Customer Reviews

Up Against The Sprawl: Public Policy And The Making Of Southern California

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title says it all. Southern CA can't even plan for the EXISTING population and predicted births in the region--and these authors know it. This collection acknowledges, early on, the history of the population explosion in SoCal, yet none of the authors ( writing on topics like water supply, habitat protection, immigration, etc.) seriously come to grips with the need for a renewal of NO GROWTH policies in this region to protect resources and give current residents a hope for something better in their built and natural environments. The economist who wrote the chapter on immigration can't quite point out the obvious in his work: it does not matter if the people coming into SoCal are foreign immigrants or from other parts of the U.S., the carrying capacity (remember that planning concept from the late '70's ?)was exceded a long time ago. The book reluctantly--and foolishly-- touts 'smart growth' as a partial solution. One decade of drought in SoCal will show how ridiculous and short-sighted ANY proposals for growth in this region really are. When the planners, geographers and urban policy wonks in SoCal start to SERIOUSLY look at the issue of population and rid themselves of hyper-concern for racist ideologues who use demographics for politcal purposes, we can start to move out of the theoretical chaos that plagues books like this one. 3 stars for trying.