For this weeks blog post I decided to explore the
picture-perfect coastline of Malibu. I wanted to check out this part of Los
Angeles because I heard it was one of most desirable locations to live in and
it’s property value reflected this rumor.
When
I first started driving northbound on the PCH through Malibu I instantly
recognized all the view’s considering how many Hollywood films and commercials
have been shot around the area. Next, I pulled into the shopping mall on the
corner of Cross Creek and PCH. Once I entered the mall I felt a completely
different vibe than driving along the coast. Surrounded by expensive clothing
boutique’s, gaudy cars, and overpriced meals I felt like I was back in
Brentwood or Beverly Hills. But I knew there was more to Malibu than this
aspect… so I continued to explore.
I ended up taking a hike up the backside of Coral Canyon to engulf myself in
the aesthetic pleasures Malibu has to offer. It was truly something special,
rolling hills speckled with mansions and beautiful ocean views; one could
almost forget they are living in a city… until they looked southeast. Malibu is
fortunate to be secluded by the Santa Monica mountains, a very geographically
and special mountain range.
When
reflecting on what I saw in Malibu I could not help but think about what we
recently read and talked about in class; the environmental inequalities and
overall problems that seem to be facilitated within cities. To begin with I would like to address
the tragic relation Malibu developer’s have with the land they are given. For
much property in Malibu is in jeopardy of being destroyed due to landslides and
the ocean. Often times the homes are designed to be on top of a mountain and
are built on a semi-stable foundation. This means that the house is prone to
and almost guaranteed to be destroyed in the future by natural phenomena. Also,
all of the beach houses are tightly packed in-between the ocean and the PCH,
leaving them to be eaten away during big storms and the sea level … assuming it
rises. It seems that the residents
of Malibu took no real consideration of their present actions and how they
would affect others in the future. In 100 years the dynamic of Malibu could be
completely different due to environmental changes and no one, despite their
love for the area, made valiant efforts to change this.
Another
interesting thing I was thinking about was how most people I saw in Malibu were
in cars that were not fuel-efficient. Due to the wealth and excess of nature
most people are driving sports cars, which value speed over gas efficiency, and
SUV’s so they can hall around their surfboards or bikes. It seems ironic that
this land is valued so high in economic terms, but is treated very poorly in
terms of the environment. After pondering why this is happening, I talked to
some local’s that I know that cleared things up a little. They stated how
Malibu has residents that have lived there for generations, before it was
really incorporated with Los Angeles, and that there are also new residents.
These newbie’s seem to have recently gained wealth and decided to move to
Malibu just because they can, disregarding the meaning behind the natural
beauty. I believe this ability for new residents to come and change the general
culture of an area is common in cities, and inherent to the dynamic nature. I
am interested to see which part of the community will prevail in the future,
eventually dictating the spatial manipulation of the geographically special
location.
I
left this trip with mixed feelings, curious about how people assess their
actions and how places can change so much over time.
In response to your query on “how people assess their actions and how places can change so much over time” I think this question is particularly interesting when regarding a place like Malibu. The testimony you received from the people you knew reminds me of a study I was made aware of several years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe study was carried out in an attempt to prove true a previous idea about city planning.
Before Juliani, Times Square was considered seedy, sketchy; all of the above. However, apart from prohibiting window washers (the ones that spray your windshield with a saliva-windex mixture and ask for money after “cleaning” your car with a dirty rag) he also put money into rebuilding the surrounding area and patching up the broken windows and cleaning the graffiti off of the walls. Juliani is considered one of the main reasons that Times Square is the bustling, gentrified, artistic and economic district it is today.
The reason for this change is the result of a commonly employed (but never tested until the Netherlands test) theory known widely as “Broken Windows Theory.” The idea is that if there is an area with broken windows, it appears as though no one cares enough to maintain it, so the space can be desecrated. One day graffiti appears so the next passerby thinks it’s okay to throw his beer bottle on the ground and create more broken glass. After a while another person comes along and sees a broken window, graffiti and garbage lying around and thinks “hey, might as well spark a bowl.” Ideally this cycle continues until the area has undergone a comprehensive dergradation and is now riddled with crime.
The study that was done was in an attempt to prove this theory- Does a cleaner environment lead to an upkeep of that environment and a dirtier environment lead to a dirtier one?
The people committing the study put graffiti on one alleyway with bikes parked in it and another alley with no graffiti. The bikes had flyers put into their break cables so that when the owners returned, they had the option of either putting the flyers in the trash or throwing them on the ground. What they found proved the theory by showing that the alleyway with the graffiti had far more flyers on the ground than the one without the graffiti.
It is thought that Juliani employed this tactic and it is this “dirtying” I believe is the case with Malibu. The more people move in, the more trash is associated with it. The more people that want to move in, the more the natural cliff line is hollowed back to make room for more houses. The more the natural environment is disrespected, the more it will be disrespected in the future. This I believe is the cause of such a change.
Hi Patrick,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I enjoyed how you took the opportunity to explore Malibu, a place that probably most of us did not choose to explore. The contrast between the Los Angeles metropolitan region and Malibu is very extreme and I definitely think you made that clear. However, you also discussed how many of the features present in upscale living environments in places like Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Brentwood also manifested themselves in Malibu. While reading your post, I picked up on some of the differences between the "old" Malibu and the "new" Malibu and also how this clash is affecting the environment. Ask ten people to tell you what they know about Malibu and probably almost all ten of them will use words like "rich, wealthy, upscale," etc. Therefore, Malibu is not only a place but a symbol of upscale Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, these social environments where the upper class is dominant often puts the physical environment last. You mentioned how Malibu is home to large and extravagant houses taking up large areas of land and big, fuel-inefficient cars. In our society and especially in Los Angeles, bigger is definitely better. We live under the discourse that success is important because it means the ability to buy a big house and drive a big car. I've definitely noticed this in the affluent areas surrounding UCLA. In these concentrated areas, mansions and Bentley's are common. This clustering of the upper class blocks out the middle and lower class by way of exorbitant property values and its distance from places of work. This is especially true of Malibu. There is no way for anyone who isn't of the upper class to live in Malibu because of its distance from the larger Los Angeles metropolitan community where people generally work.
I also thought it was great how you chose to understand Malibu to the best of your ability by not only exploring the built environment of Malibu, but also its natural environment which is what it is known for. Beach communities are typically home to the upper class and this is definitely true of Malibu. It's important to think about the social history of these more secluded environments as prime real estate for the upper class. I think it is probably because it serves as a "release" for the upper class; a way for them to escape the chaos of the built environment of metropolitan areas and somehow "connect" with nature. This is definitely something the middle and lower classes are generally deprived of.