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The Hidden Airport Crisis in SoCal: How One Airport Closure Is Creating Major Problems
For the last several years, a crisis has been quietly brewing in airports across Southern California, and to an extent, the rest of California: the closure of airports and reduction of services. Given how hard it is to open an airport, the loss of any airport feels especially permanent, more so in Southern California than anywhere else. (californiaglobe.com) さらに...
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I agree with you entirely Torsten, people build houses near airports, knowing that it will be noisy, then they complain it is too noisy. Also, as you say the planes today are a lot quieter than we they set up the noise abatement procedures/overnight curfews!
They bought houses near the airport, with the appropriate disclosure and discount factored in, and then complained that the airport was hurting their property values. (insert descriptive foul language here).
Many years ago I was flying out of SNA and my seatmate was a 747 captain deadheading to DEN. We talked about the airport’s noise abatement and the throttle back going over Newport Beach. She laughed and said “You know who lives down there? A lot of airline personnel.” She was one of them.
This seems a common theme around the country. I've seen it attempted in Atlanta with KPDK and Florida with KSUA. People will intentionally buy property that is undervalued because of its proximity to an airport, then lobby hard to have the airport closed so that their property values will get a large jump and they can flip them. They use the whole class warfare idea (this airport only exists for the 1% and us poor upper middle class need the government to save us). I wonder if something similar was happening with KCGX.
Yep, it's a dirty trick that's been going on for years, near airports, race circuits, etc.
The NIMBYs are well able to appeal to the greedy instincts.
The NIMBYs are well able to appeal to the greedy instincts.
Santa Monica used to be the home of Donald Douglas Aircraft Corporation, and thousands of DC-3s and other planes were produced there. Those big radials were far louder than today's jets.
But people started building and buying homes near the airport, including on the land that became available when aircraft production ended in Santa Monica, and then were shocked to be exposed to aircraft noise. Their first step was to rid themselves of aircraft they found to be too loud by banning specific models including the DC-3, but the long-term goal has always been to close the airport entirely. The fact that this will also greatly increase the value of their homes is surely no accident.
Besides banning aircraft by type and shortening the runway, other steps that the city has undertaken to make the airport more expensive and thus less attractive to GA was to increase landing fees, eliminate hangars, and eliminate the majority of the open-air parking. Fewer opportunities to keep an aircraft parked at KSMO meant higher rent for the remaining spaces, and fewer aircraft. And what have the geniuses from the city done with the fenced-off space that was previously used for GA parking? Nothing. It's collecting dust and growing weeds.
Full disclosure: I live about a mile from the end of RWY 21.