Blackburn Recovery Services runs sober living homes for men in Venice, Mar Vista, Cheviot Hills and Mid City, and Blackburn Sober Apartments are in West Los Angeles. We have no house or apartment inside Santa Monica city limits. What we have is sober housing a short trip away: Mar Vista is roughly 5 miles by road from Santa Monica, an approximate figure that shifts with where you start. This page is for men from Santa Monica, and for the families and professionals helping them, who want to stay on this side of town.
For the apartments, schedule an apartment tour.
Staying close to Santa Monica without living there
Santa Monica is a beach city of about 89,922 people (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, July 2023 estimate). Its economy leans on hospitality, restaurants, retail and tourism, with technology, media and healthcare offices filling in the rest. Plenty of the men who call us from Santa Monica already work in one of those fields. Restaurant and bar work in particular keeps alcohol within reach for an entire shift.
So the real question is rarely whether to move across the county. It is how to keep the job, the meetings and the people that are working, and still change where you sleep at night. That is the case for sober housing next door rather than far away. Venice shares a border with Santa Monica, and Mar Vista sits just inland of it. A man from Santa Monica can keep his morning meeting, his workouts and his commute, then come home each evening to a house where everyone is sober and testing is part of the week.
It can work the other way too. If the old crowd lives along Main Street or near the pier and that is exactly the problem, a few miles of distance and a house of men with the same commitment can be enough of a break. You get a fresh start without landing somewhere you do not know.
Getting between Santa Monica and our homes
Few places in Los Angeles County have more transit toward the rest of the Westside.
- Metro E Line. Santa Monica has three E Line stations, with the line ending at Downtown Santa Monica. Heading east it stops at Expo/Bundy, Expo/Sepulveda, Westwood/Rancho Park, Palms and Culver City (Metro E Line, via Wikipedia). The Santa Monica extension opened in May 2016.
- Metro 33. Follows Venice Boulevard from Santa Monica toward Downtown LA, stopping in Mar Vista and Culver City, around the clock (transit.wiki).
- Metro 720, 20 and 4. The 720 and 20 run along Wilshire Boulevard and the 4 along Santa Monica Boulevard (Metro).
- Big Blue Bus. The city’s own bus system reaches Venice, Westwood, Culver City and West LA. Its Route 3 runs from Santa Monica to the LAX/Metro Transit Center (Big Blue Bus route list, via Wikipedia).
By car the trip is short on paper. Traffic on Lincoln and the 10 decides how short it is in practice.
What Blackburn offers
Sober living homes
Our sober living for men is the structured option. Drug testing happens 3 times a week. Alcohol testing is daily. The homes run medication management systems, and Vivitrol is supported. Residents can work full time and attend local colleges, which matters if your job is a few minutes from the beach. Families, providers and treatment teams get weekly updates.
Sober apartments
Our sober apartments for men in West Los Angeles are independent living. They are fully furnished and month to month. Utilities and WiFi are included. Weekly random drug and alcohol testing is the one piece of structure that stays. No curfew, and no overnight permission to ask for. Most guests step down from a sober living home, but the apartments are open to anyone who qualifies.
Which fits you?
| If this sounds like you | Start with |
|---|---|
| Fresh out of treatment, and Santa Monica nights still pull at you | Sober living |
| Your family wants daily alcohol testing they can count on | Sober living |
| Months sober, steady work near the beach, a sponsor you call | Sober apartments |
| You want your own hours, with weekly random testing | Sober apartments |
Still unsure? Read sober apartments vs sober living, then call. Deciding together is what the first conversation is for.
For families and referring professionals
Families from Santa Monica usually live close enough to drop off dinner. That closeness cuts both ways: it is easier to stay involved and harder to step back. When your son or brother lives in one of our sober living homes, a weekly update tells you how he is really doing, so you do not have to play detective. Every other Tuesday, 6 to 7 PM Pacific, families can join our free virtual support group. A licensed therapist from Blackburn Clinical Services leads it. Details are on our families page.
Therapists and case managers with a Santa Monica client can call to talk through level of care before a referral. Provider updates come with sober living. See our page for treatment professionals.
Public help in Los Angeles County
Not ready for sober housing but need help today? The county runs a Substance Abuse Service Helpline at 1-800-854-7771, option 2 (LA County Department of Public Health, SAPC). For meetings from the beach inland, see our West LA meeting guide.
Questions from Santa Monica
Does Blackburn have a sober living home in Santa Monica?
No. Our closest homes are in Venice, which borders Santa Monica, so for many men the move is only a few miles. Others are in Mar Vista, Cheviot Hills and Mid City. The sober apartments are in West Los Angeles.
Can I keep my Santa Monica job while I live in sober living?
Yes. Residents can work full time. Depending on the house, the commute can be a short ride on the Metro 33 or the Big Blue Bus, or a few stops on the E Line.
Is there a train from Santa Monica toward Palms and Culver City?
Yes. The Metro E Line runs from Downtown Santa Monica east through Expo/Bundy, Expo/Sepulveda, Westwood/Rancho Park, Palms and Culver City.
My sober living stay near Santa Monica is ending. Can I move straight into the apartments?
If you qualify, yes. The apartments are open to men coming from any sober living home, not only ours. Call or text us to talk it through, or schedule an apartment tour.
Can my family see the house before I move from Santa Monica?
Yes. Most Santa Monica families are a short drive away, and sober living tours can be in person or virtual.
Nearby pages
- Sober living in Venice, our homes closest to Santa Monica
- Sober living and sober apartments for men from the Westside
- Neighboring areas: Pacific Palisades, Brentwood and Marina del Rey
- All areas we serve across Los Angeles County
For the apartments, schedule an apartment tour. Rather we call you? Request a call back.
Sources (checked October 28, 2026): population from U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts; distance is an approximate estimate from map coordinates, not a routed figure; E Line stations and the 2016 extension from the Metro E Line article on Wikipedia; Metro 33 from transit.wiki; Metro 720, 20 and 4 from Metro; Big Blue Bus routes from Wikipedia; helpline from the LA County Department of Public Health.