Even beachfront property has its downsides. When residents of Long Beach, that concrete-and-condo stepchild of the SoCal sun scene, looked out toward the horizon back in '65, they couldn't help but notice a few metal islands peaking from the glass surface of that toxic ocean. Those oil-drilling platforms, thoughtfully named after our ill-fated Apollo-astro heroes, sat pumping quietly as a pacemaker but were, unfortunately for beachcombers and deco-hut inhabitants, ugly... More >>>