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<\/a><\/p>\nA new study from UC Santa Cruz found wealthier Californians have more access to the state’s beaches, even though the coastline is public property.<\/p>\n
The California Coastal Act is now 50 years old. When Governor Jerry Brown signed the law on Sept. 24, 1976, the goal was to guarantee public access to just about all 840 miles of the coastline. Five decades later, a team of marine and social scientists at UC Santa Cruz looked into whether it’s met that goal, and they published their findings in the journal Nature Communications. <\/p>\n
Dr. Timothy Frawley, a project scientist at UC Santa Cruz and one of the study’s authors, said they set out to find out how often people go to California beaches, how often they’d like to go, what they do at the coast, and barriers that get in the way.<\/p>\n
Some of the barriers are physical, like areas where beach access is gated or fenced off. Other barriers for lower-income residents are less obvious, like finding affordable transportation to the beach. <\/p>\n
“These coastal zones are wealthier, more white than the rest of the state. We call it the coastal curtain,” Frawley said during a live interview on California Tonight. He noted that in past decades the coast was home to more maritime industries, commercial fishing, and other middle-class work. “Property values have skyrocketed. Some of the more traditional communities have been pushed out.”<\/p>\n
One researcher cited in the study found some people, who live 20 minutes from the coast by car in Watsonville, have never been to the beach. Some simply didn’t picture the coast as a place where they belonged, or they didn’t know how to get there.<\/p>\n
The research team looked at what people miss out on if they don’t have equal access. This included recreational, economic, and emotional benefits of spending time near the ocean. <\/p>\n
“Things like connection, kinship, spirituality, mental health, all of these less tangible benefits that really do have a huge impact on well being and public health are associated with spending time at the ocean and coastal areas.”<\/p>\n
The study proposed ideas to improve access for lower-income Californians, including better transit options, infrastructure, outreach, and even signage to make the coastline more accessible to all. It also suggest giving local communities more control over these and other planning decisions.<\/p>\n
Dr. Frawley emphasized the importance of addressing these disparities to ensure that all Californians can enjoy the benefits of spending time at the beach.<\/p>\n