I didn't see any indication in the previous 2 films that Hill Valley was in a desert. I get that they wanted to turn Part III into a Western and I don't have a problem with that it just seems we have a little plot hole here.
shareLarge parts of California are deserts. It is likely the only reason Hill Valley has greenery is that is was planted as the town grew.
shareA lot can happen in 100 years.
shareIt wasn’t a residential area
shareWhen Marty is walking into town in the first film in 1955 there are a lot of plants around. There was never any indication that Hill Valley was in a Desert until the 3rd film. I guess we can just chalk this up to a slight climate shift?
shareIn 3 it was 1855
shareI know that, but when Marty is walking to Hill Valley in 1955 in Part I there are no houses in sight aside from the Lyon Estates construction yet there is grass everywhere.
shareThere was a lot of water diversion going on in California as the population exploded in the early part of the 20th century. It's known as the "California Water Wars" and it was a huge plot point for the movie "Chinatown".
shareOK makes sense I'll go with it.
shareIt was a great question, I had to do some research for this one!
shareYeah that has always bothered me ever since I was a kid.
shareI was under the impression that as pop grew and technology developed people built water systems and water treatment/storage systems. And learned how to grow grass. Plus we only saw part of an area for the sake of the movie/time. It may be possible another area was really green.
shareSeemed to make sense---my dad worked as a geologist and dragged us around to lots of places w rocks so I really did not question it at the time.
shareExactly
shareBecause it’s supposed to be “the old west”. And a ton of old westerns were filmed in Monument Valley where it’s opening scenes filmed.
California was a desert because there was no trees to stop wind blowing dirt over crops. They brought in the Australian eyculyptus tree which could grow in that climate and it created wind barriers so they could start to farm and make the state greener.
When I was in LA I noticed these trees and said to some los angelinos that they were Australian and they didn't believe me. I learnt this history because I looked it up to prove my point.
It’s actually very realistic. California was mostly desert until almost the start of the 20th century. Humans like to completely alter landscapes so they can build towns and malls and things.
share