REBUILDING

1/30/25

I live uncomfortably close to the horrific fires that hit the Southern California area this January 2025. Specifically the Eaton Canyon fire, affected thousands of homes and businesses in Pasadena, and primarily Altadena. Some have died. It’s been an awful event. It’s the kind of event that really makes you re-evaluate what we do with our built environment.

In spite of the shock, people who live in or near the fire areas of Southern California want to build back. Like it was, and as soon as possible.

A very worthwhile goal. Unfortunately, there are obstacles.

So here’s a prediction: With the rebuilding, there will be great achievements and great things to replace what was lost.

But we won’t really replace all of what we've lost. I think we’ll loose a lot of the finesse, scale, and fine grain of the modest multigenerational neighborhoods; the integrity created from simple but well conceived structures conceived by architects or small designer/builders.

But can we at least expedite the replacement of these neighborhoods? Unfortunately, with some noticeable exceptions, this will take decades.

In addition, the pressure to move these neighborhoods upscale will be immense. Many lower to middle class families, with multi-generational roots, will be edged out by development for wealthier people.

We don't build like we used to, and for the cross-section of people we used to. Our best intentions, and the implementation of them, have unwittingly become the enemy of the good.

We've lost the building ethics we had for a bit more than half of the 20th century and before. Ethics that allowed for appropriately sized, delicately detailed, and economic to build residential and like commercial buildings. When we rebuild, we’ll end up building luxury homes, and subsidized multi family residential to some how cover what we’ve lost.

Back 70 or so years ago, a family could afford to hire an architect to do work for a couple weeks to do a set of plans. Small builders were conversant in building appropriately, suitable to making a neighborhood that could be loved. Sash and doors were constructed on site or came from a local workshop. Carpenters and Masons knew how to construct their components quickly and elegantly. Municipalities were able to check and approve plans often within a day. Simple and good ways to make good things.

Those days are gone. For all the good reasons, for complications those reasons create, and the thoughtless piling on, those days are gone. Maybe we’ll discover we were actually losing something?

Consider these complications— again for good reasons, to solve what we thought were a series of (apparently) unconnected problems:

• Comprehensive envelope and insulation design, carefully checked and implemented

• Accessibility issues, even within the most simple structures; all carefully checked and implemented.

• Parking requirements, more regimented setbacks, and other regimented planning dictates.

• Structural and geotechnical design issues— all to keep us safe, but validated in ways to be painfully laborious rather then professional and expeditious.

• Sustainability design issues— all to help safe the planet, but validated in ways to be painfully laborious rather then professional and expeditious.

• Community design review.

Great! These are important things, some more, and some less important then we think they are. But everything will be a lot more expensive and it'll take a lot more time than it once could. And none of it will have the delicacy and appropriateness of what was done originally.

There are really great architects and builders out there. Great stuff gets done, and some great stuff will be built in the place of that we have lost. Miracles will happen in the course of expediting repairs. But, with all the complications we've added, we’ve made it much harder to come back after a tragedy like this. After year upon year of layered and siloed processes, we realize that no one has paid any attention to these basic ethics that allow for us to build for every economic group and make great neighborhoods in the first place.

No matter how you feel about climate change, devastating events that will wipe out large portions of beloved communities will occur more often, and be more severe.

It is a responsibility of every government, and every advocacy group to understand what has been lost and why we need to make better ways to make communities to build and rebuild.

We must:

Find, establish and lift up trusted partners in the building and design industry.

Our processes must be greatly simplified; there are better ways to identify and verify what needs to be done.

Advocacy groups must be must absolutely understand other concerns besides their own in the building of communities. Simplicity and beauty are really as important, as our other concerns.

I'm hoping for the best as we rebuild the Palisades and Altadena. Again, some good things will happen, but I fear we’ll will lose many opportunities for equity, accommodation, and beauty, the intangibles that make for a loved community, all in the name of moribund and contradictory processes.

Let’s take this opportunity to start to to break down the advocacy Silos and the inertia of over-complication.

We know what to do. Let's communicate. Let's build a accommodating sustainable and beautiful neighborhoods and cities. Let's innovate. Let’s not waste time and effort.