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Comment by jermaustin1 | Hacker News Reader

A "public park" is simply owned by a public entity, it does not mean you get unlimited unrestricted access to it. If the city/county/state/fed decided to wall it off and not allow anyone in it, it would be their prerogative.

If I (a private individual/entity) owned a 60 acre flatland park, and one day decided not to allow people on my land, is that not my right as land owner?

If we allow a person to own the beach, then it is their property to disallow trespassers.

The better question would be why do we allow ownership of a beach.

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> The better question would be why do we allow ownership of a beach.

Because people really want beaches, but aren't willing to pay taxes to buy back what is now private property. Fifth amendment says the gov't must pay for private property, and the California law is arguably un-constitutional. Just buy a path under eminent domain; problem solved. Honestly, this seems like an expression of resentment against a rich guy as much as anything, as evinced by others proposing to take boats to the beach and bang on drums.

>The better question would be why do we allow ownership of a beach.

Devil's advocate: why do we place such a high value on a "beach" vs any other kind of land? Is there something extra precious about where the water meets the land?

There's a lot less of it than non beach front land for one.

It also has pretty universal recreational purposes. People love to go to beaches and swim, sunbathe, picnic, surf, play volleyball, etc. I'm surprised it's utility is even being questioned, this is a very strong cultural norm.

You can sunbathe, picnic, and play volleyball on any other land. Surfing is relatively new, and swimming isn't unique to oceans.

>I'm surprised it's utility is even being questioned, this is a very strong cultural norm.

In a world where even the most fundamental cultural norms are being questioned and upended, you're surprised that someone asks why a beach is so much more important than other land?

Yes there is. Just look at the average property values of beach front property, riverfront property etc... There are other "special" types of land as well with additional value that governments have decided to regulate differently.

The answer is “tradition”. Shore access has been important to human civilization since before recorded history. Wars have been fought over shore access.

Not shoreline specifically, but commercially-viable shoreline. Ports, harbors, rivers, etc; places where you can move people and things to other places. Generic stretch of beach is not such a place.

I acknowledge that it is valued differently, I'm asking why we collectively do it.

Access to navigable waterways has always been immensely valuable to humans. It's much easier to trade, travel, and transport.

Have you heard of anyone who has been unable to trade, travel, or transport because he could not use Vinod Khosla's beach as a loading dock, port, and harbor? Waterways have ports which are often publicly-owned or operated for commercial use.

People like it, that's supply and demand in effect.

Because beaches are nice.

Same reason we value ice cream over poop.

> Is there something extra precious about where the water meets the land?

Absolutely. Maybe not tangibly precious, but anyone whose ever stood on a beach and looked out over the ocean knows that there's definitely something special about it.

Is this not also true of many mountaintops, waterfalls, and canyons? Yet we allow private ownership of those.

There's a theory that we're hardwired to be drawn to shoreline, as accessing the resources of tidal zones would have been a definite competitive advantage for our ancestors.

Our natural obsession with tracking the moon also plays into this, as a way of predicting when tidal conditions are best to forage/fish/etc.

It's analogous to the theory where marathon hunting contributed to our physical endurance, brain power and predictive abilities, upright running, sweating, etc.

Both theories attempt to explain the general sense of pleasure we get from visiting the beach and long distance running, respectively.

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