The Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu

Earlier this week I was on the pacific coast highway through Malibu, heading to a hike in the Santa Monica mountains north of Malibu.

This highway goes through some great scenery, but as you can see it's hardly untouched wilderness, at least not down by the road.  This is just north of L.A. (just north of Santa Monica, to be specific):

You've probably heard about beach houses in Malibu that sell for outrageous prices.  What I don't get is, why would anyone pay such big bucks, when this is your back door?  It's right on the highway, which is 4-6 lanes moving at up to 60 mph, just a few feet from the back of the house:

Here are a few photos taken as we passed through the commercial district of Malibu:

Someone's house high on a hill... but again, right above the highway.