We lived in Venice 40 years ago.....haven't been there in a while, obviously...lol..but somehow think it must have the same 'essence'. I'm native also, but finally just had to get out of SoCal...moved to Crescent City 8 months ago and love it here....moved as far away as I could get and still be "California"....lol..
Again, welcome...there are a lot of good people here and yes, you'll learn a lot here....