European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse " to California cries set of property prices still skyrocketing by John Barbour associated press to Hundred years before Man landed on the Moon a grading and Trail weary padre planted a Cross on a shallow Hill in san Diego claiming the land for god in his heaven and the King in Spain. That action seen by a few indians and Spanish soldiers signalled the opening of California to the White Man. That Cross essentially became the Southern foot of a Trail that became a Road that became a Highway called Al Camino real the Royal Road the nub of California s extraordinary growth. In the last five decades California s Golden coast has gone Money crazy. Some old timers whose families have been in the state less than 100 years curse the Newcom ers and grumble that the statue of Liberty is in the wrong place. The nation s most Beautiful Shoreline is suffocating under the weight of humanity. Now the same state that startled the nation with proposition 13, a clenched taxpayers fist under the nose of government is fighting Back against the very forces that made it Rich people and Money pressure from All Over the world. It is a Battle fraught with ironies and is of most importance to those 10 million americans now living else where who will Knock on California s door before the year 2,000 and Hope to be let in. California is saying if California can t Stop them the sheer Cost will. Money from All Over the world is seeking a Safe Haven in California s real estate especially the 1,074-mile stretch of magnificent coastal mountains and Sandy beaches. Nowhere is the pressure More visible More acute than along Al Camino real once a 650-mile Trail linking the 21 Spanish missions from san Diego to Sonoma begun by father Junipero Serra with the Cross planting on july 16,1769. The Good father from Mallorca came to bring religion and civilization to the Heathen indians and by that pro Cess protect Spanish interests in Alta California from the russians already moving South a ships stride at a russian menace passed. But a greater one was waiting to the East. American eyes focused on the trea sures of California. Less than a Century after father Serra the new nation claimed the territory. Every decade found new wealth Fertile soil Gold Oil a beautifully Mountaine coast and a sunny climate where the living was easy and movie cameras could grind away All Day. Al Camino real the name Given in 1942 to Highway 101, stretches from san Diego to North of san Francisco a Concrete Belt harbouring some of the most expensive de sired and wondrous real estate in America. Its Southern reaches Are almost constant City from san Diego to los Angeles where half of California s 21 million people live. Today where father Serra s heart leapt to see two Spanish ships in san Diego Bay the Vista is now eave to eave shimmering White rooftops in the California Sun. Instead of masts two scaffolds Rise above the Asbestos sea proclaiming Kamchatka Vodka and Lloyd s pest they stand Between the Graceful old Mission and the sea. Farther up the coastal Highway the pretty Little mis Sion at san Luis Rey is bordered by an Auto Salvage Yard and a Mobile Home Park. Still farther North in la Jolla where houses March Down the mountains to the sea a typical Home that sold for $127,000 last year Sells for $185,000now. Everywhere along this gilded coast the people pres sure is almost tangible. Considering everything sold mansion to slum the median Price of a California Home in 1977 was More than $60,000, and probably twice that near the coast. Against this pressure bastions Are being raised in some coastal towns Between los Angeles and san fran Cisco. No growth Laws preceded the taxpayer rebellion called prop 13. They Are raising the drawbridge a real estate Man in Santa Cruz says with regret. California has also passed a coastal zone Law with com missions empowered to ban development As far As five Miles Inland from the High tide they preserve the Shoreline these measures also sharply increase the value of Homes already built. In Santa Cruz Home values have doubled in a year. Sixty three percent of All californians live in the 15 counties that line the coast and Many of them will have real estate Worth More than they Ever hoped to accumulate. Whatever the drawbacks the Northern part of the state Hopes to evade the rampant development that has paved the South with rooftops. Even the swallows bound by some eternal pattern to return to the red tiled roofs of the Mission at san Juan Capistrano Are confused. Instinct Only goes so far. It leads them to the pretty town but it does t give them the , with building after building imitating the Spanish Motif the swallows have a larger Choice and some Are found nesting in the red tile roofs of Taco Bells. From Shadow Hills outside of los Angeles to Foster City on san Francisco Bay people have actually stood in line to buy their dream houses. At Shadow Hills they drove up in motor Homes and pitched tents set up a rules committee and made line checks at night to be sure each family was there. Two youngsters made More than $60 baby sitting positions in line before the rules committee decreed an age requirement for standees eighteen. The Homes were priced Between $55,000 and $64,000, one Story three bedrooms. Only 81 were available but 111 families were in line. One woman expecting a baby had to be rushed to a Hospital. The rules committee allowed her to keep her place. It was a false alarm anyway. Outside of san Francisco Foster City is built on filled in tidelands. It was a planned Marina Community of 11, 000 Homes. Despite predictions of earthquake disaster and sagging foundations the Homes sold before they were built. For those who own Homes anywhere near the coast it is As if there were a taxi meter where the Doorbell used to be. It rings up the Price by the minute. One Home owner in Palos Verdes estates who can see Santa Catalina Island Over a neighbor s roof on a Clear Day paid $60,000 for his Home in 1968. Today it is Worth More than $200,000. He estimates the Price rises $1,200 a month. That of course contributed to the homeowners rebel lion. Property taxes were based on the Market value of their Homes. A Man who could afford the taxes and the mortgage of a $60,000 House suddenly found himself paying the taxes on a $220,000 House. Enter prop 13. Next door to Monterey a 2,000-Square-foot Home in Pebble Beach near the Polo Field one Large bedroom and two Baths sold for $130,000 in 1976, and $235,000 this year. To old timers what has happened up and Down the coast is dismaying. Before world War ii Monte Rey like Santa Cruz to the North and Carmel to the South was a sleepy town with one old resort hotel an army Post with two squadrons of cavalry and a Bat Talion of horse drawn 75s. It also had a sardine Industry that John Steinbeck Sedas backdrop to his Cannery Row. Today Monterey abounds in hotels fort Ord is a military Complex there is a naval postgraduate school nearby. But there Are no sardines. The fish disappeared and the 16 canneries closed one by one. That s when the tourists replaced the sardines and then some an old resident complains. I used to ride horseback one bloc away another says wistfully. Today horse and rider would suffocate in the was discovered in 1602 by a Spanish explorer. The area was so wild in 1770 that father Serra s colonizing expeditions searching for it walked right by. Today sailors would have no trouble finding Monte Rey. It is just South of the huge Pacific Gas and electric Power Plant at Moss Landing a towering smokestack an bulging Cement shoulders rising Over the Pacific. The town and the county have succeeded in staving of the worst of Industry helped by an accidental smog spill from a neighbouring Valley that raised an outcry. Indus try it was decided was not Worth the taxes it would pay. The area also fended off developers. But coastal com Mission or no land prices keep going up and sooner of later even the most steadfast Are Likely to succumb to offers impossible to feel they Are Only fighting a delaying action and some feel the Battle is already , the Northern communities on the Road to san Francisco Are doing More than either of the metropolitan giants to limit growth. The state is helping buying beaches keeping open Access to the Are still vistas of great natural Beauty tucked in Here and there. South from Monterey and Carmel is poin Lobos much of it state Park land where Robert Louis Ste Venson in a gentler time borrowed the landscape for treasure Island. Big sur with its climactic mountains and forests Roll sits mighty course Down the coast its precipitous Cliffs harbouring unseen Homes hidden by the vast greenery looking out on the Pacific. Here too a Battle against development along the Royal Road has change been More Swift and unimpeded than in the South. San Clemente a Beautiful stretch of Beach abut Ting Camp Pendleton has attracted the wealthy for decades. Former president Richard Nixon settled \ san Clemente could not claim a single House. Bit was As big As san Diego or Monterey at the tint Luthern California building explosion began in themes converting the Century old farms and or Chio three bedroom sanctuaries Back to Back. Blvd. Was Only a bridle path when will Rogers Anu Dies congregated at a watering Hole called the Yofee before Riding off to his ranch to play Polo. Rolley car ran up Rodeo drive to bring Groce ries1 Beverly Hills hotel. Honey from the Mideast Canada and Mexico seven in the storied Hills of Southern California Rai rices and changing the scenery. The Shah of idler for instance bought one estate of 168 acres pla3-million, 50,000-Square-foot Home and will sub div rest. Meanies seeking to lure executives to the Golden co the Royal Road Are paying bonuses of up to $25, Wooten the Impact of the move. Even that is a drop in tet. Page 14 the stars and stripes Santora san Fernando san Juan Capistrano san Luis Rey up time has brought Many of the same changes to Peter Paul and Mary that it did to the anti War and civil rights activists who marched to the group s music a decade ago. They have changed but so has audience. A by Peter a. Brown United press International Ime has brought Many of the same changes to Peter Paul & Mary that it did to the anti War and civil rights activists who marched to the group s music a decade ago. Peter Yarrow Paul Stookey and Mary travers have just made a National concert tour after seven years of going their separate ways. They re older. Yarrow and Stookey Are balding and travers in t quite the Blond Bombshell that even conservatives found quite attractive during those tumultuous years. They be changed. But then so has their the former students and protestors who packed auditoriums and outdoor Heaters for the concert paying up to $10 a ticket and Many forking Over $5 for a reunion to shirt they be gone into business and de voted More time to family life. They played to sellout crowds on the 17-City tour with the concerts As much a reunion for the audience As for the group that taught music and politics to Many of the nation s Young in the 1960s. Not surprisingly at least in Boston and from reports elsewhere too the crowds were heavily comprised of the 25-40 age group dressed in everything from Blue jeans to three piece mouthed the words of the songs. Others Sang out and their music helped me develop my philosophy about life. They helped a generation shape their thinking said Mary Ann Krzyna 30, of Brighton mass. She remembers seeing them three or four times while in College. I went into the peace corps after College and to some extent they helped me make that Don t think you can separate Peter Paul and Mary from the Antiwar and civil rights movements during the 1960s. It was a big and important part of your life said Krzyna now a , although acknowledging his comments will get me accused of megalomania agrees. I think we had a profound Impact. Music was the language of the new culture and we were in the Eye of the Hurricane he said in an interview after the group s Boston concert. But just As the nation s campuses cooled Down in the Early 70s, with the Young becoming More concerned about jobs and private lives so ppm took a different course. Their split in 1971 was a passage says Yarrow now 40, with his Fine Tenor voice still intact. When we found we no longer wanted to say the same things with our music we agreed to go our separate ways. If you have one who is into politics one into religion and one into other things its , the most political of the three married the Niece of former sen. Eugene Mccarthy during the Minne Sota Democrat s Antiwar 1968 presidential Campaign. Since settling in Malibu calif., with his wife and two children Yarrow has continued doing political benefits from coast to coast while getting involved in music production. Stookey 41, like Many of his Young admirers became a born again Christian. He his wife and three children moved to Blue Hill Maine where he lives and records music in a converted Henhouse near the Ocean. Travers 41, has been the most visible of the three since their split doing a series of Tours by herself and with others. At one time she was the name act with an up and coming Folk musician named John Denver. She and her two daughters now live in new York. Not saddled by the requirements of concert Tours the three devoted More time to family life. They did their own albums but none had anywhere near the Success of the 11 done by the group. This year they decided to get Back together but not for Good. Their project includes a studio album done before the concerts began a concert album to be done this Winter the tour and possibly a television special. We decided a Long time ago we would talk about a re Union when it was right said Yarrow. Each of us have missed it. We probably would have done it before but we had such divergent if we do something again said travers it will also be on a project basis. We All have our own private lives private problems and private commitments. This is not a comeback but a their music combines the familiar old favourites Many of them songs whose words thundered around the Washington Monument at countless peace rallies with new material. Despite the political overtones their work lacked the rage that characterized the songs of Many of their contemporaries and May explain the group s Appeal. There were other Folk singers but they represented the Burn Down the building types said Steve Mills 27, of Alexandria va., who caught the group s concert while in new England on ppm Sang songs that made you want to Hurt and made you want to think. They reminded you of a time when you cared about the world and thought you could do something about acknowledged that Many came for the nostalgia but said we Hope they take away More than that perhaps to convey that message the concert opened with a song telling the audience some things Are differ ent some the same some turn Over some Don t closed with a number saying for All we be been apart we re still the same Only tuesday sober 19, 1978 the stars and stripes Page is
