Letters: Built by a Fault

By
The New York Times
Published: Dec 28, 2008

To the Editor: A point unmentioned in the lyrical description of Sea Ranch in “Utopia by the Sea” (Dec. 14) is that the community stands close to the northern end of the notoriously hyperactive San Andreas Fault and, more ominously, not too far away from the Mendocino Triple Junction, the geologically intriguing undersea location where the three tectonic plates — the North American, the Pacific and the Gorda — meet and grind against one other.

The resulting seismic activity in the area is, as in so many of the world’s most beautiful places, largely responsible for the stunning landscapes. But it should be remembered that when nature creates beauty, it often does so in ways quite careless of the fate of any humans who happen to live nearby. So, even in Utopia: Caveat emptor!

Simon Winchester New York

The writer is the author of “Crack in the Edge of the World: The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906” (HarperCollins, 2005).

To the Editor: The Travel section described Sea Ranch in Sonoma County as a utopia. If a utopia is a place that spoils scenic beauty, takes away miles of coastal access from the public to put it in the hands of the superrich and followed me by security vehicle to a trail that supposedly remained in public hands, then Sea Ranch may indeed be a utopia. Otherwise, the only good thing that came from Sea Ranch is the furor it caused that led to the creation of the California Coastal Commission.

Garret Christensen Emeryville, Calif.

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