NOTE: There is no way to enter Lincoln going Southbound (towards LAX) from Culver. There is a fairly new (completed in 2005) ramp that will take you North on Lincoln off of Culver, and back into Marina del Rey.

A view of Culver Blvd Northbound before 90 FWY overpass

The old off ramps and on ramps along Culver are under construction and are expected to re-open in 2-3 months. We’ll get some more photos posted as construction comes to a close.

Just up the street (in the above photo) and on the right hand side is DirecTV, ADIO Chiropractic, Curves Marina del Rey, Ronnies Diner, a Dental office, Japanese Fast Food Sushi, and a Mini Market. All businesses are on the corner of Culver and McConnell Blvds.

Life in Marina del Rey: expanded content coming to this web site on an almost daily basis

Marina del Rey is a coastal seaside community located in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, California. Population in Marina del Rey has consistently been on the rise in the area and there are many new and continuing construction projects (both residential and commercial) going on in the area.

A great feature of Marina del Rey’s location is its close proximity to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It’s only 4 miles away from LAX (take Lincoln Boulevard) in its an easy place to get to if you’re in the Los Angeles area for a visit. It’s also easy to get to the airport as there are several taxi companies and other transportation services in the local-area. Two great limousine services in the Marina del Rey area are Select Limousine and Ready to Roll car service. We’ll post more information about those services here when we have web site information or direct phone contacts.

One of the many areas in the marina that people come to visit is Fisherman’s Village. From Fishermen’s Village you can get a great view of the world’s largest man-made small boat harbor, which hosts more than 7000 sailboats, motor boats, and yachts. There is a growing number of high-rise luxury condos and apartment buildings surrounding the waters of Marina del Rey.

Marina del Rey is home to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers which includes domain names such as this .com web site.

Marina del Rey has its own freeway, although it is only a few miles long. The Marina Freeway (California State Route 90) links Marina del Rey directly to Interstate 405 and nearby Culver City (at the Fox Hills Mall). Caltrans construction has been underway for more than a year at the intersection of Culver Boulevard, where the 90 freeway use to end. The Caltrans project is almost complete (February 2007) and commuters can currently enter the 90 freeway without having to cross Culver Boulevard. The new westbound offramp from the 90 also crosses over Culver and exits directly onto the Marina Expressway. From the expressway commuters can take a left onto Mindanao or continue west onto Lincoln Boulevard (California State Route 1) taking them into the Marina del Rey area.

The primary area code for Marina del Rey is 310. The new area code overlay (424) will be applied to the Marina del Rey area so it won’t be surprising to see local numbers in Marina del Rey with a 424 area code.

The ZIP code in Marina del Rey is 90292. Neighboring city Venice has a ZIP code of 90291.

This web site has been sitting inactive for several years. It’s now time to get back on track and get some great information posted about life in Marina del Rey.

There is a lot going on in the Marina, the 90 freeway construction is almost complete, more people will be coming to Marina del Rey than ever before.

Beautification projects had been going on all over the city. The Waterfront on Admiralty Way completed construction last year and is busier than ever.

There are lots of hotels in Marina del Rey, and some great ones at that.  Along the marina you can find the Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, the Marina del Rey Hotel, Best Western Hotel, and others. There is also a courtyard Marriott (just off of Lincoln Boulevard) and several other hotels located in the Marina del Rey area.

Traffic has been an issue Marina del Rey for several years.  Traffic to the area is expected to grow as new condos and lofts are being built along the marina and on Lincoln Boulevard (where the old Kinko’s, Carl’s Jr., and Marie Calendars used to be).

There are some great places to eat in the marina. A brief list: Tony P’s, Cheesecake Factory, The Chart House, the restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai Reds, The Warehouse, Café Del Rey, California Pizza Kitchen, Nichols, Jerry’s (formerly Jerry’s famous deli) and others.

Check back soon for more information about Marina del Rey!