Our Boundless Love for Big Sur May Be Killing It

(nytimes.com)

12 points | by Thevet a day ago ago

17 comments

  • evmar a day ago

    This article is as good a place as any to share a story on this topic.

    A friend from early in my career went on to become a fancy tech executive. They invited me to a party at their house in SF that included some of their fancy tech executive friends. At some point I inserted myself into a conversation they were having about buying homes in Big Sur: "But isn't it quite a long drive from here?"

    They answered: "Oh, it's not so long if you take a helicopter."

    The lives of the fancy are beyond my imagination!

    • keb_ a day ago

      Hey, it's like that scene in The Big Short where Mark Baum talks to the CDO Manager.

      "We're not in the Merrill Lynch building, we're in New Jersey"

      "You're 20 minutes away"

      "Well 5 if you use a helicopter"

  • tracerbulletx a day ago

    An important component of the beauty of the Pacific coast is how relatively empty and rural it is. When that changes, the entire vibe will be dead. Also don't tell anyone about the Oregon coast.

    • david-ds a day ago

      Ha, the Oregon coast is indeed pretty. But the lack of well paying jobs & expensive housing is really, really hurting locals. Many people can't even find an affordable rental.

    • deepfriedchokes a day ago

      Oregon is terrible. It’s cold and the locals are unfriendly. Don’t come here.

      • droopyEyelids a day ago

        Oregon can be genuinely unfriendly to people of color though right?

        • genocidicbunny 18 hours ago

          East of the cascades, absolutely, especially as you get closer to Idaho. Lets just say, I've never had a family in the middle of their dinner loudly ask for the waitress to move them away from the table me and my indian and asian friends just sat down at until I stopped by a restaurant on my way to Bend. And then being 'gently' told by the waitress that we might want to try a different restaurant instead, while completely avoiding eye contact with anyone not white at our table.

        • deepfriedchokes a day ago

          Every state has racists, even the liberal ones. Racism is universal.

    • throw_that_away a day ago

      It's already getting packed there too. If you knew about it for the past 20 years, you know the last 3 have been insane.

      • throwup238 a day ago

        Has the water moratorium been lifted?

  • MrVandemar 21 hours ago

    One of the most damaging things you can do to any place is build a road to it.

    • benjaminfh 18 hours ago

      The next worst is to popularise its beauty on Instagram :’( . As a hobbyist landscape photog I have a complicated relationship with this

    • wustangdan 20 hours ago

      Is a place really beautiful if no one ever gets to see it?

      • defrost 20 hours ago

        Why is a road necessary for a people to see a place?

        I grew up in a beautiful area of the world with no "road access" - boat, camel, air, horse, walk, off road bike with long range tank, yes.

        Marked road, convential car access - no.

      • orwin 12 hours ago

        You can also walk there. The best beaches in my areas are the ones that need a 20+ minute walk through a forest to reach. Even though every locals know about them, they aren't as crowed as more accessible beaches.

  • Uptrenda a day ago

    HN needs filters to block pay walled shit. This is getting old.

    • reducesuffering a day ago

      Some combination of FireFox, uBlock Origin, and Bypass Paywalls extensions made it not appear for me.