The Promenade, Long Beach

What a festive night for NYE. The Promenande closes a couple blocks off from the public so you have a walkway access of restaurants, bars and a club. For $ 40/​person, it wasn’t too bad considering how expensive NYE events are nowadays.
The party started at 8pm. From 8 – 10 it was’t too crowded yet, but as 10:15ish, 30ish comes, you suddenly get people here and there. This year, was definitely different than my usual rave NYE, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
There are three stages along the streets. Each stage with a different theme /​audience vibe (Rock, House, and Pop). The stages were pretty far apart that the music didn’t coincide with one another.
Getting drinks was super easy as there was practically a booth every step you take. Bathrooms were a bit tricky. Of course there were portal potties, but who wants them anyways? Best chance of going to a bar and using their bathroom. Go early to prevent the rush.
Overall, it didn’t take long to walk the whole blocks. It was a bit dull as it wasn’t super festive. As I had high expectations, I was assuming more grand. But, hey, for a moment, I felt as if I was in NYC or something. Biggest let down was the actual countdown. Very disorganized and not synchronized. Timing seemed off than what it was. Midnight hits. No confetti or fireworks :(I guess the fireworks was more towards the Bay which we couldn’t even see from here. Lesson learned to take my NYE somewhere else.
Lastly… Happy 2016 :)

A strip of several blocks covering an area of Dowtown long beach filled with condos, bars & restaurants with alfresco dining. Some notable restaurants and bars that line the promenade are Beachwood Brewery, Congregation Ale House, and The Stave. The area feels like a mini corridor from Ocean Blvd. into the heart of Downtown Long Beach.

Who in Long Beach and can help me out here? We not remember back in the day when Long Beach still had a two-​story mall? We used to have a tram that would bring you all the way from the mall down to the really cool glass elevator it would drop you off at Shoreline Village. Them was the days.

Home to the excellent annual Promenade Beer and Wine Festival* (mid-​fall), Congregation* (free trivia Sunday), Harvelle’s* (one of Long Beach’s best music venues, home to the Dirty Little Secrets burlesque group), Michael’s Pizzeria* (Zagat voted best pizza in the country), beautiful Wokcano*, beer-​friendly Beachwood* (*all of which I’ve reviewed) and more, it’s a six block upscale strip of new condos, restaurants, and bars serving as an oasis in relatively ghetto downtown LBC, joining the Convention area of Ocean Blvd with City Place, the EBT card carrying, jaywalking phoenix that rose from Long Beach Plaza’s ashes.

This area has tons of potential. However, the lack of security, the crazy homeless people on every corner, or the loud obnoxious bus drivers and bar goers are a few of the reasons I would not recommend this area. As a resident, you can expect to be harassed by the homeless, belligerent, and police whom are more concerned with standing outsider bars and people watching than cleaning up the gang bangers in parks everyday of the week.
Living in the condos off of the Promenade has it’s perks but with the current mix of nuisances I can assure you that you will be pulling out your hair a couple days a week when trying to get to sleep. The property management companies in this area need to reconsider their priorities or else they will find property values starting to drop quickly. Safety first should be first priority.

The Promenade is a great connecting point for downtown Long Beach, it’s visitors and it’s residents.
Note: Fellow Unilocala Dino D. Has already covered this one extensively and I just wanted to chime in and say this place is great and more city planners and city council members should visit for ideas because this is now a bustling downtown area used by lots of people.
Residents can simply go downstairs to a whole bunch of restaurants, bars, nightlife, or just take a walk down the promenade. Big win for LBC !

The Promenade is a six block long thoroughfare in the heart of Downtown Long Beach that is anchored on the North by City Place, a development that contains 450,000 square feet of retail space and 341 apartment units, and the Long Beach Convention Center to the South which attracts 1.5 million visitors per year. In between the two anchors are the following developments that comprise residential, retail, entertainment, restaurants, office and hotels.
Transportation
*MTA Blue Line (
)
Provides daily service to and from Downtown Long Beach and Downtown Los Angeles in just under an hour. A $ 3 day pass will provide riders with unlimited travel all day on the Metro Rail, Metro Rapid, Metro Liner and Metro Local service.
*Long Beach Transit (
)
Passport and Pine Avenue Link
A complimentary free mini-​bus transports passengers to and from the Downtown’s major attractions and business centers.
*AquaLink
68-​foot catamaran comfortably ferries up to 75 passengers to the most popular attractions in the Long Beach Harbor and on down to Alamitos Bay Landing. Averages approximately 39,000 riders a year.
*Bikestation (
)
Built in 1996, this facility offers the public indoor bicycle parking with on site attendants, professional repair services, a bike shop and other related services
Harvey Milk Promenade Park, opened in May 2013 and was dedicated by then Vice Mayor Robert Garcia. This is the first U.S. Park named after Milk and is at the North End of the Promenade. The plaza includes a concrete replica of the soapbox on which Milk stood to
inspire crowds when he spoke, and a 20-​foot flagpole flying the gay pride flag.
Restaurants located on the pedestrian-​only promenade are Michael’s Pizzeria (210 E 3^rd St.); Beachwood BBQ (210 E 3^rd St.); Congregation (201 E Broadway Ave.); Wokcano (199 The Promenade);The Stave (170 The Promenade N.); Harvelle’s (201 E Broadway Ave.); with The Renaissance by Marriott Hotel & A Starbuck’s Location (111 East Ocean Boulevard); and to the South of Promendade, The Sky Room & it’s UP Lounge (40 S Locust Ave.).
Dave Schneider Fine Jewelry is also located at 245 The Promenade.