Letter to the Editor:
In the inglorious name of “Modern Development”, between 1955 and 1975 about 24% of Paris was demolished and rebuilt. Because of the passage and recent signing of SB 79, it seems that a similar fate awaits presently housed Burbankers!
As California Policy Center writers Marc Joffe and Athan Joshi state in their 8 October 2025 essay “California’s Transit Industrial Complex is Monetizing Mobility”. In effect, SB 79 permits Sacramento to have almost the coercing power of that sci-fi film about SKYNET. There is no terminus of Sacramento’s corrosive politicized planning influence, however. It is presently confined to the State of California ground, unequipped yet with omniscient Earth satellites.
Since laws in California are hardly ever repealed, Burbankers must quickly find ways and means to sabotage the aims and workings of our State’s new Transit Industrial Complex. METRO’s BRT ought to be refused by Burbank’s City Council. If Burbankers shrug this vital task off, then they will be deserving of the emplacement of developer-selected building styles and functions!
Imagine: what if developer-dominated future Burbank City Councils decide, all in the name of a Green Campaign effort for urban albedo management, to seasonally repaint ALL of Burbank: like Vanta Black in the cool season and Super-white in the hot season?
It is not unreasonable to envision a coming time during mid-21st Century when some cinematographer with the insight of Jacques Tati creates a comedy video of then redeveloped Burbank, perhaps titled “Temps de jeu”.
Richard B. Cathcart
Burbank
