Spring Break
Planning for future needs optimism of 1950s
Scott Dennis
Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: Forum
Robert Frost once asked whether the world would end with fire or ice. Now, that's a pretty bleak subject. And with the world in the state that it is, a lot of people are probably imagining a future troubled by economic crisis and societal woes, wondering if it is not actually the end of the world.
But hey, how about a little optimism?
Southern California is home to a marvelous little city called Burbank. It's a charming place where most buildings are constructed out of plastic, and citizens enjoy ample amounts of cheap energy due to the underground atomic power units located in each section of the city. There is a 30-hour work week and rapid transit monorail routes connecting the major metro centers.
The city of Burbank is truly a sterling model of modern urban convenience - at least it should be - according to the predictions of a 1959 time capsule recently unearthed.
The time capsule - planted fifty years ago - was rediscovered after having been forgotten by almost everyone, including city officials. Inside were 35mm photos of various city structures and landmarks, as well as a two-page report detailing what they expected life in Burbank to be like in the year 2009.
They were ambitious to say the least. They predicted vast interconnected buildings covering entire city blocks, separated by tree-lined freeways, rapid transit routes and parks. The center of an intra-regional vertical take-off (VTO) terminal was to be the Lockheed Control Center; sadly, Lockheed pulled out of Burbank in the 1990s.
Sending today's engineering students into bouts of laughter, the 1959 planners foresaw power lines being replaced by underground atomic power units that transmitted power via waves. Waves!
Speaking of waves, water was to be abundant enough to maintain the mountains as "year-round green recreation parks." Really, in SoCal?
Even if it was an implausible goal, it spoke to an optimistic mindset that the future could be better, brighter and a heck of a good time ("who wants to play my new game system that runs on nuclear wave energy?"). Though these sanguine predictions turned out to be nothing but dreams, they were dreams of an impressive scope.
But hey, how about a little optimism?
Southern California is home to a marvelous little city called Burbank. It's a charming place where most buildings are constructed out of plastic, and citizens enjoy ample amounts of cheap energy due to the underground atomic power units located in each section of the city. There is a 30-hour work week and rapid transit monorail routes connecting the major metro centers.
The city of Burbank is truly a sterling model of modern urban convenience - at least it should be - according to the predictions of a 1959 time capsule recently unearthed.
The time capsule - planted fifty years ago - was rediscovered after having been forgotten by almost everyone, including city officials. Inside were 35mm photos of various city structures and landmarks, as well as a two-page report detailing what they expected life in Burbank to be like in the year 2009.
They were ambitious to say the least. They predicted vast interconnected buildings covering entire city blocks, separated by tree-lined freeways, rapid transit routes and parks. The center of an intra-regional vertical take-off (VTO) terminal was to be the Lockheed Control Center; sadly, Lockheed pulled out of Burbank in the 1990s.
Sending today's engineering students into bouts of laughter, the 1959 planners foresaw power lines being replaced by underground atomic power units that transmitted power via waves. Waves!
Speaking of waves, water was to be abundant enough to maintain the mountains as "year-round green recreation parks." Really, in SoCal?
Even if it was an implausible goal, it spoke to an optimistic mindset that the future could be better, brighter and a heck of a good time ("who wants to play my new game system that runs on nuclear wave energy?"). Though these sanguine predictions turned out to be nothing but dreams, they were dreams of an impressive scope.
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