'The Last of the Beaches': The Development and Destruction of Palisades Del Rey

Abstract

From its beginning in the mid-1920s until its demise in the mid-1960s, Palisades del Rey was a luxurious enclave of beachfront homes and businesses nestled along the Pacific coastline in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to most of its residents at the time, the addition of a new airport (which would become Los Angeles International Airport) directly adjacent to the development would send waves through the community and ultimately destroy it. This paper explores the historical significance of the legal battle that ensued between the Palisades del Rey homeowners and Los Angeles International Airport once the city attempted to purchase the Palisades del Rey properties. Billed as the "last of the beaches," neither developer Fritz Burns nor any of those who bought Palisades del Rey homes in the 1920s could have imagined what would grow on the fields of barley adjacent to their new property. The paper discusses Palisades del Rey’s early development and golden years, considers some early challenges that the community faced with proposed and approved oil drilling next to their beach, outlines the dreams of municipal leaders and the mounting fears of residents during the 1940s and 1950s, and dives into the struggle between the city and the Palisades del Rey homeowners over the highly-coveted coastal property, the process of the airport’s condemnations and property acquisitions, and the lawsuits that ensued. The last section highlights the perspectives of the Los Angeles airport officials as they expanded the airport, dealt with the complaints about jet noise, and considered the airport’s future growth prospects within its city, as seen through public speeches they gave at the time. Perhaps no single area in Los Angeles better encapsulates the intersections, struggles and disputes between property developers, cities, residents, oil, aircraft and business that has been the history of Southern California better than Palisades de Rey.

Keywords: real estate, Southern California, Los Angeles, Westchester, Los Angeles International Airport, LAX, legal dispute, airport expansion, beach community, beach communities

JEL Classification: K10, K11, K19, K41