Foreword
Southern California’s sleeping inland giant is awakening with a
vengeance. Inevitably, this was going to happen. Its time is now.
Since World War II, Southern California has been making two
mistakes. Every year, the Rose Parade is held under blue skies while
most of America shivers. Every year, a new crop of movies flaunts
our lifestyle to an envious world. No wonder the earth is seemingly
tilted this way with thousands of families rolling into the Southland
every year. By definition, they are risk takers, and they have made
the region a cauldron of entrepreneurial energy.
Despite our incredible diversity, each generation of instant
Southern Californians, and by now, two generations of our children
share one insatiable thirst: home ownership. To the frustration of
social planners and NIMBYs, this powerful impulse has caused the
Southland to annually gobble up hundreds of acres of undeveloped
dirt. First, the region ate central Los Angeles. Then, in succession, it
gobbled up the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and Orange
County. Now, the Inland Empire is the focus of attention.