is unrestricted population. It's been a problem for a long time, and well recognized by people who live here. In consequence, Californians don't have many children -- not even enough to replace themselves from one generation to the next, but we are continually defeated by unrestricted immigration.
Four years later, in 1960 the area looked like this: http://www.americassuburb.com/aerial60.jpg The Freeway running up the middle is the Ventura Freeway, which pretty much replaced the Boulevard.
What happened? In the early '40s, Gordon Jenkins wrote a song about his desire to settle in this area. Roy Rogers sang it in his 1943 movie of the same name: "San Fernando Valley" and it was picked up by Bing Crosby (and others) who recorded the song in 1944. It was enormously popular among the GIs. They got out of the service in '45-'48, went to school on the GI bill, getting their degrees between '49 and the early to mid '50s, and followed the song's advice.
This, and other semi-rural areas of California (including the area where I grew up) were flooded with people. When I was in junior high school, in Menlo Park, I walked home past a field of sheep. The spot is now occupied by multi-storey condo and appartment complexes.
Now I'm thinking of moving to some place like the place I grew up in. It was ethnically diverse, had exceptionally fine public and private schools, and a very moderate climate. Anybody got any ideas?
Alan Moore
Posts: 2012 | Location: USA | Registered: 10-05-03
Well, I'm not sure if the public schools are exceptional, but I'm sure the qualifications needed to be a teacher are higher than in California. The climate is moderate, if kinda wet. We have more ethnic diversity than you can shake a stick at. The city regularly turns up in 'Top Five Places to Live' lists (usually just behind Geneva, for some reason)...
...Vancouver, Canada.
Of course, there's urbanisation here, too. There's a house-building boom. Have you considered that it might be a global problem?
It is global. The darn breeders won't stop it. Big families are still considered a thing to have. Poor self control, unthinking, and pretty much human selfishness is the cause. Individuals feel it is there right to have big families, not enough are thinking of the whole big picture. And yes, there are a lot of illegal immigrants coming into this country. Darn folk just won't stay in their crowded nations living sub-standard lives all thinking they have the right to the American Dream. Hard to imagine that other people would want that too.
Post WWII brought with it the American Dream of a house, white picket fence and a happy "middle-largish" family. Well we grew up and decided we wanted that dream too, so we want a house, middle largish family, etc. So the builders come to open land, level it, build on it and sell us cheap, horribly constructed pieces of cra----b apples.
We also like to travel, a lot. Each of us needs two cars (on average) to go from point A to point B that requires a lot of paved areas since the wheel is no where as perfectly designed for natural terrain as legs.
When we were kids there were far less people AND far less cars on the road AND far less buildings, roads and other man made urbanization to house our then smaller numbers: Remember Mc Donald's Signs in your child hood "X million Served" Today its in the billions.
Its all in the numbers:
We are over 6 billion souls on earth.
In the year 1900 the Earth was home to about 1.6 billion people
1950 2.4 billion
1960 3 billion
1980 4.4 billion
1990 5.295 billion
Today 6,393,800,695
And growing
We can figure that since I was born the world population has doubled.
Here in America that means 1960 = 179,323,175 ~ 1980 = 226,542,199 ~
Today = 280,218,971. (approximately)
That means since we were kids the USA has nearly doubled, the world has doubled (and them some) people wise. Where do you think they are living?
The world population (at this rate) will reach 7 billion in late 2012
The UN says the world population could reach 10.9 billion by 2050.
Think the building boom is going to end soon?
No place on earth is safe from this global uncontrolled multiplication problem. Sorry.
David
Posts: 3885 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
Too many people?? Nah, can't imagine that! New Jersey Turnpike, Cross Bronx Expressway, Long Island Expressway, WE don't have that problem; want some overflow?
Posts: 3587 | Location: Ridgewood, N.J. USA | Registered: 05-30-03
"...unrestricted population. It's been a problem for a long time, and well recognized by people who live here." - Alan
Yes, it has been a problem for a long time. Had the Native Americans cameras, I suspect that they could have documented the problem as you have. As I have been saying since people in the US have have been complaining about it, I am glad that no one did anything about it until my grandparents got here.
Posts: 16610 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
quote:Originally posted by newnickname: Well, I'm not sure if the public schools are exceptional, but I'm sure the qualifications needed to be a teacher are higher than in California. The climate is moderate, if kinda wet. We have more ethnic diversity than you can shake a stick at. The city regularly turns up in 'Top Five Places to Live' lists (usually just behind Geneva, for some reason)...
...Vancouver, Canada.
Of course, there's urbanisation here, too. There's a house-building boom. Have you considered that it might be a global problem?
Actually, Victoria was on my list of places to investigate. I've visited a couple of times, and it reminds me a lot of San Francisco, 50 years ago. Same amount of rainfall, same temperature range, maybe a little colder in winter (San Francisco seldom gets snow) but basically it's surrounded by the same water that will surround San Francisco a week or two later.
Unfortunately, Emigration to Canada is tough at my age.
Alan Moore
Posts: 2012 | Location: USA | Registered: 10-05-03
It is global. The darn breeders won't stop it. Big families are still considered a thing to have. Poor self control, unthinking, and pretty much human selfishness is the cause. Individuals feel it is there right to have big families, not enough are thinking of the whole big picture. And yes, there are a lot of illegal immigrants coming into this country. Darn folk just won't stay in their crowded nations living sub-standard lives all thinking they have the right to the American Dream. Hard to imagine that other people would want that too.
Post WWII brought with it the American Dream of a house, white picket fence and a happy "middle-largish" family. Well we grew up and decided we wanted that dream too, so we want a house, middle largish family, etc. So the builders come to open land, level it, build on it and sell us cheap, horribly constructed pieces of cra----b apples.
We also like to travel, a lot. Each of us needs two cars (on average) to go from point A to point B that requires a lot of paved areas since the wheel is no where as perfectly designed for natural terrain as legs.
When we were kids there were far less people AND far less cars on the road AND far less buildings, roads and other man made urbanization to house our then smaller numbers: Remember Mc Donald's Signs in your child hood "X million Served" Today its in the billions.
Its all in the numbers:
We are over 6 billion souls on earth.
In the year 1900 the Earth was home to about 1.6 billion people
1950 2.4 billion
1960 3 billion
1980 4.4 billion
1990 5.295 billion
Today 6,393,800,695
So while the earth's population has not quite trebled (increased by a factor of about 2.66), California's has gone from 10,586,223 (1950) to 35,484,453 in 2003(US census figures) and that despite the fact that we have mostly chosen not to have large families.
We really don't need unrestricted immigration. We were growing much too fast in the 1950s and '60s, even before the present rules applied. And there's only so much water here.
Alan Moore
Posts: 2012 | Location: USA | Registered: 10-05-03
