City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

Incorporation refers to the “separate incorporation of small populations” in Los Angeles (164). This gained momentum in wealthier zones of the city after the 1950s Korean War, when new laws “allowed suburban communities to reclaim control over zoning and land use without the burden of public expenditures” (166). The resulting 26 “minimal cities” in Los Angeles County could avoid paying for metropolitan public services, as well as passing laws that forbade the construction of the type of multifamily housing that low-income families typically lived in (166). This not only ensured that the populations of the incorporated cities were affluent but also contributed to social division and income inequality within the city as a whole. 

Noir, the French word for black, signified a cultural critique of Boosterism and flourished during the years following the 1930s Depression. Its famous authors, including James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, deployed a “transformational grammar turning each charming ingredient of the Boosters’ arcadia into a sinister equivalent” (38). In both noir literature and film, lavish surroundings were rife with corruption, while former business districts had the aura of junkyards. Black noir writers, such as Langston Hughes, remarked their disillusionment with Los Angeles’ Boosterism myth after facing “the mental corrosion of race prejudice” (43) in the city of sunshine and oranges. Noir is a useful trope for Davis because it shows how the shadow side of the growth myth developed alongside the optimism and has become equally important in cultural myths about Los Angeles. 

The slow-growth movement refers to middle-class homeowners’ campaign against “the most powerful economic interest in California today: the land development industry” (156). Instead of the developers’ rampant capitalism, the slow-growers preferred a more sustainable model, which allowed middle-class, suburban lifestyles to coexist with economic growth. While challenging the building of skyscrapers in suburban family areas, the slow-growers who were active from 1970s onwards protested the cause of environmentalism; however, they also wanted to retain control over the type of residents and activities in their neighborhoods. For Davis, their efforts enhance social division and detract from the more pressing issues of inner-city poverty and underinvestment.