Carmel & The Monterey Peninsula

The Monterey Peninsula in central California is steeped in history and is one of California’s most beautiful regions. Local communities include Monterey, Carmel, and the private community of Pebble Beach.

Monterey

The city of Monterey was founded in 1777 and marked the beginning of settlement in Central California. The city became the capital of Spanish and later Mexican California. Up until the mid 19th century the city served as California's cultural and political center. Monterey is home to some of California's oldest buildings (adobes) as well as California's first theatre.

Monterey has long been famous for the abundant fishery in Monterey Bay. That changed in the 1950s, when the local fishery business collapsed due to overfishing. A few of the old fishermen's cabins from the early twentieth century have been preserved as they stood along Cannery Row. The famous Cannery Row has now been turned into a tourist attraction, with restaurants and shops in the historical site.

Monterey has a noteworthy history as a center for California painters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Such painters as Arthur Frank Mathews, Armin Hansen, Xavier Martinez, Rowena Meeks Abdy and Percy Gray lived or visited to pursue painting in the style of either En plein air or Tonalism.

More recently, Monterey has been recognized for its significant involvement in post-secondary learning of languages other than English and its major role in delivering translation and interpretation services around the world.

Monterey is steeped in history and famed for the abundance and diversity of its marine life which includes sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, bat rays, kelp (seaweed) forests, pelicans and dolphins.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the largest in North America, hosts several important marine science laboratories. Monterey's geographic location gives scientists access to the deep sea within hours, and only a few miles offshore is Monterey Canyon, the largest and deepest (3.2 km) underwater canyon off the Pacific coast of North America

Carmel

Carmel-by-the-Sea, usually called simply Carmel, is a small town endowed with a rich artistic history situated on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. In 1906, the San Francisco Call devoted a full page to the "artists, poets and writers of Carmel-by-the-Sea" and in 1910 it reported that 60 percent of Carmel's houses were built by citizens who were "devoting their lives to work connected to the aesthetic arts."

It is not an accident that Carmel has achieved fame for its natural features, ambiance and an abundance of cultural and shopping venues. The town has historically pursued a vigorous strategy of planned development to retain its character, which the city's general plan describes as "a village in a forest overlooking a white sand beach," and to enhance its natural coastal beauty. Carmel was incorporated in the year 1916 and as early as 1925 the town adopted a clear vision of its future as "primarily, essentially and predominantly a residential community" (Carmel City Council, 1929). The city regularly hosts delegations from cities and towns around the world seeking to understand how Carmel retains its authenticity in today's increasingly homogeneous world.

The city takes its location in the Carmel Forest seriously. Trees come first, structures second. New buildings must be built around existing trees and new trees are required on lots that are deemed to have an inadequate number.

Originally, the artists, who were the first builders of the homes in the town, named their houses, rather than having numerical addresses. Even today the businesses, cottages and houses have no street numbers. Due to this situation, the Postal Service provides no delivery of mail to individual addresses. Instead, residents go to the centrally located post office to receive their mail. Overnight delivery services do deliver to what are called geographical addresses, such as "NE Ocean and Lincoln" (Harrison Memorial Library) or "Monte Verde 4SW of 8th" (Golden Bough Playhouse). The format used for geographical addressing lists the street, cross street, and the number of houses from the intersection. For example, in the case of "Monte Verde 4SW of 8th", the address translates to a building on the West side Monte Verde Street four properties south of the 8th Ave intersection.

Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach is a small coastal unincorporated community in Monterey County.. Best known as a resort destination, the area is home to the famous golf course.

Technically, Pebble Beach is not a city at all, but rather a corporation owned by the Pebble Beach Company. This company is currently run by Plaut Inc. Residents therefore pay homeowners' fees for road maintenance as well as Monterey County property taxes.

The area is also partly administrated by the Del Monte Forest Foundation, a non-profit organization designated by Monterey County and the California Coastal Commission, and comprising a volunteer board of 12 members working to preserve the open space within the Del Monte Forest. Except for two representatives of the Pebble Beach Company, all must be property owners and residents of the Forest.

Pebble Beach has seven public and private 18-hole golf courses. The Links at Spanish Bay, and Spyglass Hill are owned by the Pebble Beach Company and are all public courses. The other four courses in the town are Poppy Hills which is public, the private Cypress Point Club, and the private Monterey Peninsula Country Club's two courses, the Dunes Course and the Shore Course. The Pebble Beach Company also owns a nine hole par-3 course in Pebble Beach called the Peter Hay course, and Del Monte Golf Course a few miles away in Monterey, which is the oldest continuously operating course in the Western United States. Several of these courses are widely celebrated, especially Pebble Beach Golf Links, which is the most famous course in the Western United States, and the only course which has ever beaten Pine Valley Golf Club to top spot in Golf Digest's biennial list of America's 100 greatest courses.

Pebble Beach has few businesses apart from those owned by the Pebble Beach Company (except the golf courses, a private school, one gas station, and a deli) and no sidewalks. Most of the very expensive houses are hidden behind old-growth trees. It is quiet, secluded, and somewhat gloomy in foggy weather, which occurs quite frequently on the Peninsula in general, and in particular here where it meets the Pacific head-on.

Pebble Beach is a gated community, but differs from most gated communities. The Pebble Beach Company gets $9.25 in revenue per car from tourists driving along the 17-Mile Drive. Residents are issued small license plate badges that are attached near their cars' license plates.

Another famous Pebble Beach attraction is the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance auto show. It focuses on classic cars, but manufacturers have lately begun introducing new luxury car models there.

	Paul Brocchini & Mark Ryan (831) 626-2221