A report by UCLA and San Francisco State University finds that the cost of trips to the beach prevents many Californians — especially low-income households, families with children and younger residents — from visiting as much as they’d like.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 guarantees everyone access to California’s iconic coastal areas. But 62 percent of California voters surveyed said access to coastal areas is a problem. Even more said that they were deterred by the cost of parking, overnight accommodations and limited public transportation options.
The research and policy report were authored by Jon Christensen, a UCLA adjunct assistant professor of environmental humanities and member of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and Philip King of San Francisco State University.
“This generation of challenges can’t be handled by the Coastal Commission and the Coastal Conservancy alone,” said Christensen, who also is the co-founder of the UCLA Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, or LENS. “It’s is going to require a much broader range of collaborators. The legislature and governor can lead, but it will also take local agencies, philanthropy and nonprofit organizations.”
