Overview

Most people equate Los Angeles with smog, sprawl, forty suburbs in search of a city-the great ""what-not-to-do"" of twentieth-century city building. But there's much more to LA's story than this shallow stereotype. History shows that Los Angeles was intensely, ubiquitously planned. The consequences of that planning-the environmental history of urbanism--is one place to turn for the more complex lessons LA has to offer. Working forward from ancient times and ancient ecologies to the very recent past, Land of Sunshine is a fascinating exploration of the environmental history of greater Los Angeles. Rather than rehearsing a litany of errors or insults against nature, rather than decrying the lost opportunities of ""roads not taken,"" these essays, by nineteen leading geologists, ecologists, and historians, instead consider the changing dynamics both of the city and of nature. In the nineteenth century, for example, ""density"" was considered an evil, and reformers struggled mightily to move the working poor out to areas where better sanitation and flowers and parks ""made life seem worth the living."" We now call that vision ""sprawl,"" and we struggle just as much to bring middle-class people back into the core of American cities. There's nothing natural, or inevitable, about such turns of events. It's only by paying very close attention to the ways metropolitan nature has been constructed and construed that meaningful lessons can be drawn. History matters. So here are the plants and animals of the Los Angeles basin, its rivers and watersheds. Here are the landscapes of fact and fantasy, the historical actors, events, and circumstances that have proved transformative over and over again. The result is a nuanced and rich portrait of Los Angeles that will serve planners, communities, and environmentalists as they look to the past for clues, if not blueprints, for enhancing the quality and viability of cities.

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9780822959397

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Reviews

<p> The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. <br> --Historical Geography

Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book. <br> --Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series

The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. <br> --Historical Geography <br>

"""Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book."" --Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series ""The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history."" --Historical Geography ""A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability."" --Norris Hundley, UCLA"

An important contribution to the growing literature on urban environmental history and a wonderful introduction to a city that is notoriously placeless. This incisive, diverse, and illuminating collection sheds new light on Los Angeles' relationship with its natural landscape as it has evolved over time. The book's great strength is the depth and diversity of perspectives and the resulting rich blend of viewpoints. An enlightening mix of research and writing...marked by significant differences in voice, research philosophies, topical interests, and writing styles, the result could not be better suited to a young, vibrant region that steadfastly defies centralized themes and obedient categories. What emerges is a thoughtful, nuanced consideration of the relationship between people and the natural environment in Los Angeles as it has evolved over time. The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. --Historical Geography A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability. --Norris Hundley, UCLA Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book. --Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book. Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. --Historical Geography The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. --Historical Geography Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book. - Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series Covers the subject with absolute thoroughness, capturing the full extent of LA' s physical sprawl and cultural diversity. The book also offers insight into the ongoing debate about LA' s current and evolving relationship with nature. - Mike Logan, Oklahoma State University A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability. - Norris Hundley, UCLA Covers the subject with absolute thoroughness, capturing the full extent of LA's physical sprawl and cultural diversity. The book also offers insight into the ongoing debate about LA's current and evolving relationship with nature. --Mike Logan, Oklahoma State University

Since ancient times, great cities have been shaped by their environments. But cities have also exacted their price. In these astute and very necessary essays, leading experts who are also good writers tackle important questions regarding the origins, rise, present circumstances and future sustainability of the second largest metropolitan region in the nation. No one can understand the City of Angels and its attendant communities without reference to this pioneering book. --Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, University of Southern California, Author, Americans and the California Dream series The collection offers a strong arguement for the continued relevance and vitality of serious writing about Los Angeles, and of promise for the editor's enterprise in urban environmental history. --Historical Geography A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability. --Norris Hundley, UCLA

A powerful and compelling insight into how the greater Los Angeles area from prehistory to the present has succeeded, failed, and compromised at environmental sustainability. --Norris Hundley, UCLA

Author Information

William Deverell (Editor) William Deverell is co-director of The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and professor of history at the University of Southern California. Greg Hise (Editor) Greg Hise is an urban historian in the School of Policy, Planning, Development at the University of Southern California where he holds joint appointments in the departments of history and geography. He is the author of Magnetic Los Angeles: Planning the Twentieth-Century Metropolis (awarded the Spiro Kostof Prize and Pflueger Award) and a coeditor of Rethinking Los Angeles.

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