Paris has the Seine, London has the Thames, and Los Angeles has the concreted 51 mile L.A. River – made famous in Hollywood movies.
Rock the Boat is an entertaining look at the little-known history of the L.A. River, and how the city might reimagine the once-natural resource to benefit L.A. today.
When a local government agency decides that the derided waterway is not worthy of environmental protection, a biologist becomes a whistle blower, a writer trades pen for paddle, and together with others they change the course of history for the river.
For the past hundred years cities and roads, factories, dams and agricultural centers have been built wherever humans wanted, often triumphing over the natural lay of the land, more balanced design and even common sense.
With climate change and an impending worldwide water crisis, we are now forced to examine the impact on nature of our urban lifestyle. Nowhere is this battle better illustrated than in Los Angeles – a dream city turned into nightmare sprawl. And nothing epitomizes man's efforts to reshape the face of the earth better than the L.A. River: used, abused and forgotten, it is now at the center of a major vision to transform this metropolis into a more sustainable model city for the 21st century.
With striking images of the L.A. River, insightful interviews and some humor, Rock the Boat documents the intrepid fight to renew the river and the city itself, and affirms the power of committed individuals to jump-start local change.
Shopping CartItems0
