Robert Gottlieb reminds us that cities, and the political actors within them, can and do change. Los Angeles came of age by shoving nature around. But in these early years of the 21st century, grassroots and community action hint that the environmental future of the city and region may not be so dire. Written by a scholar/activist who has been at the center of much of the recent excitement, this book is a scholarly report, a celebration, and a further call to action.
William Deverell, Department of History and Director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, University of Southern California.
Bob Gottlieb is an organizer extraordinaire, a practical visionary and a tactical genius. When Friends of the Los Angeles River partnered with Occidental College for a year's worth of collaborative events, one of the great pleasures for me was working with Bob, who has an astonishing ability to work not just a system but all kinds of systems for the public good. Alot of people make fun of the idealism of the late 60's but Gottlieb is one of those whose idealism has only been sharpened and refined by the ensuing years and made more effective. Everybody who reads this book will be inspired to make their community, their city, andthe world into a better place, I promise.
Lewis MacAdams, Friends of the Los Angeles River
[Gottlieb's] richly informative book is really about flow of resources, people, historyand about how we all need to put our hands into that urban stream as participants directing community, a word he sensibly makes very nearly synonymous with environment.
Orion
No complaining diatribe, this book proffers solutions and heralds successful programs already in place...Gottlieb dissects and discusses origins, failures, successes, and future ramifications of nature, community, water, transportation, migration, and globalization in the city in a way that is neither preachy nor accusatory, but informative andI dare sayinspiring.
Society & Architectural Historians News
Robert Gottlieb has long been a pioneer in redefining environmentalism, turning ideas into action, and forging coalitions in the often murky atmosphere of Los Angeles. This book offers a timely account of the promising work in the City of Angels to forge a political movement that integrates social, economic, and environmental health.
Jennifer Price, author of Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America
