Steve Erie, a political science professor at University of California, San Diego, and a graduate student authored an opinion piece in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. In it, Erie looks at the future of Southern California airports.
He says November’s failed Miramar airport initiative has broader implications.
More recently, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority completed a site study for a new airport to replace severely overtaxed Lindbergh Field. Rather than evaluate modest alternatives that would supplement existing facilities, officials focused on winning voter approval for a major two-runway international airport. The results were predictable. With no suitable civilian sites available, San Diego airport officials selected Marine Corps Air Station Miramar as the site of the new airport and put the idea on the November 2006 ballot. The proposal, which angered both the military and communities nearby, was soundly defeated by San Diego voters.
For better or worse, it is unlikely that a major new airport will be built in Southern California again.