The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles

Book Description

In twelve engaging essays, William Fulton chronicles the history of urban planning in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, tracing the legacy of short-sighted political and financial gains that has resulted in a vast urban region on the brink of disaster. Looking at such diverse topics as shady real estate speculations, the construction of the Los Angeles subway, the battle over the future of South Central L.A. after the 1992 riots, and the emergence of Las Vegas as "the new Los Angeles," Fulton offers a fresh perspective on the city's epic sprawl. The only way to reverse the historical trends that have made Los Angeles increasingly unliveable, Fulton concludes, is to confront the prevailing "cocoon citizenship," the mind-set that prevents the city's inhabitants and leaders from recognizing Los Angeles's patchwork of communities as a single metropolis.

Customer Reviews:

Learn urban history to avoid repeating it.......2007-03-08

Fulton is an expert on the history and political processes underlying the growth of Southern California over the last century, and he lays out how many of these same political ideologies and schools of urban thought have fundamentally malformed Los Angeles, as well as many other American cities, in The Reluctant Metropolis. Most elements pertinent to SoCal's development - the water supply, the creation of an idealized suburbia a la 1950's and its appeal to Midwesterners, the streetcars (and later veritable inundation with automobiles and freeways), and much more - all of the proccesses that created a paradox, with Los Angeles being the only top-tier, alpha-level global city that fundamentally rejects every single element of traditional "urbanity." But this is not a story unique to LA, and it is precisely because many other booming American cities risk suffering the same fate that this book is highly important reading for all interested in the future of the USA's urban centers.

Best Book Available on LA City Planning.......2007-03-08

Read this book! It is the best book I've read on development and growth in the LA basin. It's very well-written and incorporates both political and professional planning vantage points. Describes very succinctly the interplay between water, developers, and municipal leaders over the past century. Don't believe the whiner who rated this at two stars: he's a disgruntled slow-growther who has a personal bone to pick. Fulton captures the essence of Los Angeles without necessarily endorsing or advocating a position.

Fulton's Folly.......2004-06-13

Bill Fulton is often lionized by planning "professionals" and students for his writing in this book but the truth is that his foray into the application reality of his theory has Ventura on the ropes. Fulton is the architect of several local no-growth initiatives such as Save Our Agricultural Resources (SOAR) as well as spearheading a housing development-blocking effort a couple of years ago for Ventura hillsides. What has since happened as any college freshman taking Econ 101 would understand, is that the supply of housing has constricted as demand increased and resulted in the skyrocketing price of local housing. Fulton did nothing after pushing these no-growth initiatives to stoke the fires of development that is required to prevent this housing supply constipation.

Fulton has now gotten himself elected to the Ventura City Council and it has become easy to see his political agenda that before has been hidden and masquerading as thoughtful intellect. This guy is no responsible academic or planning God but merely another no-growth advocate pushing a political agenda. Don't waste your time reading his stuff unless you have nothing else with which to stock your water closet area.

The joke in Los Angeles.......2002-12-03

The joke in Los Angeles is 'I've never been to downtown Los Angeles'. This is book that tells all about the decentralization of LA. Unlike most cities in America, Los Angeles' decentralization is a product of the explained 'growth machine'. One of the most unique cities in America and possibly one of the most depressing. I would have given this book 5 stars but i award 5 stars to inspirational books. The politics of Los Angeles makes me want to curl into a ball and shove myself into a dark corner (no worries though, it's perpetually sunny here).

So that's how it really is..........2002-08-27

This book is a must read for anyone willing to expose themselves to the stories behind the stories of Los Angeles. The stories reveal the apathetic and self-centered nature of some Los Angeles citizens (who will never really admit they are from "Los Angeles"), and sets the stage for an entire change of mindset among Los Angelenos. This mindset is one that takes notice of the community, and the larger metropolis that communities make up. For a graduate city planning student as I, these stories help shape some basic values of mine regarding the nature of cities and communities. I strongly recommend this book.

The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association

Average customer rating:

The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association
Richard Peiser
Manufacturer: American Planning Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on September 22, 1998. The length of the article is 1059 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews)
Author: Richard Peiser
Publication: Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1998
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: v64 Issue: n4 Page: p494(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews): An article from: Planning

Average customer rating:

The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews): An article from: Planning
Harold Henderson
Manufacturer: American Planning Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Planning, published by American Planning Association on June 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1330 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. (book reviews)
Author: Harold Henderson
Publication: Planning (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1997
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: v63 Issue: n6 Page: p25(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Average customer rating:

Great How-To's From a Variety of Artists

Keys to Painting Fruit & Flowers (Keys to Painting)

Manufacturer: North Light Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Keys to Painting Textures & Surfaces (Keys to Painting)

Keys to Painting: Color & Value (Keys to Painting)

Keys to Painting: Fur & Feathers (Keys to Painting)

Key to Painting Faces & Figures (Keys to Painting)

Painting the Many Moods of Light

ASIN: 1581800037

Customer Reviews:

Great How-To's From a Variety of Artists.......2002-01-06

Part of a series, Keys to Painting Fruit and Flowers compiles some of the best lessons from various North Light published books. For those who can't afford to buy each individual book this one is a good substitute. There is a bit more emphasis on the "Flowers" than the "Fruit" but I suspect this is because flowers are the more popular subject of the two. The first chapter concentrates on drawing and composition, two skills which are the foundation of good art. Thereafter one chapter each is devoted to watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic, pastel and oil with the final chapter showing several demonstrations in some of these media with full paintings featuring flower arrangements or interiors laden with flowers (The chapter title is Painting Luminous Florals). The last few pages feature a gallery of floral and fruit still-life paintings in a variety of media.

Book Description

Photographs by Diane Arbus
Afterword by Doon Arbus

In these photographs Arbus achieves a lyricism, an emotional purity, that sets them apart from all her other accomplishments. Untitled may well be Arbus's most transcendent, most romantic vision. It is a celebration of the singularity and connectedness of each and every one of us. It demands of us what it demanded of her: the courage to see things as they are and the grace to permit them simply to be.

Customer Reviews:

The Sublime.......2005-03-15

All the reviews I've seen of this great work strike one like rhetoric from a Stalinesque apparitchnik circa 1938, wherein the work in incomprehensible unless serviceable to the party, which believes in the goodness of life and the uplift of the handicapped. That this work may not wish to function remotely like this or that its subjects may be incidental to its purposes is apparently unthinkable. All in all, rather mind-boggling, a commentary in an alternate universe where most everyone has never had a sublime experience with art and yet still inexplicably has great interest in it. Parade of the Masked and Grotesque, indeed.

Many of the photos are meant to be...gasp?...Unpleasant and Unnerving sometimes through using Handicapped Persons. It also appears Arbus has dressed and positioned many of them, if I'm not mistaken which is...hushed silence?...Vaguely Mean If You Think About It, Sort Of. I'm sure this was a major ethical, nagging concern before she ended her life some months later.

In conclusion, isn't there some church you should be salivating at rather than polluting the discourse of art with insipid Calvinist twaddle? This is an awe-inspiring, shocking, terrifying and transcendent work of triumphant nihilism that shows no mercy to weak and deluded ideologies.

a work of startlingly brilliant photographic genius.......2005-01-08

Diane Arbus was to photography what Andrew Wyeth was to painting, or what Carson McCullers was to literature. Arbus's work was startingly beautiful--not in the conventional sense, but in the sense that the bare emotions conveyed by her subjects was simply beautiful in its humanity. Arbus photographed people that other photographers of the time weren't interested in capturing on their lenses--she was best at photographing those who lived on the outside of mainstream society, and her work was not only of immense honesty but also provided something of a character study for every person she photographed. This collection is composed of photographs she shot of mentally handicapped or disturbed individuals, shortly before her death. It is an unflinching, honest look at people who are largely either pitied or mocked by society.

Some people just don't get it............2004-02-03

... and I strongly suggest you take the time to go see the penultimate exhibition of Arbus' work that is currently at the San Francisco MOMA and is set to start touring soon.

Arbus' "untitled" work is very similar to her work with couples... it gives power to the powerless, disarms the authoritative. Look at her images of couples in the 50s and 60s... the Men (those in a power position of a relationship) are disconnected, almost bored by the process, while the Women hold your gaze defiantly, challenging the viewer.... menacing. Not to be sexually stereotyped, the images of Mothers and Sons.... the dominant Mothers becoming the dispassionate party while the Son engages you. So too are these untitled images of the "mentally challenged", the handicapped, the children and young adults with Down's Syndrome in the images. They are living in an era where they are shunned and exiled to mental institutions.... but these images show us that they are not the weak and powerless who should be pitied.

In Arbus' earlier images, the power-base in the relationship of people shown set up the dichotomy. In these images, the defiant gazes come from those WE, the *viewer* choose to ignore and treat with indifference.

Subjectivity.......2002-12-10

A sad book, a mind-opening book, and many more things. Viewing these photographs will conjure up completely different personal reactions, depending upon your frame of mind at the time of viewing. That is what is so remarkable about Arbus' work; so many emotions are brought to the surface.

And while I know that some people will be turned off, even repulsed by this final phase of Arbus' work, I strongly disagree with the reviewer from Chico, CA in saying that it would have been better if this work has not been published. This work is not pretty, and it is not candy-coated, but it should be, and thankfully has been, published. Real life is not always pretty, and we each have our own concepts of such ideals. If you are uncomfortable with other's perspectives on beauty and reality, close the book or sell it to someone else. But do not impose your censorship on me.

Diane going over the edge.......2002-02-08

That Diane Arbus is a serious and important artist, there is no doubt. But even the greatest of artists can be wrong.

This is not a book that most people would wish to have on their coffee table, or anywhere in their homes. The images are grotesque, disturbing, cruel, ugly.

These images were made when Arbus's life was spiraling down, when she was more and more lost in her final depression. They provide an insight into her mind that it would have been better not to publish.

Average customer rating:
Diane Arbus: Untitled
Doon Arbus Diane Arbus
Manufacturer: Aperture 1995
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MCJDS6

Book Description

Short stories and adventures featuring Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and other standard Disney characters.

Book Description

Legendary journalist Jack Newfield believes that a newsman's beat is the hard truth. The belief goes back to the code he ab-sorbed growing up in Brooklyn, watching the integrated Dodgers play their hearts out: you always stood up to bullies and rooted for the underdog, and you never ever cheated. Over the years Newfield has docu-mented the unfolding drama of the 1960s; followed the boxing careers of Ali and Tyson; taken on city hall; and kept his integrity intact in the rough world of tabloid politics. Somebody's Gotta Tell It is the clear-eyed memoir of a journalist whose love for his country, and passion for his profession, has never wavered.

Somebody's Gotta Tell It: A Journalist's Life on the Lines

Average customer rating:

Somebody's Gotta Tell It: A Journalist's Life on the Lines
Jack Newfield
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTJ6ZM

Book Description

El yoga no sÃ³lo es ejercicio fÃsico, sino tambiÃ©n una forma de vida mÃ¡s sana. De la instructora de yoga y nutricionista Elaine Gavalas llega, para los amantes de esta disciplina, una guÃa completa de cocina y de bien comer. El yogui en la cocina ofrece toda una gama de recetas con las que culminar la prÃ¡ctica del yoga. Este extraordinario libro asesora sobre cÃ³mo adaptar la dieta al dosha (tipo de mente y cuerpo) de cada quiÃ©n; cÃ³mo llenar la despensa de alimentos nutritivos y cÃ³mo prepararlos para disfrutar en todo momento de un menÃº cuidado, ademÃ¡s de delicioso. Incluye tambiÃ©n un capÃtulo sobre posturas de yoga para una buena digestiÃ³n, Â¡que se podrÃ¡n practicar mientras se cocina! La parte central de este libro estÃ¡ constituida por mÃ¡s de un centenar de sabrosas recetas que nutren sea el cuerpo, que la mente y el alma. Con tentadoras propuestas como los Rollos Buda, la Sopa arco iris al estilo gazpacho, la Ensalada de girasol o la Pasta con verduras asadas y queso de cabra, Gavalas demuestra que una dieta sana y cuidada hace que la prÃ¡ctica del yoga -y el momento de la comida- sean de lo mÃ¡s placentero.

Cambia Casi Cualquier Cosa En 21 Dias: Recarga tu vida con el poder de mas de 500 afirmaciones

Average customer rating:

Cambia Casi Cualquier Cosa En 21 Dias: Recarga tu vida con el poder de mas de 500 afirmaciones
Ruth Fishel
Manufacturer: Diana/Mexico
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Self-Esteem | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Clásico en el frente.(Un día más con vida)(Reseña de libro): An article from: Epoca

Average customer rating:

Clásico en el frente.(Un día más con vida)(Reseña de libro): An article from: Epoca
Josemaría Carabante
Manufacturer: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000820Q1S
Release Date: 2005-06-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on January 16, 2004. The length of the article is 5098 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Clásico en el frente.(Un día más con vida)(Reseña de libro)
Author: Josemaría Carabante
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 16, 2004
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Issue: 987 Page: 67(1)

Article Type: Reseña de libro

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Grandes días para la gastronomía: la buena mesa juega cada día un papel más preponderante en nuestras vidas y en la economía española. : An article from: Epoca

Average customer rating:

Grandes días para la gastronomía: la buena mesa juega cada día un papel más preponderante en nuestras vidas y en la economía española. : An article from: Epoca
Jonatan Armengol
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000EZ8TRW
Release Date: 2006-03-13

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Thomson Gale on November 25, 2005. The length of the article is 665 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Grandes días para la gastronomía: la buena mesa juega cada día un papel más preponderante en nuestras vidas y en la economía española.
Author: Jonatan Armengol
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 25, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 1077 Page: 73(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Oliver Hirschbiegel: "Hitler no estaba loco, y eso es lo que le hace aún más monstruoso" El hundimiento, sobre los últimos días del genocida, aspira al ... filme.(Entrevista): An article from: Epoca

Average customer rating:

Oliver Hirschbiegel: "Hitler no estaba loco, y eso es lo que le hace aún más monstruoso" El hundimiento, sobre los últimos días del genocida, aspira al ... filme.(Entrevista): An article from: Epoca
Belén Lorenzana
Manufacturer: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0009GY5JW
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on February 11, 2005. The length of the article is 1025 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Oliver Hirschbiegel: "Hitler no estaba loco, y eso es lo que le hace aún más monstruoso" El hundimiento, sobre los últimos días del genocida, aspira al Oscar a la mejor película extranjera. Su director habla sobre la polémica que ha suscitado el filme.(Entrevista)
Author: Belén Lorenzana
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 11, 2005
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Issue: 1039 Page: 74(2)

Article Type: Entrevista

Distributed by Thomson Gale

La Vida Es Algo Mas Que Correr: Diez Minutos De Meditucion Para Un Buen Dia

Average customer rating:

La Vida Es Algo Mas Que Correr: Diez Minutos De Meditucion Para Un Buen Dia
Jennifer Middleton
Manufacturer: Grijalbo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSLBR4

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books