It seems as if most people would be able to understand that golf courses take a lot of water to keep the grass perfectly green.

But does anyone ever wonder, at least in Southern California, why our desert/Mediterranean landscapes are degraded and built over by contractors from who-knows-where?

I think it's funny how the natural landscapes are intercut with roads that are so-called "shortcuts." But then the shortcuts are intercut with other "shortcuts" and then the result is a stoplight every 20 feet. (Stop lights that, by the way, only stay green long enough to let one car go through.) Medians on the roads are created and planted with beautiul, tall mixes of trees and plants. Trees that sometimes look like they don't belong. Trees that look forest-y. Trees that are brought in from somewhere else to replace the trees that were just cut down.

Nature is demolished, and in turn, to compensate for the fact that buildings are built over the land, landscapers are hired to plant plants around the buildings. Plants that are too manicured-looking. Plants that don't go with the landscape. Plants that might not be drought-resistant.

Why does every city in SoCal let developers come in and completely degrade nature?? Places where I took child-hood and teen walks are no more. 

It is quite sad how SoCal is a concrete jungle.