Sand rush : the revival of the beach in twentieth-century Los Angeles / Elsa Devienne ; foreword by Jenny Price ; translated by Troy J. Tice.
Material type:
TextLanguage: English Original language: French Publisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2024Description: xiii, 303 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780197539750
- 0197539750
- Ruée vers le sable. English
- Bathing beaches -- Government policy -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
- Bathing beaches -- Environmental aspects -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
- Urban renewal -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
- City planning -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
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Adult Book
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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.
Translation and revision of: La ruée vers le sable : une histoire environnementale des plages de Los Angeles (Sorbonne Editions, 2020).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Foreword / Jenny Price -- Introduction : "the greatest city-on-the-shore in the world" -- Westside LA -- A troubled seaside order -- The emergence of the Los Angeles beach lobby -- A beach for the suburban age -- Beach bodies -- Who has the right to the modern beach? -- Ebbing tides -- Epilogue : the view from the Santa Monica Pier.
"The Los Angeles shoreline is one of the most iconic natural landscapes in the world. Yet, how natural is it? And how did it come to embody the quintessential modern beach experience? In the early 20th-century, Angelenos routinely lamented the city's crowded, polluted, and eroded shores and many beaches were private and thus inaccessible to the public. Sand Rush recounts the extraordinary beach modernization campaign that transformed Los Angeles into one of the world's greatest coastal metropolises, revealing how the city's man-made shores served as a central locus for the reinvention of seaside leisure and the triumph of modern bodies. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, LA engineers, city officials, urban planners, and the business elite worked together to transform the relatively untouched beaches of the early twentieth century into modern playgrounds for the white middle class. They cleaned up and artificially enlarged the beaches and destroyed old piers and barracks to make room for new accommodations. Members of this powerful "beach lobby" adapted the beach experience to 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 beach planning and opened up vast public spaces for Angelenos to express themselves, show off their bodies, and forge lively subcultures. Their efforts paid off"-- Provided by publisher.