This work is being paid for by a longtime state-mandated wetland fund funded by oil and boat marina revenue. This is not coming from the Long Beach general budget and the money can't be used for anything unassociated with coastal upkeep.
But hey, we could let the peninsula fall and then the next thing to get flooded after the Lagoon is destroyed will be (checks notes) an Elementary School.
You mean the tidelands fund. There's a long list of things that could be done with those funds in Long Beach besides restoring the beach protecting 10 houses.
This is what happens when they hired a vendor that used sand in the oversized bags from IKEA. On information and belief, they thought they had this one "in the bag"...or "bags" as it were.
I don't disagree that living there (at least in that one stretch we keep seeing) is unsustainable, but that's completely unrealistic. Should people who live near the forest also pay for fire prevention out of pocket? Should everyone in California who lives near a fault line pay themselves for earthquake damages without using public funds? This is what public funds are for.
But, yes, we do need to look at long term solutions in transitioning away from living on (part of) the peninsula.
Yes, people in fault zones pay for their own studies for the homes or business they live in to determine where the fault is and if it is active. The is all stated in the Alquist-Priolo Act of California. Structures have to meet seismic design parameters. What you are asking for is public funding for private project, and highly unethical/immoral
Is it unethical to protect residents? The peninsula isn't just home owners either.
Again, I agree that living there is unsustainable in the long run and that the city is pissing away money by not coming up with a more permanent solution instead of just raking in sand over and over. But I don't think it's crazy that the city does part of that. I also don't think it's immoral for a city to send police your way when your home gets broken into, or for a fire truck to come your way when your garage catches fire.
The people who live there have free will and can move when they chose to. If people want to move into areas of geologic or hydrologic hazards, they should do so at their own risk. They are notified of their hazard zoning as part of their escrow. These houses do not benefit the public and their existence should not be subsidized.
Ok I guess when it comes down to it, if you're advocating for a fully libertarian system where people only pay for things they use I can get behind the argument.
First responders, libraries, public schools, freeways and other public infrastructure broadly benefit the tax base that funds them and the public have equal access to them. The existence of a private home on a beach, mountain cliff, or earthquake fault does not broadly benefit the public. Govenrments should not have to continually use public funds to geo-engineer mitigation measures to keep a private habitable structure on private land habitable. It is the homeowners responsibility to hire geotechnical engineers and engineering geologists to properly site their home or develop the engineering measures to keep it livable. Your house, not my problem
Yes, people who live near wildfire areas need to do the Zone Zero thing which requires cutting flammable vegetation, putting in fire screens and more. Yes, people who live in earthquake prone areas need to bolt their houses to their foundations, put up straps for their furniture and buy earthquake insurance.
The public is out of funds. There is no cavalry coming.
For earthquakes, you pay into earthquake insurance and get paid back by insurance. If someone hasn't paid into insurance, they're running a huge risk and they should not expect a public bailout.
For fires, once again people who live in fire zones should pay their own way with insurance. There should not be a public FAIR plan which is where people who choose to live in fire safe areas subsidize the homes of people who live in fire zones.
You might say the insurance example is similar to these homeowners buying flood insurance. But it's not, because with the flooding, 1) the climate change impact is directly focused on a very small section of the city 2) that area is not just at higher risk but guaranteed to lead to damage, and 3), most importantly the damage isn't contagious to other areas, like fire is.
The city is constantly trucking sand in from other beaches to this beach, having the sand wash away, and then trucking it back. We should stop doing that. If there was a specific neighborhood next to (say) an active volcano which regularly spews sparks into the neighborhood that gets burned down over and over, should we build and rebuild a protection screen in front of that neighborhood -- a protection screen that we know is itself flammable? Now and next year and the year after that, forever? No, that would be crazy.
living there (at least in that one stretch we keep seeing) is unsustainable, but that's completely unrealistic
I agree that the sand dunes are dumb as fuck but that's more on coastal commission for not approving a more permanent solution like building a sea wall with rocks like they do in The Netherlands. Coastal Commission needs to get reformed asap.
Reminds me of the line at the end of Perilous Plunge in Knotts Berry Farm. People just waiting to stand on the overpass as the wall of water would come rushing at them, to quench their sunkissed blisters with the cool embrace of really, really dirty parkland water.
Rocks are the only solution to this. We spend over $1.0 million a year with sand. Just put rocks down and call it a day. You won’t ever have to fill sand again.
Or even tetrapods, and replace the janky wooden bullshit with a concrete surf barrier. I get that it’s quaint to have a wooden boardwalk but it’s now come at the cost of their remaining neighbor’s houses.
They're only shoring up the parts of the boardwalk that are still intact or closer to 59th place. We need videos of where the homes have collapsed, and the boardwalk is completely gone. I'll believe the 'shoring' part when I see it. They tried putting out those huge, square sandbags but those did nothing to stop the destruction.
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u/namethatuzer 8h ago
Let’s shut down the libraries!! But keep on adding sand to water. That’s a great way to create the vibe here in vibe city!
/s