1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Parks Plan For The Los Angeles Region

In “New Axioms for Reading the Landscape: Paying Attention to Political Economy and Social Justice,” Don Mitchell incorporates old ideas from Peirce F. Lewis’s original “Axioms for Reading the Landscape.” At the same time, Mitchell includes new ideas into his axioms. In Axiom 1, he explains that “the landscape is not produced through ‘our unwitting autobiography’ (as Lewis describes it), but as an act of (social, not individual) will” (2007, 34). He also stresses the idea that landscape should be produced as a commodity. In contrast, Neil Smith explains the main causes behind gentrification. Smith explains how gentrification happens through a process which he calls “rent gap” (1979, 545). In gentrification, the landscape is a commodity because it loses and gains monetary value through disinvestment and investment.

Paul Goldberger, an American architectural critic once quoted, “Urbanism works when it creates the journey as desirable as the destination.”

The two models of urban recreation were New York’s Central Park and Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Both played a major role of how Coney Island was created because Kasson states “the two projects represented a broad common effort: to provide cultural leadership for an urban industrial society; to present a model of social order, cohesion, and tranquility for fractious people;” (pg. 11). Frederick Law Olmsted was the designer for both New York Central Park and Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of

To people foreign to California, the state is boxed into a set of stereotypical characteristics. The Golden State has received labels such as ‘surf nation,’ and ‘liberal land.’ But to those who’ve gotten a chance to live within this great state appreciate the opportunities and ambitions that come with living in California. Furthermore, what truly differentiates California from any other place in the world is the consistent paradoxical environment. This notion is best epitomized by the city of Sacramento and the cultural, economic and social change that the city has undergone. Gary Snyder communicates this theme through building around John Muir’s ideologies in his work of “Covers The Ground.” Snyder’s work exemplifies the contradiction between nature and innovation. It presents the paradoxical state individuals around the world face on whether to accept the innovation and accept the benefits that come with it, or stay true to the roots of nature and the history that accompanies it. This dilemma boils down to whether we as a race embrace the progression of time and the paradoxes that follow, or we find solace in our current state.

Contextualizing history is heavily intertwined with the development and shaping of Los Angeles as a whole. Los Angeles has always been deemed to be one of the hardest cities to develop in being one of the greatest cities in the world. This comes as a result of all of the history behind the buildings in the city. In addition, many of the buildings in the great city (both historical structures and regular buildings) are being renovated and reshaped to keep up with modern trends. Throughout the course of the growth of the city of Los Angeles, the city has seen a lot of growth in terms of infrastructure and population. There has been a recent growth in the popularity and demand for mixed use development. Mixed use development is a very hot

First, it felt slightly odd to read about a city other than New York City in a Macaulay Seminar class because most, if not all, readings I have read in such a class discuss a topic in the context of New York City; nevertheless, reading about Chicago, another major American city, and its comparison with St. Louis, were refreshing. Second, this is the first time that I was exposed to the “first nature vs. second nature” concept, which I found insightful and somewhat surprising. I began to ruminate on the aspects of New York City people assume natural that are in fact artificial. Immediately, the salt marshes near the John F. Kennedy airport in Queens came to mind. According to NYC Parks, the marshes serve to “absorb fertilizer, improve water quality, and reduce erosion,” which can be considered as, using Cronon’s phrase, “natural advantages.” However, they have clearly been positioned and altered in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. In this instance, the presence of human intervention exists, yet many people would be inclined to consider the park “natural.” Perhaps this is how people in the 19th century viewed the railroads. Lastly, the following questions might be worth discussing: in today’s world, given the prolific human activity, what is considered first nature and second nature? Can there even be a third nature or

In Chapter 4 of On the Border by Char Miller, he discusses the importance of San Antonio's park system and how it can to be with the help of elected city officials. He conveys that in the 1990s- Mario Salas was elected as the councilman of District 2, which serves the east side of San Antonio. His goals were to increase the number of parks in the east side in order to expand that side of town. The East Side of San Antonio has always been a historically black neighborhood. In the 20th century, San Antonio had a commissioner style government in order to create a city of parks.

Steen, Karen. "How Leftover Urban Spaces Can Fix Big Problems for San Francisco." SPUR. N.p., 23 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2016. .

Though Hines draws out the section about the architects’ plans, the descriptions of Chavez Ravine’s architectural redesign demonstrate the architects’ hope to keep the community in mind. Hines emphasizes this point because of his implied sympathy for the community. He includes a quote from

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how Robert Hammond and Josh David’s visionary idea transformed an unused, abandoned railroad line into a spectacular green space in the sky –New York’s High Line. Hammond and David were locals who believed that tearing down the railroad line was not a good idea. Meanwhile other people in the community, including property owners and Mayor Giuliani wanted the unused railroad demolished. With the help of photographer Joel Sternfeld who captured the abandoned railroad line’s overgrown greenery and fields of wildflowers that changed with the seasons, they were able to get people to recognize that this was a green space in New York city that was worth keeping.

Cities are generators of economic life and source of changes in the world. Thereby, Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities puts into relief the role of cities on the social and economic levels, while denouncing the disastrous consequences of urban renewal programs. To that extent, in chapters 2 and 3, she discusses "The Uses of Sidewalks”, arguing that over all people need safety and trust in their city. Therefore, first she claims the necessity of keeping streets and sidewalks safe because they are the “vital organs” of cities (29). Secondly, she argues that the functioning of cities should be organized in order to foster human interaction in which “casual public

The building of Central Park was one of nineteenth-century New York’s most massive public works projects. Some 20,000 workers – Yankee engineers, Irish laborers, German gardeners, and native-born stonecutters – reshaped the site’s topography to create the pastoral landscape. After blasting out rocky

Los Angeles was the first product off the assembly line of American urban planning. Turned on in the late 19th century, the city-making machine was fueled by an immense immigration of people who sought to create a new type of city out of the previously quaint pueblo. They also strove to craft the first major city developed primarily by Americans and outside of European archetypes. As a result, Los Angles is not only incredibly diverse, but also nearly impossible to define. Since it is a product of the American machine, understanding the community of Los Angeles becomes vital to understanding the United States. But to fully comprehend the present Los Angeles, one must look at the process that created it. Specifically, Los Angeles was

Imagine a city where no green space can be found. Where concrete and steel buildings rise up and block the sun. Where streets are chaotic and gridlocked and citizens are stuffed in cramped, dirty and unsanitary apartments. This was the world of 19th-century cities where human health and happiness were disregarded for economic gain. These horrid conditions shaped the lives and ideas of three very influential men: Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright. They took their own experiences and redesigned the sprawling metropolis to improve the lives of the residents. Each man created urban utopias that included green spaces, farms, and parks to improve air quality and the livelihoods of the people. Despite theses similar views, each design differed from the others. Howard, Le Corbusier, and Wright all completely reimagined the urban city in differing ways based on scale, distribution of land and technology. Their design concepts have been adapted across the globe and implemented into modern urban planning everywhere.

Space that is documented and utilized by humans, whether directly or indirectly, takes on a basic level of social utility and cultural construction. As Elias Canetti would suggest, the prospect of touch carries with it the risk of being taken and subsequently assimilated or digested (1). The predecessors to the first great urban parks in the United States, namely country estates, cemeteries, and town squares or plazas, all contribute some aesthetic and related ideological basis for a newly emerging discourse of urban parks. Parks were seen as the “poor-man’s countryside,” in reference to the country estates of the wealthy. Also, cemeteries were the first naturalistic open spaces consistently built within urban boundaries. The idea of the commons and town square is perhaps the most telling predecessor of the city park.