project that really was unnecessaryrn(L.A.’s busing program was undertakenrnas part of a state suit, not through thernfederal courts) and that California votersrnquickly outlawed (the propositionrnprohibiting state-ordered busing wasrneventually upheld by the CaliforniarnSupreme Court). Traffic, perhaps therncommon denominator for all SouthernrnCalifornians, was already intolerable.rnDuring the 1980’s, middle-classrnSouthern Californians did what theyrnhave been doing since shortly afterrnWodd War II—they moved. But whereasrnthe migration out of central L.A, originallyrnwent northwest into the San FernandornValley (most of it annexed earlyrnon bv the city of Los Angeles), east intornthe San Gabriel Valley, or southeast intornnearby Orange County, by the 1980’srnareas available to middle-class peoplernseeking “affordable housing” were locatedrnin the desert 50 miles north ofrnL.A., or in Ventura, Riverside, and SanrnBernardino counties. In reality, the middle-rnclass spread away from Los Angelesrnwas typical of demographic patterns inrncities all over America. The only thingsrnreallv remarkable about this out-migrationrnwere the numbers of people andrnthe distances involved, and the pricernthose moving were willing to pay to findrna little piece of paradise.rnBut Los Angeles, unlike so manyrnother American cities, also continuedrnto grow, thanks in part to the unprecedentedrnbreach of our southern borderrnand to an influx of other nationalities—rnprincipally from Asian countries but alsornfrom the Middle East and even thernthen-Soviet Union—taking advantagernof relaxed immigration laws. This, too,rnis not all that remarkable, consideringrnthat immigrants are pouring into citiesrnall over the United States and Canadarn(so many Hong Kong Chinese havernfound refuge in Vancouver that it is nowrnoften referred to as Hongcouver). Thernfact remains, however, that the sheerrnnumber of people filling up areas of traditionalrnLos Angeles such as mid-rnWilshire and East Hollywood is enoughrnto convince anyone that L.A. has beenrnON’crrun by foreigners.rnFrom his vantage point on the city’srntony West Side, Mr. Rieff was apparentlyrnawed by this process. The WestrnSide is one of those places where ZoernBaird would live if she got a job on therncoast: given enough money, one can liverncomfortably and largely out of touchrnwith the surrounding riff-raff, evenrnthough there seems to be a constant fearrnthat a brown, yellow, or black “invasion”rnis imminent.rnFor the great bulk of Southern Californians,rnthe West Side might as wellrnbe Fantasyland. Yet—and again, this isrnthe case in any number of cities—thernWest Side with its lawyers, doctors,rnpoliticians, actors, studio execs, and sornforth carries a clout disproportionate tornits actual numbers. It is, in other words,rnthe place to be in Los Angeles. It is not,rnhowever, the most appropriate place tornwrite the book filled with sweeping generalitiesrnabout a city in transition thatrnMr. Rieff has attempted. For non-rnAngelenos, Mr. Rieff’s thesis may seemrnprovocative and forward-thinking. Forrnthose who live in Southern California,rnor for those like us who have lived therernand still consider it “home,” it is justrnone more attempt to explain the unexplainablern—the land of remarkablernweather and even more remarkable opportunityrnthat attracts even when therndownside is so obvious, the cost so prohibitive,rnthe odds so stacked against success.rnLos Angeles may now be full of ThirdrnWodd people, but it most assuredly isrnnot a Third World city like Lagos orrnCalcutta. If immigration is the problem,rnthen it is America’s problem—notrnjust L.A.’s. To attempt to make it otherwisernsells short those who continue tornsee Southern California in an entirelyrndifferent light—as still the epitome ofrnthe American dream.rnAmanda Hill is a student who plans tornreturn to Southern California this fallrnto continue her education. ]ames Hill isrnthe editor of the editorial pages of thernPhoenix Gazette.rnGREAT TOPICS, GREAT ISSUESrnThe Days of Empire—Come and Gone?—Februaryrn1993—F.W. Brownlow on American imperialism,rnTomislav Sunic on Europe’s New Right, Mihajlo Mihajlovrnon the future of Radio Liberty and Radio FreernEurope, and Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaway onrnthe importance of the invisible hand in the post-ColdrnWar era. Plus Thomas Fleming on what America canrnlearn from Italy, Hamilton Beck on the “Kohlonization”rnof the former East Germany, John Lukacs on anotherrn^^H-f^e-5/ede in the Baltics, and Andrei Navrozovrnon the contagion of totalitarianism.rnArt in the 90’s: Visions and Values—March 1993—rnAlexandra York on Romantic Realism. Mary ElizabethrnPodles and Leon J. Podles on politically incorrectrncartoons, and Thomas Fleming on museums as warehousesrnof art. Plus Alan R. Turin on the unreportedrnstory of Hurricane Andrew, Robert Knight’s encounterrnwith Queer Nation, and Llewellyn H. Rockwell’s reviewrnof Richard John Neuhaus’s Doing Well and DoingrnGood: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist.rnDefining Culture—April 1993—Speeches on the tenthrnpresentation of the IngersoU Prizes: Edson I. Gay lord’srn”Observations After Ten Years,” Muriel Spark onrn”Living With Culture,” and Walter Burkert on thern”Classics—Past Ideology and Persistent Reality.” PlusrnJeffrey A. Tucker on Jack Kemp’s mistaken identity,rnJohn B. Thompson on Janet Reno and her nomination tornAttorney General, and an excerpt from ChiltonrnWilliamson’s latest novel.rnWho Owns America?—May 1993—Charles Lewisrnon the impact of foreign lobbyists in Washington, PatrnChoate on Japan’s influence on American trade, ArthurrnE. Rowse on the buying of American foreign policy,rnand Alft-ed E. Eckes on influence-peddling as an age-oldrnart. Plus Bill Kauffman on who really owned Hollywoodrnin the 1930’s and Russ Braley on the revolvingrndoor between government and journalism.rnBACK ISSUES ORDER FORMrnEach issue $5.50 (postage and handling included)rnTitle Date Qty.rnTHE DAYS OF EMPIRE—COME AND GONE? FEBRUARY 1993rnART IN THE 90’S: VISIONS AND VALIIESrnDEFINING CULTURErnWHO OWNS AMERICA?rnCostrnMARCH 1993rnAPRIL 1993rnMAY 1993rnTotal EnclosedrnNamernAddress City State ZiprnMail with check to: Chronicles * 934 North Main Street * Rockford, IL 61103rnJUNE 1993/37rnrnrn