Some people can't afford to go to the beach, and lawmakers want to change that

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/beach-743100-beaches-people.html

by prostoalex • 9 years ago

23 44 9 years ago

knob2• 9 years ago

This is alien to me. "The average cost of a one day visit to the beach was $22, not including parking or food, according to the study." I have lived all my life in Puerto Rico, and the average visit to the beach is $0.00 Just, go. The many beaches of the island is one of the reason why we don't have that many parks - we just got to the beach instead.

rileymat2• 9 years ago

The average is a bad metric for this, if you consider how much it might cost for someone to stay in a hotel v. someone who makes a day trip.

dustinmr• 9 years ago

I think the point is that in the PR community it costs nothing. So the concept of having to pay to go to the beach is foreign to a Puerto Rican.

So compare going to the beach in South Jersey, where you have to pay just to be on the beach, or the area in the article, vs PR where beach access is guaranteed in the Constitution. Very different values regarding the beach as a public place.

dozzie• 9 years ago

Something along the lines, a group of thirty men and a beholder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beholder_%28Dungeons_%26_Drago...) have three eyes per member on average.

tyingq2• 9 years ago

They did split out costs for day trips separately from hotel stays.

See: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/UCLA-Beach-Surv...

"We used a travel cost model to calculate the value of trips to the beach. We found the average day trip had a total value of $36.74 with travel to the coast costing $22.09, not including expenses at the beach, leaving a surplus of $14.65. We found the average overnight trip of four nights had a total value of $605.05, with travel costing $194.41, not including lodging, leaving a surplus of $410.64."

So, the day trip cost is ~$22, which I assume is just the vehicle/fuel cost. It specifically says it doesn't include parking or any expenses while there.

eli_gottlieb• 9 years ago

Yeah, having lived in Israel it sounded pretty alien to me too. I would just head over to the beach by bus on a Friday afternoon for no particular reason. It was fun.

Hell, the municipality had installed Wifi in case I wanted to bring a laptop to a beachside bar or cafe, though I never did.

Who the hell privatizes beaches?

stuckagain• 9 years ago

Ah but you had a bus to the beach. Here in America we have often specifically engineered things so you can't get to the beach without a car!

tyingq2• 9 years ago

The article should have been clearer. The $22 is the cost of transportation to the beach.

The study is centered on how much it costs Californians to travel to the beach. Like, for example, driving from a non-coastal city to the coast. The study specifically mentions that the $22 does not include costs for parking, or expenses (food, etc) while there.

baus3• 9 years ago

I'm currently working on a gig in OC and living in Laguna Beach. I've found it to be one most exclusionary communities I've ever lived in. AirBNB is effectively banned, and, as a renter, I didn't feel like I fit in at my gym which is dominated by wealthy and long time home owners.

Like many areas, there are laws which prevent increased development which further puts pressure on housing and rent prices.

Overall I like Laguna, but while I think most people who live here would consider themselves liberal, their local politics are more reactionary.

beachstartup• 9 years ago

I think most people who live here would consider themselves liberal

orange county and san diego county are the two most politically conservative counties in california.

ToddBridges• 9 years ago

Not True

http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_quick.asp?i=1007

imperialself• 9 years ago

Orange County as a whole, yes. Laguna Beach however is a very liberal community.

avar• 9 years ago

Where I live I've been going to the same gym for 3 years. I show up, squat, deadlift, etc. The conversations I have with people are about whether the power rack is free, how long they're going to take etc.

Just how do you get into conversations at your gym where you don't feel like you belong because of your decisions about how to handle real estate purchases?

baus3• 9 years ago

Your gym is definitely different than the gym I was going to

ktRolster3• 9 years ago

I didn't feel like I fit in at my gym which is dominated by wealthy and long time home owners

Never be intimidated by people's wealth; it's not the American way, way: where all people are created equal. Just remind yourself that although they have money, they are no better than you, no more worthy of happiness than you, and no more valuable than you.

They are, in every respect that matters, your equal.

Animats• 9 years ago

That's so 1950s.[1]

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/world/eight-richest-wealt...

meddlepal• 9 years ago

Eh... They may very well be more valuable than you or someone else if for example they are a successful entrepreneur that has created and manages a business that in turn makes others successful, or created an invention, or invented a drug.

moron4hire• 9 years ago

There is a difference between knowing this and feeling it when people are glowering at you.

godzillabrennus• 9 years ago

We are all created equal in the eyes of the law but not all of us work equally hard nor are we all blessed with the same family support structure. Many with wealth inherited it. There is less upwards mobility in the USA than any modern period.

baus3• 9 years ago

Trust me I'm not intimidated, but I don't want to feel excluded because of my social status either

codazoda2• 9 years ago

I love Laguna Beach and I'd live there in a VW van if I didn't have a Job, two sets of parents, and children; all in Utah. I've got family in Riverside and Laguna is a favorite. Try to enjoy it.

Having just returned from Anaheim and a day trip to the Santa Monica pier, I'm glad to see them trying to reduce the cost. The CA coast is full of beautiful places.

jdavis703• 9 years ago

If you care about the beach it's important that a broad swath of the population appreciates the coastal areas. That ways when it comes time to vote on bond and tax measures that go to restoring and managing these areas, people understand the importance of what they're voting for.

JustSomeNobody2• 9 years ago

Having lived in Florida all my life this is weird. It's so easy to take a day trip to the beach and it just costs gas (pack a lunch, water and lots of sunscreen).

codazoda2• 9 years ago

Really? No parking fee's? What about in high population area's such as Miami?

got2surf• 9 years ago

I'm also from Florida, and I agree with the parent poster. Spent a lot of time on the East Coast (Cocoa Beach, and Miami area mainly), and there is plenty of free parking. Even close to downtown Miami (Virginia Key, for example) has some free parking.

That being said, we have some beautiful state parks in Florida (great springs, rivers, camping etc) which charge entrance fees. Some parks have a once-a-year "free day", and it's great to see so many people out and enjoying the outdoors. Not at all like the "beach version of public housing", as one commentor rudely claimed above.

JustSomeNobody2• 9 years ago

Plenty of free parking though I don't know about Miami. Only times I've been to Miami I've just been passing through on my way out of the country.

CodeWriter23• 9 years ago

It was the state that defunded the State Beaches, bringing about the day use fees to pay for maintenance, lifeguards, etc.

And by the way there are beaches that are transit-accessible in Los Angeles that are free to walk on.

troisx• 9 years ago

That's great, they can make more beaches be like Dockweiler, the most "diverse" on the chart. Where one can currently experience gangs, graffiti, littering and constant violations of the law that the lifeguards and tiny police presence are incapable of enforcing.

gwright• 9 years ago

What about the people who would prefer hiking or skiing or white-water rafting or Disneyland or a day trip to Catalina Island or ...

This seems like a crazy level of economic micro-management to me.

madengr2• 9 years ago

Nutty CA.

This will probably reduce the number of beachgoers. Do I want to take my family to the equivalent of a public housing project? Hell no.

yen223• 9 years ago

"Nobody will go to the beach, it'll be too crowded"

cwingrav• 9 years ago

So, we increase jails and police to put "them" there? Better we integrate as a society so we all enjoy each other and get along. It's possible and will eventually happen. But these opinions need to wither.

madengr2• 9 years ago

No one needs to be put anywhere. The government will never force social integration; it will always stratify. Do you take your family to stay at America's Best Value Inn, maybe saving $30? I don't; I'll pay the extra for a non-seedy place. If the government starts handing out $30 vouchers, those who can afford it will kick out another $30 to avoid that place. That's just the way it is.

It's why some people shop at Target instead of Walmart. They sell the same shit, but people pay a little extra to avoid the depression of Walmart.

Same with Costco vs Sams Club. Costco is like Sams, but without the tattoos.

throwaway420• 9 years ago

Loving beaches is great, but the reasoning expressed in the article seems kind of weird to me.

There are plenty of low income families who probably can't easily afford to go to a beach, but at the same time there's also plenty who have also never spent time in mountains, forests, meadows, lakes, etc.

tathougies• 9 years ago

I grew up in OC. While the south county is a bunch of rich people, there are plenty of beaches in the northern part that are totally free, especially if you just park outside the main area. All of the beaches are ultimately free for people just walking in, and many are just free if you know where to go, but I understand why all the rich lawmakers think that all the beaches are expensive -- all the ones they think are worth going to certainly are. For us plebes though there is still plenty of beach.

Also, judging by how crowded the beach is on weekends, I'm guessing access isn't much of a problem

hedora2• 9 years ago

This article could use some work. It names two beaches that have over 80% white visitors, but neither of those beaches have over 80% white visitors according to the figure in the article.

Also, they did not ask how many families actually did not go to the beach because of costs, which is the actual metric that matters.

The price of an overnight stay might be exorbitant if you stay near the water, but there is no reason to do that if you live in any of California's population centers (and cheaper accommodations are available nearby).

Also, I go to the coast frequently, but have not heard of many (any?) of these beaches. Is this some LA problem or something? It can't be, since it opens with "California has >1,100 miles of beaches". Later, the map shows the study is indeed only for SoCal.

With all that, I'd still like to know WTF the legislation actually does. The article does not say. Does anyone here know?

hedora2• 9 years ago

I looked up a better article:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-coastal-accommod...

Apparently, the plan is to make our beaches great again by building hotels inside of state parks.

pdimitar• 9 years ago

This reminds me of a similar problem we had in Bulgaria, a long time ago. Many rich land owners and hotel tycoons teamed up and basically made it illegal to go on the beach, plant your own umbrella, and spend the day there. Tickets, time limits... Gosh. There was a lot of outrage but of course, nothing changed.

Things changed slightly when those beaches got almost empty one particular summer (sorry, can't remember the year). But then the politicians intervened and helped the land/hotel owners make our beaches more foreign-friendly -- better, quicker, more reliable transportation, more restaurants, more bars on the beach, better service. And the foreigners started flocking.

From then on, a good chunk of Bulgaria's beaches are a paradise for foreigners while us the Bulgarians have to scour the beach line for a place to get some sun. Admittedly there are still a good amount of places where this craziness doesn't exist but a lot of beaches are practically out of limits for us now.

TL;DR -- this article sounds like somebody influential is concerned about the economy on/around the beaches. I might be wrong.

Some people can't afford to go to the beach, and lawmakers want to change that

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