As the 2024 Olympics in Paris ended, and the torch and flag were handed over to Mayor Karen Bass for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, I find it delightfully serendipitous to have read this book (a PhD dissertation, originally in French and now in English, about the beaches of Los Angeles) by Dr. Elsa Devienne. Talk about hands across the water!

Having grown up along southern California’s coastline with its wonderful beaches I never thought about the wide swaths of sand, except during the summer when it was always a trek across all that hot sand to get to the ocean. It never occurred to me it could be otherwise. Dr. Elsa Devienne peels back the history of the Los Angeles coastline, and all that sand, in this very approachable cultural, social, political, economic and geographic history of our beaches, and explores why “ . . . the Los Angeles beaches have had far-reaching influence not just on the city but also on the metropolitan area’s international prestige, economic vitality and quality of life.” Jenny Price writes in the Foreword:

“There’s little that’s ‘natural’ about the Los Angeles coast in 2023 . . . the LA region cleaned up and expanded these beaches from the 1930s to the 1960s. They remade the coastal environments. That’s how you build a city right? You have to remake your environments. Hugely–and the essential question isn’t whether. It’s how. And, as Devienne shows so vividly, as we remake nature, we remake ourselves.”

In the 1920s the beaches of Los Angeles “were dirty, crowded, and eroded. Pollution from untreated sewage, industrial effluents, and oil extraction was a critical issue. Most of the coastline was private and inaccessible to the public.” In those postwar years, there was a national movement led by The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association to improve conditions at beachfront areas. In Los Angeles this movement was taken up by engineers, urban planners, business people, politicians and city leaders. Groups were formed, such as the California Beaches Association and the Shoreline Planning Association. During World War II Los Angeles experienced a rapid population growth, and after the war civic leaders recognized the economic and civic importance in maintaining and expanding that growth. “Coastal engineers, together with business and civic leaders, accomplished the remarkable feat of enlarging the beaches–up to four times their original size–by adding large quantities of sand . . . a new coastal landscape sprang up . . . with large parking lots, sparkling-clean toilet facilities and nearby freeways." As with any rapid change, not only environmental, there would be consequences, both positive and negative, which Dr. Devienne explores and sets forth. From the 1920s onward there was not just one long-range master plan that was followed, but the development and expansion took place in “fits and starts.” Other plans would be developed, with ensuing positive and negative results.

In seven chapters (plus a significant historical introduction and epilogue) she presents past developments and consequences that have had domestic and international ramifications for Los Angeles, such as the city having hosted two previous Olympics (1932 and 1984) and hosting a third Olympics in 2028. There are other aspects that are examined: economic inequities, environmental repercussions, population density, racism, media imagery versus reality, and the consequences about that unique "sand rush" which elevated or diminshed the quality of life for everyone--residents and visitors alike.

For those of us who never thought about the beaches of Los Angeles, except as they are, vast and lovely, Dr. Elsa Devienne has written a compelling dissertation that is enthralling, informative and a provocative exemplar about city planning.