The attached article criticizes the effect of ‘greenbelts’ in Britain, and calls for ‘green patches’ instead of ‘green belts.’ The paradox is that a lot of what people move out to the suburbs for is precisely what these anti-suburban NIMBYs […]
Howard Ahmanson
The Continuing Presumption of Airlines
I am prepared to admit that the California Bullet Train may prove to be a failure, even though France, Spain, Germany, and China have them! I voted for the train originally, not so much to eliminate automobiles, but as an […]
Popular Music: The Ancients and the Moderns
In eighteenth century Europe, one of the favorite intellectual debates was the Debate of the Ancients and the Moderns, whether Europe had now exceeded the greatness of the Greco-Roman era or had not yet done so. There is a similar […]
Comments on the Film “The Descendants”
I recently saw a film called The Descendants, about a large family of landed aristocratic background in Hawaii. Though the Hawaiian setting is interesting, it is a story that could happen in many cultures – California is not without a […]
Who is the Santa Claus Party?
After the 2004 election, in which the states that went for Bush formed a relatively neat geographical unity and in all the states that went for Kerry maps and T-shirts were circulating labeling the Republican states as ‘Jesusland,’ I thought, […]
‘The End’ of Redevelopment Agencies
The best news of a rather dreary year. Redevelopment has done a few good things, like gaslamps, but they could as easily be done through Business Improvement Districts or the city treasuries, which are more directly accountable to the electorate. […]
‘Donorcracy’ and ‘Patrimonialism’
Newgeography.com, one of my favorite sites, has deviated from its usual agenda to post this post on what I have called the “donorcracy.” The pursuit of money is more important to every person pursuing electoral office than the pursuit of […]
I Couldn’t Resist . . .
Low Carb Fuel Standards? I shall have to check into this. Somebody needs to develop an automobile that will run on lentils, bacon, lean chicken breast, and smoked salmon. What impact that will have on the environment, I have no […]
A Linguistic Test: Blue Kennel’s First
I have been reading a work called From Bible Belt to Sun Belt by Darren Dochuk about how settlement from the western South [Texas and bordering states] in the 1930s and 40s reshaped California evangelicalism and culture. It inspired me to give my […]
Will Riverside, Fresno, and Bakersfield Become Civilized?
Joel Kotkin and William Frey, in an article written before the crash, speculate that as Coastal California prices itself out of the market, Inland California may become a more civilized and upscale region. In fact, the crash and the wave […]