Been busy since graduation. If anyone is actually reading this, here is the next section of my senior research.
Loss of Farmland
Given Los Angeles’ developed land, it is possible to believe that there are acres being developed at some alarming rates. “The American Farm Trust calculates that we are losing prime farmland at a rate of 46 acres per hour.” (Squires 26) Lawsuits by the state of California concerning planned development in vast open land have helped direct sprawl away from farmland. “About 3 million acres (roughly the size of Connecticut) of mainly forestland, pastureland, rangeland, and crop land are converted to urbanized landscapes annually.” (Miller 169) Where farmland is being lost, development is going in its place; strip malls and the single-family homes are eliminating prime farmland for non-essential development.
Wherever there is cheap land with stable soil, a housing development is likely to spring up in southern California. Because developments benefit from the same type of soil as crops, there is a constant conflict between retaining farmland or relinquishing it to suburban development. “Deep, well-drained soils and modest slopes are attractive for both farming and development.” On these areas of farmland, “according to the American Farmland Trust, counties with high levels of both prime farmland and development pressure account for 79 percent of our nation’s fruit, 69 percent of our vegetables, 52 percent of our dairy products, and over 25 percent of our meats and grains.” (Squires 26) With the continuation of development in the region, these new developments are being planned with the car in mind, which means bigger parking lots, larger roads, air pollution, the erosion of walkways, and the loss of nature. “The amount of developed land has quadrupled in 50 years, consuming a third of our most productive farmland and more than half of all wetlands (91% in California) and it's bumping up against the boundaries of national parks, forests and other protected lands.” (Ohland, Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles in recent years has seen suburbs of its city bump up against the Angeles National Forest and also threaten other national and state protected sites together with prime farmland.
Loss of Public Space in Los Angeles
As the people of southern California watch their natural landscape being changed by sprawl, it would be in the best interest of Los Angeles to begin designating more land and property for parks and public open space rather than residential or non mixed-use development. Over 31 million people call California home, while over 9 million people reside in Los Angeles County, and millions of others inhabit Orange County and Riverside County. Los Angeles “[h]as the smallest percentage of space devoted to parks in any major American city — a paltry 4 percent — most of it in the rough Santa Monica Mountains.” (Fleischer, L.A. Weekly) On top of that, “[n]o other Urbanized Area provided so little land per resident as Los Angeles (0.11 acre)…[and] despite accepting the densest living conditions in the country…the Los Angeles Area sprawled across another 394 square miles of orchards, farmland, natural habitat and other rural land.”
(Miller 184) The reason for this is the addition of 3.1 million residents from 1970 to 1990.
The population’s proximity to open space in Los Angeles is deficient; in crowded urban areas of “southern California, only one of four residents lives within 440 yards of a neighborhood playground or park [and] in low-income neighborhoods, 1000 people, on average, share a third of an acre of public open space.” In May of 2009, the California State Senate Assembly passed a bill that would allow parks to be built on utility right-of-way property. This bill, if signed into law, will bring green open space to areas of Los Angeles that lack access to parks, particularly in low-income areas. “AB 521 [is] [a] [bill] [that] will give thousands of kids places to play, and bring more green space to our urban areas." (Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times) Efforts like this ensure that there will be opportunities to transform land into something as an antidote to sprawl.
Showing posts with label urbanism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urbanism. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Its All About What You Consume: Next Section
Consumerism Redefined in Los Angeles
Factors affecting sprawl today, together with a great period of economic prosperity after WWII, helped cause sprawl to have a direct impact on the spending and consumption patterns of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles area’s excessive land development makes driving a must, especially in view of what is considered some of the poorest public transportation for a city of its size. The amount of drivers on the roads constitutes a considerable detriment to the environment and aggravates the effect that sprawl plays in southern California’s consumption of goods and food. This is because of the carbon emissions and other chemicals that are emitted into the air from driving cars. A significant portion of the energy cost of food production is spent on transporting food from harvest to market and for processing, packaging, and storage. This increases the likelihood of environmental damage to the landscape. Los Angeles’ sprawling nature exacerbates the pollution that is produced from transporting goods, hence the intense smog problem in the region. To mitigate this problem, many people can purchase locally grown, in-season, unprocessed food which would greatly reduce the need to expend as much energy in food production.
A prime example of excessive energy consumption can be found in Los Angeles:
“Suburban Los Angeles residents consume gas at a rate 12 times greater than citizens of Manhattan because of the spread-out development pattern…[S]prawling land use patterns in the United States requires more driving. This leads to the production of more greenhouse gases that fuel global warming, which in turn leads to changes in our very landscapes and even to the culture that is shaped by it.” (Squires 28)
Because of extraordinary consumption of goods in the United States, Americans contribute to draining the Earth of its resources faster than any country. “If the entire world were to consume resources at the same rate as the U.S., we would need three planets to satisfy the demand.” (Miller 45) Citizens of the United States are inordinate consumers of goods, food, and unfortunately vast amounts of natural resources. “U.S. drivers consume roughly 43 percent of the world’s gasoline to propel less than 5 percent of the world’s population.” (Miller 103) Staggering statistics such as those help put into perspective the damage the population of southern California is inflicting on the environment due to sprawl.
More effective means will need to be employed in certain areas of the United States in order to control sprawl. Given the growing population of and other western states, there will be continued influx of residents into the southern California region, further enhancing the need to find a solution to sprawl. “The fastest-growing states, regions, and counties are dominated by…the south and west regions [of] [the] [United States]. Together, the south and west will represent about 80 percent of future employment, population and income growth.” (Burchell 22) Looking at a map of the counties in the United States, there is a definite pattern of smaller counties being located on the east coast while larger counties occur on the west coast. Larger counties in the west have allowed sprawl to continue unabated, while east coast counties were not as affected by sprawl due to the advent of the automobile. We must also consider that the geographical size of the eastern states is much smaller than that of the western states. This size differential may explain why development is more structured and efficient on the east coast as opposed to the west. Furthermore, the eastern regions will not see nearly as much development in the next several decades as will the western and southern states. The latter areas will gain significant growth because of the available land, regardless of the price, causing further sprawl and disruption to the environment.
Factors affecting sprawl today, together with a great period of economic prosperity after WWII, helped cause sprawl to have a direct impact on the spending and consumption patterns of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles area’s excessive land development makes driving a must, especially in view of what is considered some of the poorest public transportation for a city of its size. The amount of drivers on the roads constitutes a considerable detriment to the environment and aggravates the effect that sprawl plays in southern California’s consumption of goods and food. This is because of the carbon emissions and other chemicals that are emitted into the air from driving cars. A significant portion of the energy cost of food production is spent on transporting food from harvest to market and for processing, packaging, and storage. This increases the likelihood of environmental damage to the landscape. Los Angeles’ sprawling nature exacerbates the pollution that is produced from transporting goods, hence the intense smog problem in the region. To mitigate this problem, many people can purchase locally grown, in-season, unprocessed food which would greatly reduce the need to expend as much energy in food production.
A prime example of excessive energy consumption can be found in Los Angeles:
“Suburban Los Angeles residents consume gas at a rate 12 times greater than citizens of Manhattan because of the spread-out development pattern…[S]prawling land use patterns in the United States requires more driving. This leads to the production of more greenhouse gases that fuel global warming, which in turn leads to changes in our very landscapes and even to the culture that is shaped by it.” (Squires 28)
Because of extraordinary consumption of goods in the United States, Americans contribute to draining the Earth of its resources faster than any country. “If the entire world were to consume resources at the same rate as the U.S., we would need three planets to satisfy the demand.” (Miller 45) Citizens of the United States are inordinate consumers of goods, food, and unfortunately vast amounts of natural resources. “U.S. drivers consume roughly 43 percent of the world’s gasoline to propel less than 5 percent of the world’s population.” (Miller 103) Staggering statistics such as those help put into perspective the damage the population of southern California is inflicting on the environment due to sprawl.
More effective means will need to be employed in certain areas of the United States in order to control sprawl. Given the growing population of and other western states, there will be continued influx of residents into the southern California region, further enhancing the need to find a solution to sprawl. “The fastest-growing states, regions, and counties are dominated by…the south and west regions [of] [the] [United States]. Together, the south and west will represent about 80 percent of future employment, population and income growth.” (Burchell 22) Looking at a map of the counties in the United States, there is a definite pattern of smaller counties being located on the east coast while larger counties occur on the west coast. Larger counties in the west have allowed sprawl to continue unabated, while east coast counties were not as affected by sprawl due to the advent of the automobile. We must also consider that the geographical size of the eastern states is much smaller than that of the western states. This size differential may explain why development is more structured and efficient on the east coast as opposed to the west. Furthermore, the eastern regions will not see nearly as much development in the next several decades as will the western and southern states. The latter areas will gain significant growth because of the available land, regardless of the price, causing further sprawl and disruption to the environment.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Culmination of College
I have finished my senior research paper on how sprawl can effect our particular lifestyle habits and the pressure it puts on natural habitats and ecosystems in Los Angeles. Here is my introduction. Please enjoy. (Can't seem to get the whole paper up, if anyone is reading this at all, a little help would be appreciated.)
Sprawl L.A.: The Impact of Sprawl in Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the agglomeration of urbanized area throughout Los Angeles County. It is an amalgam of neighborhoods, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. A term for this urbanized growth is sprawl. As defined, sprawl is low-density dispersed development outside of urban city centers. The alterations to the landscape caused by sprawl have an effect on how people live, work, and use energy, but most importantly on the well-being of the environment. As Los Angeles continues to sprawl, it impacts the natural environment significantly, with accompanying deterioration to our ecosystems. California landscape can only suffer further harm if urban sprawl continues unabated. The objective of this research paper is to explore the deterioration of ecosystems resulting from sprawl and the harmful effects of lifestyle promoted by sprawl.
Sprawl L.A.: The Impact of Sprawl in Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the agglomeration of urbanized area throughout Los Angeles County. It is an amalgam of neighborhoods, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. A term for this urbanized growth is sprawl. As defined, sprawl is low-density dispersed development outside of urban city centers. The alterations to the landscape caused by sprawl have an effect on how people live, work, and use energy, but most importantly on the well-being of the environment. As Los Angeles continues to sprawl, it impacts the natural environment significantly, with accompanying deterioration to our ecosystems. California landscape can only suffer further harm if urban sprawl continues unabated. The objective of this research paper is to explore the deterioration of ecosystems resulting from sprawl and the harmful effects of lifestyle promoted by sprawl.
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