Ad Campaign Pokes at Marina's Imminent Demise

"Rodeo Drive will still be there tomorrow."

The marina, apparently, will not. A bikini-clad woman on a boat accompanies that statement in a new ad released by the Marina del Rey Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau is making a sneaky attempt to lure visitors from far and wide before the marina and surrounding businesses and attractions are, well, gone. The above rendering shows a worst-case scenario of flooding up to 20 feet. Researchers at the Pacific Institute, a California seawater think tank, put predictions closer to 6 feet by the year 2100. Sea level rise is an effect of thermal expansion, the global warming phenomenon whereby water molecules physically expand.

The worst-hit areas will be low-lying coastal regions and man-made environments. Parts of the Bay Area, like San Francisco airport and residential Foster City, were built over landfill and sit dangerously low to the water. Marina del Rey, the nation's largest small boat harbor, is also an artificial environment and faces similar risks. More threatened however, are the areas just to the north (Venice) and just to the south (Playa del Rey) of the harbor. The entire stretch of land covered in the above image is part of the Ballona wetlands and was historically a natural marsh that fed run water from the Ballona creek into the ocean. The marsh would flood during rainy season, and dry up during the dry season. Today however, the area is almost 100% built up. And proximity to the ocean means prices are not cheap.

Since it opened in 1965, Marina del Rey has been the pleasure capital for LA's nautical elite. Miami-style high-rise condos and luxury hotels have sprouted up along its fringes. The latest slew of these however, have been heavily hit by the recent real estate dropout. Perhaps consumers know all too well about the area's watery future. So go ahead - visit Marina del Rey. Just don't stay there... you're much better off shopping in Beverly Hills.