California's Transformation From Farm To Megalopolis

Riverside, California is the poster child for the state's 60-year transformation from a farming state to a 'sprawling megalopolis.'

1 minute read

May 26, 2003, 11:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"And Riverside County sets the pace. There, 15 golf course communities expanded into the eastern deserts of the Coachella Valley in the last two years of the '90s. In the last half-century, thousands of acres of citrus groves have given way to suburban housing tracts as migrants from expensive coastal communities have flocked inland for affordable homes... As goes Riverside, so goes Southern California. Half a century ago, Los Angeles County was the No. 1 agricultural producer in the U.S. Today, hardly any cropland remains. Among the coastal counties, only Ventura and San Diego have much farmland left."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Sunday, May 25, 2003 in The Los Angeles Times

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