the empty state

California today has four times the population that it had when I was in high school in Redondo Beach.  I used to ride my $50 horse down to the surf. Many of the gaps of open land and vacant lots have been filled with houses, apartments and rancheritos.  Of course, I moved north.  There's plenty of open land in Sonoma County. Things may stay that way for a while, until our local political bodies get bullied, frightened, sued or bought by international developers with bottomless pockets.