Magnetic Los Angeles

Hise has written a fascinating history of L.A. and the thought process behind its developments. He deflates the myth that this megalopolis grew without rhyme or reason.

This fresh look at Los Angeles is clearly framed as a study whose subject has national implications... Magnetic Los Angeles is the first authoritative study we have on how the professionalization of planning... affected practice, on how the idea of decentralization became a major force in shaping the environment, and on the intricate details of the process of community building... Hise underscores how rich a yield studying Los Angeles can bring.

Hise postulates a thesis that is as revolutionary as it is straightforward... Hise's narrative is well written and clearly structured, as he nimbly guides the reader through various informational thickets... Magnetic Los Angeles is bound to initiate a whole new direction in planning research.

This is an important book and should be read by anyone interested in the history of the city, the homebuilding industry, and the twentieth-century western landscape.

Hise's synthetic perspective is state-of-the-art: he breaks important new ground in the analysis of metropolitan structure... [and] affords us an alternative view of postwar urbanization, one that can easily be translated to other urban settings.