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Will They Rebuild Los Angeles?
A westward view of the Hurst Fire on January 7. Wikimedia Commons
I’ve watched a lot this week of the tragic events resulting from the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
This has increased my awareness of some of the details related to the destruction. It appears there has been total mismanagement of the fire prevention capability by federal, state, and local governing authorities. The big state-related issue is the lack of water positioned to fight the fires, and there are also questions about equipment and the actual competency of officials, including those elected at state and local levels.
I have gained an impression over the recent years that environmental and other requirements make garnering permits to build very complicated. Now I understand that insurance companies are refusing to insure homes for fire hazards.
With all these factors operating against the process, why would people actually rebuild homes in these areas, especially in view of the fact that they have a very high risk of fire and no competent government service to respond to that risk? The high taxation for those who reside in California is another factor working against rebuilding.
Published in General
This is going to be the 21st Century’s counterpart to the San Francisco Earthquake. If Los Angeles is unlucky and the winds keep up and shift the wrong direction a good chunk of the city will burn. Much more than has been burned already.
Some of the officials involved say now and here is not the time nor the place to raise issues about environmental actions affecting the water supply or budget actions related to fire prevention. When would it be appropriate to raise these issues?
After they are reelected.
Related meme:
Yes, that’s about the way it seems to go!
Now that we have a new coalition that has replaced the GOPe maybe the tune will change.
The voters are “getting it good and hard.”
And if Mexicans can pack Their belongings and travel a thousands miles on foot, crossing a foreign border to improve Their Life, then california republicans should certainly be able to move to another state (just not TEXAS, please).
The question is not so much “will they build?”, but “can they build?” It is a great place to live and it is likely that American tax payers will be hit for $200 Billion or so to incentivize something. I am guessing in the end, the wealthiest folks rebuild in the best areas and the poor folks get their single-family homes replaced with dense units with set-asides for hobos.
I am opposed to
governmenttax-payer bailouts for L.A., North Carolina, and Florida.There are a lot of laws inhibiting construction in California, but those laws can change. So whether LA gets rebuilt within a generation will depend on whether California’s careerist Democratic politicians find the backbone to change the laws, and tell their rich enviro-crazy donors to sod off.
Adam Carolla’s rant on this:
https://x.com/i/status/1877207054105886836
He is a bigger optimist than I am.
Yes, of course they will. I suspect that it will be similar to Maui, including who are the largest predatory buyers of property.
I read today that Oregon sent a strike team of fire engines and crews to LA. They were diverted to Sacramento so that they could be inspected for compliance with CA emissions standards.
The anti progress elements are entrenched so deeply in CA government that I think they will be incapable of rebuilding absent a wholesale replacement of government from top to bottom
There will be a Yuge backlash against Biden/Newsom/Bass once the fires die out. Their liberal policies and complete lack of preparedness will be fair game and totally unleashed upon the reckless democrats. Biden & Newsom cannot follow thru on promises to cover all losses. Their spending on illegal noncitizens will be exposed. Hollywood will revolt against this party of hypocrites.
You may be right, but it won’t be because of the hypocrisy, which they’re unable to recognize. Hollywood’s attitude is likely that it’s no big deal if a bunch of Appalachian crackers don’t get FEMA assistance — they’re probably all racist-sexist-homophobic-transphobic anyway — but we’re important, damit! We mouth all the conventional platitudes on demand!! And donate lots of money!!! IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!
A possible reaction?
A conservative is a former liberal who had their house burned to the ground due to idiotic democrat policies.
Something will get built, especially the mansions in the hills, but will there be a rebuild of the mostly small single family homes? I don’t think that will happen under California’s smothering regulatory blanket. When most of those houses were originally built, it was the wild west of building. Now it is the opposite.
Edit: wrong thread.
@dong, I am usually in accord with your comments. And while I too am sensitive to the idea of reflexive “tax-payer bailouts”, and I might even agree that consideration of government spending on local problems requires a very strict standard, I just want to point out that one of the three things you list is not like the others.
L.A. and Florida are both regions that have been settled only because of extraordinary efforts of terraforming. Without air conditioning, and lots of water-manipulation, neither of these places would be hospitable for the kind of massive settlement that we have there.
If you want to chance the hurricanes in Florida or the dryness of Southern California, fine. Terraform away. But when things go wrong you have to have taken your situation there into a count, and planned for it. Both are beautiful places, but they are inherently dangerous and precarious because of the climate and weather there. Settle there, enjoy yourselves, but you have to take measures to protect yourselves from the inevitable, which happens like clockwork.
The North Carolina disaster is different. What happened there was unprecedented. Those people made their bet in that area with zero expectation that something like this could happen to them.
If the Taxpayers were ever going to be called upon to help out from national funds (and I agree that this is problematic in every case), I would be much more sympathetic to this claim.
They should have headed back for Oregon.
Possible. But from past experience, it seems more likely that they’ll decide they weren’t leftist ENOUGH.
Is there really a good chance that, next time around, they’ll build it better?
Like, with working fire hydrants and stuff?
And maybe raise it all up, so it won’t be under water in a few years like they think it will be.
And the hardest core leftists (and those not living in LA) will shout harder and louder to drown any complaints out. They always figure they can outlast any objections and bully the last to complain until they leave the building. So far they have been successful in CA, WA, OR, MA, NY, IL, MD, VT, ME,MN, who did I leave out? Bullying and intimidation is the fall back when shouting doesn’t work.
Blackrock is licking its chops. No way areas like Pacific Palisades and Malibu are going to be low income housing.
They aren’t “refusing”, they are unable to offer insurance because the government has capped how much they are allowed to charge in premiums, at a level below that which is actuarially sound.
Thanks. I knew there was a government involvement in that but thanks for the detail. Every new fact shows what a stupid government California has.
I’d like to read about that.
Could you paste the link? Thanks.
It’s brutally ironic that most residents of the Palisades — Billy Crystal and his ilk — are democrats and fund the campaigns of Bass and Newsom. Adam Corolla thinks they will turn Trumpian.
The new buyers and the new mansions built will look like Oprah.