The first history of the formidable campaign that transformed Los Angeles into one of the world's greatest coastal metropolises, revealing how the city's man-made shores became the site for the reinvention of seaside leisure and the triumph of modern bodies.
The Los Angeles shoreline is one of the most iconic natural landscapes in the United States, if not the world. The vast shores of Santa Monica, Venice, and Malibu are familiar sights to film and television audiences, conveying images of pristine sand, carefree fun, and glamorous physiques. Yet, in the early twentieth century Angelenos routinely lamented the city's crowded, polluted, and eroded sands, many of which were private and thus inaccessible to the public.
Between the 1920s and the 1960s, LA's engineers, city officials, urban planners, and business elite worked together to transform the relatively untouched beaches into modern playgrounds for the white middle class. They cleaned up and enlarged the beaches--up to three times their original size--and destroyed old piers and barracks to make room for brand-new accommodations, parking lots, and freeways. The members of this powerful "beach lobby" reinvented the beach experience for the suburban age, effectively preventing a much-feared "white flight" from the coast. In doing so, they established Southern California as the national reference point for shoreline planning and coastal access. As they opened up vast public spaces for many Angelenos to express themselves, show off their bodies, and forge alternative communities, they made clear that certain groups of beachgoers, including African Americans, gay men and women, and bodybuilders, were no longer welcome. Despite their artificial origins, LA's beaches have proved remarkably resilient. The drastic human interventions into nature brought social and economic benefits to the region without long-term detrimental consequences on the environment. Yet the ongoing climate crisis and rapid sea level rise will eventually force the city to reckon with its past building.
Sand Rush not only uncovers how the Los Angeles coastline was constructed but also how this major planning and engineering project affected the lives of ordinary city-dwellers and attracted many Americans to move to Southern California. Featuring a foreword by Jenny Price, it recounts the formidable beach modernization campaign that transformed Los Angeles into one of the world's greatest coastal metropolises.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
A marvelous combination of urban, environmental, social, cultural, and policy history, Sand Rush explains a vast expanse of LA history and geography. About a city as much defined by its coastline as by its boulevards, freeways, and diverse communities, this book presents the contested meanings of a famous and understudied space. Get Sand Rush, go to the beach, and read about the making of modern nature. * Eric Avila, author of Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles * We tend to think of beaches and coastlines as timeless features of the natural world, a space out of time. But in this captivating, revelatory history of America's most iconic beachfront, Devienne shows that they have been anything but. From the polluting industries that once fouled its waters and sands, to the coastal engineers and urban planners who sought to mold these dynamic environments into spaces of pleasure and profit, to the social engineers who attempted to control who could enjoy it and where, Devienne shows how America's coastlines have long held a mirror to the societies they surround. A stunning achievement. * Andrew W. Kahrl, author of Free the Beaches * Thoroughly researched and beautifully contextualized, Sand Rush expertly documents how embedded the beach is within the Los Angeles civic imagination and what a precise barometer of class and racial privilege it remains. * Sarah Schrank, Journal of American History * Elsa Devienne has written the book that a lot of us were waiting for but couldn't have imagined ourselves. With insights into environmental, social, urban, and political history, Devienne has taught us not only about the beach we love, but also about the beach we never knew. * Josh Sides, California State University, Northridge * In Elsa Devienne's Sand Rush, the beaches of greater Los Angeles are finally understood for what they are: not just places for fun in the sun, but crucibles for US environmental and urban planning, environmentalism, and civil rights. * Lawrence Culver, author of Frontier of Leisure: Southern California and the Shaping of Modern America * A masterful history. * Shelby Grad, Los Angeles Times * I love this book because, on almost every page, I learned something new about the Southern California beaches I enjoy so much-everything from why the beaches physically exist to why the public has access to them. * Michael R. Adamson, Shepherd * Sand Rush offers historical insights to academics, practitioners, and policy analysts on a range of topics that will be central as Los Angeles faces fundamental and likely transformative change due to rising sea levels. From the politics of public space to the privatization impulse of well-to-do coastal residents to the dynamic nature of coastal landscapes and the (potential) hubris of coastal engineering, Sand Rush reminds us of the centrality of the beach in Los Angeles's past and future. * Kara Murphy Schlichting, American Planning Association * Sand Rush is a compelling contribution to urban and environmental history. * J. deGuzman, Choice *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Illustrationen
39 black and white halftones
Maße
Höhe: 239 mm
Breite: 163 mm
Dicke: 30 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-753975-0 (9780197539750)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Elsa Devienne is Assistant Professor in US History at Northumbria University. Her work has won the Willi Paul Adams Award awarded by the Organization of American Historians for the best book on American history published in a language other than English. She regularly appears on radio, podcasts, and TV shows to speak about her research in English and French.
Autor*in
Assistant Professor in US HistoryAssistant Professor in US History, Northumbria University
Vorwort
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Westside L.A.
Chapter 2: A Troubled Seaside Order
Chapter 3: The Emergence of a Southern California Beach Lobby
Chapter 4: A Beach for the Suburban Age
Chapter 5: Beach Bodies
Chapter 6: Who Has the Right to the Modern Beach?
Chapter 7: Ebbing Tides
Epilogue: The View from the Santa Monica Pier
Notes
Bibliography
Index
