"Palos Verdes is the site of the Ocean Trails Golf Course, which hit the national headlines seven years ago because a landslide knocked much of the 18th hole into the Pacific. The Donald snapped it up in 2002 and had his first run-in with the local residents when he announced that he wanted to convert it into a hotel resort area.
He then irritated them no end by changing the name to the Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles. Not only did residents object to their beautiful hilltop neighbourhood becoming a vanity project for a New York property developer, they were furious that he would dare associate them so directly with Los Angeles.
True, Palos Verdes is in Los Angeles county and is no more than a few miles from the LA city limits at any given point. But it is also a secluded peninsula on the southern tip of Santa Monica Bay, which prides itself on its idiosyncracy. The term "Los Angeles", in among the rolling hills and multi-million-dollar homes, denotes nothing but smog, dereliction and unpleasantness.
Now, though, comes the final straw. Mr Trump wants to change the name of the approach road to the golf course, currently Ocean Trails Drive, to Trump National Drive. From his point of view, it's all about brand awareness and marketing. To the denizens of Palos Verdes, it is the ultimate insufferable show of vanity, and they are refusing to stand for it."
You won't get this kind of petty localist objectionalism from our First Minister. But with a bit of luck the residents and councillors in Aberdeenshire might prove more resistant.
No comments:
Post a Comment