A boardwalk of murals and stalls runs along the beach, with narrow saltwater canals and small footbridges a few blocks inland.
What Venice looks like
Ocean Front Walk runs for two miles along the beach, its walls covered in murals for long stretches. A fenced outdoor weight pen sits at the recreation center's south end, workout benches and pull up bars behind chain link fencing.
still has a block of arcaded storefronts, arched colonnades running along both sides of the street toward the boardwalk. Roll down security gates cover some of the shopfronts beneath the arches.
A few blocks inland, is lined with galleries and boutiques behind brick facades, agave and palms planted along the sidewalk. A separate gallery building nearby runs two brick wings joined by a covered walkway.
The surviving canals sit south of the boardwalk, narrow channels lined with houses, docked boats and small footbridges arched over the water. Reeds and shrubs grow along some banks, and kayaks are often tied at the water's edge.
The building at 1006 Pacific Avenue where first opened keeps a faded painted sign above its door. Farther south on Ocean Front Walk, the Norton House cantilevers a lifeguard tower shaped study out over its entrance on a single post.
The extends from the foot of Washington Boulevard, a long concrete deck over the water. Beachfront houses along the sand carry balconies that face directly onto the ocean.
Shot in Venice
Orson Welles turned Windward Avenue and the boardwalk into a fictional Mexican border town for Touch of Evil in 1958. White Men Can't Jump built its hustling court in the Rose Avenue parking lot rather than the real court beside the Muscle Beach gym, the one many mistake for it and the one American History X actually used.
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984
Nancy and Glen stand on one of the footbridges over the Venice canals while they work out how to stop Freddy Krueger. These are the surviving southern canals, rebuilt in 1992.
Venice's own boardwalk historian titled his book on the area Coney Island of the Pacific. The two seaside boardwalks share the same amusement pier era layout, with arcades and a promenade running along the beach. Coney Island's boardwalk runs boards rather than concrete and its rides sit much closer to the water, so a tighter frame on storefronts and stalls holds the comparison better than a wide beach shot. Try searching boardwalk arcades storefronts now.
Mission Beach in San Diego, California
Mission Beach's boardwalk runs along the sand in a similar configuration, a paved promenade backed by low rise beachfront apartments with a roller coaster visible at one end. Its buildings run newer and more uniform than the mix of stalls and murals here, so a frame on the plain paved promenade and the sand works better than one that includes storefronts. Try searching paved beach promenade now.
Naples in Long Beach, California
Long Beach's Naples canals are lined with houses backing directly onto the water, with small footbridges crossing between islands in a similar narrow channel layout. Naples' canals run wider and carry motorboats and gondola tours, busier on camera than the quieter footbridges here, so a narrow channel frame holds the comparison better than a wide one. Try searching canal footbridges houses now.
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