Does anyone miss the old Marina Del Rey marketplace? (Corona: middle-class, condos)

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Speaking about MDR, what about the little row of gift shops that had a cute faux "lighthouse". I think it was called Fisherman's Village. I used to enjoy walking through it back in the early 80s but back then it always looked empty. I haven't been to MDR since the mid 90s. Is Fisherman's Village still around?

it's still there, kept alive by a few different restaurants. i think it's also where the catalina express boats dock. it only really gets crowded on the 4th of july for the firework show.

[John23]

I like fisherman's village.

It gives west la and MDR a different charm. Pretty much the opposite of the big box, commercialized shopping areas. Has anyone ever been to Shanghai Reds at the end of Fishermans Village? I've never been, but it always looks like a cool restaurant.

And the cheesecake factory across the way is pretty cool, great scenery.

[Beth56]

Originally Posted by John23

Has anyone ever been to Shanghai Reds at the end of Fishermans Village?

They have brunches on the weekends. Standing room only, packed house. It's pretty good, but really busy. Can be difficult to maneuver around buffet tables for the older folks. And the lines can be long at times.

[John23]

There's a restaurant next to El Torito, I think its an italian place? They have outdoor dining. In the middle of fishermans village.

MDR also has a great post office on admiralty way and fiji. Friendlier and more efficient than others in west la. I haven't been in a while though.

[Trajjic]

I miss it too I use to always go there with my brother and my cousins ans friends. We would go play arcade games there and holla at girls back in the day. They use to have a lot of good looking women up there many were actually single.

[agnt.starling]

There use to be a Mexican restaurant with a DJ on the weekends, forgot what it was called (Casa?), on Palawan Way, does it still exist? several (maybe more) years ago that place use to be jumpin, the food was ok, not really memorable. It was nice to go outside the patio and hang out though...

[majoun]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

The problem is that there are hardly any middle class families in the area any more. There are plenty of working class latino families and handfuls of upper class white families, but the middle class in the area is now of retirement age and was never replaced by a younger middle class.

Thank you, Proposition 13

MDR may have the oldest average age in L.A. County. The westside in general tends to be on a whole older, but MDR's average age is higher than the average ages in Santa Monica, Venice, the South Bay beach cities, etc. It's full of senior citizens, not too many young people. The days of it being "swingers' haven" in the 1960s and 1970s are long gone (unless said swingers and partiers are the exact same people who were there back then....)

Also, the population of children in Los Angeles County dropped between 2000 and 2010, and the population of children on the westside started dropping long before that.

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Speaking about MDR, what about the little row of gift shops that had a cute faux "lighthouse". I think it was called Fisherman's Village. I used to enjoy walking through it back in the early 80s but back then it always looked empty. I haven't been to MDR since the mid 90s. Is Fisherman's Village still around?

I used to go down there in the 80's. Stopped by there a few months ago and it looked like it needed a renovation. Many of the stores in the mall area were vacant and no customers in the few stores open.

[martineden73]

If you watch the 1985 movie The Boys Next Door there is a lot of footage of the Marina Del rey marketplace starting at about 30 minutes in, including inside the Westworld Arcade. It's streaming on Netflix right now.

Watch The Boys Next Door Online | Netflix

[The Illusive Man]

This place is going through a major renovation. I use to always go there after school since I went to Venice. Had some great times there. I remember Westworld. It closed down while I was still very young. It's a shame I didn't get to enjoy it. Now it looks like there will be one of those dine-in theatres. And no more souplantation?!?!?!