Acton Apart from Hawaii – Chapter 18

Although I sometimes wish it were, Acton is nothing like Hawaii.  The climate is very different.  Hawaii experiences its warmest temperatures in September and October, whereas Acton experiences its highs in July and August.  Hawaii gets a mass amount of income from the tourism that occurs there, where Acton is far from being a tourist stop.  The elevation levels of the mountains located in Hawaii far outreach and elevation levels in Acton.

If you think about it long and hard enough, you are able to distinguish some similarities between these two locations. One similarity between Acton and Hawaii is that they can both be linked to desert regions.  Acton is a desert region in California, and Hawaii possesses numerous vast desert regions as well.  Although Acton does not have a wide variety of ethic diversity like Hawaii does, the white population is the most prominent in both of these areas.  Another similarity is that Hawaii is known for their agricultural prominence.  Acton is also known as an agricultural town, although the agriculture here is on a much smaller scale.

Acton and the North Pacific Coast – Chapter 16

Acton is very different from the North Pacific Coast Region in most ways.  The climate in the this region is much colder and wetter than in Acton.  The average precipitation in Acton is a mere 16 inches on average, compared to the 75 inches that this region gets on average.  The rainfall in the North Pacific Coast allows for a lot of vegetation, moss, ferns, trees, etc.  Acton’s lack of rain has the opposite affect and creates a scarcity of vegetation.  The mountains of this region are also much different from Acton’s in that they are jagged with higher elevations.  The mountains in Acton are more rounded with little elevation changes.

Although in different ways, both Acton and the North Pacific Coast are isolated.  The North Pacific Coast is isolated, on a larger scale, from the rest of the United States.  Whereas Acton’s mountains isolate it from the surrounding cities and urbanization.  Another similarity is that this region is known for its agricultural production of grapes for wine.  Many of the local farmers of Acton have vineyards in which they sell off the grapes for the production of wine.

Acton CALIFORNIA – Chapter 15

Acton is located in the California Region of the United States.  Therefore, it is easy to make correlations between Acton and the region.  Since Acton is located in the Los Angeles County, it is part of the area known for earthquakes.  Acton is located near the San Andreas fault and therefore it is not uncommon for earthquakes to occur hear.  Luckily, however, it has been about 6 years since there as been a substantial earthquake in the area.  California is also known for its mountains and valleys.  As stated in prior Chapters, Acton is located in a small alluvial valley between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains.  Therefore the topography common in the region, is found in Acton as well.  California has a wide variety of agricultural products that are grown locally.  Acton is known for its grapes, peaches, and plums; all of which are prominent produce grown in California.

California’s climate various throughout the state.  Acton is part of the desert climate and experiences little precipitation and is known for its hot dry summers.  The Santa Ana winds are prominent in the area and are found blowing from late October through April.  Unfortunately since Acton is such a dry area, it generally experiences devastating fires almost annually.

Although Acton is located in the California Region, it still has differences from the majority of the region.  For example, California has the highest urbanization rate in the United States, Acton is not one of the urbanized regions.  Acton is still a small rural town, and will likely continue to maintain its rural status for many years to come.  California is also known for its ethnic and cultural diversity, however, Acton is different, in that about 87% of the population is of white.  Acton is also located far enough away from any major cities, that it is able to escape the smog, which is a nice feature.

We’ve Arrived – Chapter 14

Welcome to the true region of Acton, the Southwest Border Area!  Since it is the region of Acton there are obviously many similarities.  As stated by Chapter 14 Acton is definitely a tri-cultural area made up of : mostly whites, with a noticeable amount of Spanish and Latino residents, as well as a few Native Americans.   Acton is affected by immigration as well, both legal and illegal.  The majority of these immigrants make their way from Mexico to provide a better life for their families.  Acton is also home to many retirees.  Often times, those who grow up here, retire here as well.  It is likely the tight-knit community and close proxemics to other major cities and attractions that attracts people to this town.  Acton, as a part of the Southwest border area, has been blessed with endless sunshine, and an arid climate.  The summers are warm, and the winters are mild.  Overall, Acton is a great place to live and its tri-cultural heritage is very present and seen throughout the town.

Almost There – Chapter 13

As we reach the Empty Interior, we are getting closer to the small rural town of Acton.  Just as there are in this Empty Interior, there are dramatic elevation changes between Acton and its surrounding areas.  The elevation of the surrounding towns is around 1,000 ft. Whereas the elevation in Acton ranges between 2,500 ft. and 5,000 ft.  Although there are no plateaus or basins, there are some other similarities to this empty interior.  There are very similar traits between the Garden of the Gods, and Vasquez Rocks National Park, as can be seen in the picture from a previous post.  The climate in the two areas is extremely similar as well.  The summers in Acton are very arid just as in the empty interior.  This could also contribute to the similar desert environment.  Also, just as there is in the empty interior, there is a huge presence of the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Acton.  About 50% of Day Saints make up approximately   Also, mining plays a vital role in the establishment of these areas as well.

Acton Related to the Great Plains and Prairies – Chapter 12

In the early 1800s felt that the great plains and prairies would be unfit for habitation.  Many thought the same of Acton after all the mines and been excavated and after a lack of oil was discovered.  However, just like the plains and prairies, residents of the town found other ways to thrive off the land.  The grasses found in Acton are similar to those found in the west of the great plains and prairies, short and sparse.  The lack of rainfall in Acton doesn’t all for much extra vegetation.  Wind is also a big factor in both of these areas.  Acton is strongly affected by the strong dry Santa Ana winds, often times residents in Acton will use personal windmills to produce electricity, just as they do in the great plains and prairies.  Luckily Acton is fortunate enough to escape tornados and blizzards along with other extreme weather activities.  Those who use the land for agricultural purposes are also forced to drill deep wells in order to feed the necessity for water.  Acton is not fortunate to have a public or city water system therefore, just as in the great plains and prairies, they rely on personal wells for water.  As can be seen, there are many connections between the great plains and prairies and Acton.

An Picture of a Personal Windmill Often Found in Acton

Acton, A Small Agricultural Core – Chapter 11

Although located nowhere near it, AActon is very similar to America’s agricultural core in many ways.  Just like the agricultural core, Acton is rural and comprised of many farms.  Although the farms are relatively small compared to those in the agricultural core, the correlation still exists.  In the agricultural core, the the number of farms decreased as the size of the farms increased.  Acton is opposite in that farm size has started to decline while the number of farms have increased.  As a rural community, Acton is extremely resistant to change, and the residents of the town want the town to remain rural and not be influenced by the greater urban areas that surround it.  This quality can also be related the agricultural core region.  The amount of livestock is also very high in both the agricultural core and in Acton.

Although there are many similarities, there are also some differences between Acton and the agricultural core.  In the agricultural core, the majority of the rainfall occurs from April to November.  Whereas in Acton, the majority of rainfall is almost directly opposite, falling from October to April.  Also there are also very few mountains in the agricultural core, and instead they posses few rolling hills.  However, the Acton community is surrounded by hundreds of mountains.

Overall, Acton has many similarities and differences with the agricultural core, and these similarities and differences can be easily targeted.

An Acton Fire Puts a Small Farm at Risk

Acton and the Southern Coastlands – Chapter 10

Acton is far from being anything like the southern coastlands.  The southern coastlands are known for their humid subtropical climate.  However, Acton is completley opposite, and instead dry and arid.  The climate in the southern coastlands allows for a long growing season.  Unfortunately the short winters and lack of rainfall combined with poor soil are detrimental to the growing season in Acton.  Fortunately enough, Acton is not forced to deal with the severe hurricanes that often impact this southern region.  There is also a lack of industrial growth unlike the coastlands.

However, Acton also has some things in common with these southern coastlands.  For instance, the southern coastlands are made up of many retirees.  Acton is often known as a retirment town.  Many people retire to Acton because it is a calm, quiet, relaxed place to live.  Also Acton is within driving distance to the very touristic greater LOS ANGELES area.  We often get tourists in Acton that visit Shambala, a popular wildlife park, as well as Vasquez Rocks County Park.

Vasquez Rocks - Acton's Tourist Attraction

Southern Hospitality – Chapter 9

There are aspects of the changing south that can be compared to Acton, however there are many contrasting aspects as well.  Acton is very similar to the changing south in the area of geographical advantages.  Acton has long, hot summers, fairly mild winters, and a an average amount of rainfall just like the changing south.  And just like many areas in the south, Acton has remained rural.  Because of this our churches are very similar as well.  The churches in Acton remain very small and rural.  The south also had to deal with the deficit of jobs in the small towns.  This is an issue that the residents of Acton have to deal with everyday.  There are very few jobs available in Acton, and those that are available are generally minimum wage earning jobs.  Therefore, most people are forced to commute in order to find ample work. This is different from the south because they make up for the lack of available jobs in agriculture.  However, there soil in Acton does not allow for the agricultural dependence that the south has.  Also different from the south is the African American population.  Only 3% of Acton’s residents are African-American as opposed to some areas in the south where up to 86% of the population is made up of African Americans.  Because Acton was settled after slavery was abolished, slavery was never an issue here.

Acton & Appalachia – Chapter 8

The San Gabriel Mountains - Picture from GeoMaps.Gov

Although not nearly as powerful as the Appalachians, Acton is bordered by two Mountain ranges, the San Gabriel Mountains and the Sierra Pelona Mountains.  Unlike the the mountains in the Appalachia area, the mountains in Acton were not a hinderance to any form of expansion.  However, there is quite a difference in elevation from Acton to the surrounding valley areas.  Just like the Appalachian Mountains, there are not many routes or pathways through Acton.  There is one main freeway that people use to get through the mountain area, but traffic is normally light regardless of the lack of transportation routes. Unlike Appalachia there is very little agriculture as discussed in some of the previous posts.  There is also no sign of coal in Acton, even after the many years of mining that took place here.