Casey Cooper's Page 

The Roving Graduate Doing what I like best: seeking old roads. Welcome to my home page. I graduated from UC San Diego, with a double major in History and Urban Studies and Planning. I am currently working for the City of Newport Beach as a License Inspector, although most of what I do is actually computer and database related work. I did not ever think I would take such a job and in fact, I had previously worked  for the City's Planning Department as a student aide in the hopes of becoming a planner. During this time I created a commercial sign inventory for the Balboa Peninsula as a part of the revitalization program for the peninsula. I also started the City's Building Department's Home Page. I'm also trying my hand at creating a web site for other organizations and you can see my work on the  California Municipal Business Tax Association's site. My cat Cyrano While I have many interests and hobbies, including my discovery of power tools, much of my attention has been given to my interest in highways, especially historical ones. Toward this end I'm working on expanding my Historic California US Highways site, which has attracted considerable attention. I also maintain a Roads and Highways page, a gateway to other road related pages I have created, including a treatise on Interstate 238 (quoted as being a "BBC-like documentary), and information about Highway 56 near San Diego.

Links to my other pages

I started authoring web pages in September, 1995 and at that time my web site was only one page! Well, not anymore. Have a look at what I have added over the past few years.

Historic California US Highways  This page is my pride and joy. Eventually, I plan to have a travelogue and photographs for each of the 18 US Highways that have existed or still exist in California. A little caveat: this page is a far bigger proposition to create that I had ever thought, so please don't mind any gaps which will inevitably appear.

Roads and Highways Page  I have set up this page to further express my interest in roads, at least outside of US highways. The contents (so far) are listed below:

California Highways  In addition to US highways, I've found many other highways in California that interest me including old state routes, Orange County's toll roads, and San Diego area freeways, just to name a few.

Highway 56  Highway 56 is a California State Highway which is to the north of San Diego. When (and if) it is completed, it will form part of the outer freeway loop for San Diego and vicinity. When time permits, I'll add more material.

"Indigestion" 238  I've written this page to offer a different take on the whole I-238 issue. Basically, this page responds to the question posed by Zzyzx which is, "What where they thinking?" While it probably won't change anyone's convictions about this highway, I hope it at least offers insight as to how this was allowed to happen.

Road and Highway Links  I've included this page for mostly historical reasons since I've found it impossible to keep up with all the great highways pages that have cropped up. I have included many links on this page which I hope will become a useful resource for others like myself who seek information about roads on the Web.

Personal Information  Finally, I know all of you are dying to meet the man, the myth, the legend behind this page. Well, here's your opportunity!

Resume  I've also decided to add elements of my professional life to this page, as well.

Friends' Pages

Here are some of my friends who have Web pages.

• Christian Cooper. As you may guess, he's my brother. He has graduated from USC with a duel degree in International Relations and in Spanish. He now works for the Latin Grammys after working for Univision and previously, Marketplace and on their Savvy Traveler Page. While I have stayed in the United States, he spent six months in Europe where he studied in Seville and traveled the Continent in the Bohemian tradition. Christian's work at Marketplace seems to have inspired him since after a year of being overlooked, he has finally started to modify his page, with the biggest improvement being the replacement of his picture. He has put a lot of pictures on his web page chronicling his travels. Interesting stuff.

• Michael Mahan. Mike is a web page designer and computer expert. We have been friends for over a decade now, ever since we were in Boy Scouts together. I've learned most of what I know about computers from him and he's piqued my interest in a lot of things including the TV series Babylon 5. He graduated from the University of San Diego in 1995 with a B.S./B.A. in Electrical Engineering. His web site (aka: Mike's Jump Gate) is a veritable cornucopia of links, with subjects ranging from NASA to movies and everything between.

• Ryan Jolley. Ryan is another longtime friend - we've known each other since 4^th grade! Ryan completed his MBA degree at Cal State Fullerton in October 2000. He did this while working full time at his current job at PacifiCare. He did his undergraduate work at UC Santa Barbara where he earned a B.S. in Statistics from in the unheard of (and almost unreal) time of three years, having done so in 1994.

• Mike Ballard I never thought it would happen - I met someone with the exact same interest in roads that I have. Mike has created his now famous "Virtual Tours" of US 6, US 99, and the Ridge Route. These pages are part of his Santa Clarita Resources web site. He has really put a lot of useful information on this site, including local geology and interesting history about the Santa Clarita Valley.

• Andrew Field Like Mike Ballard, Andy is someone else who shares my interest in highways. Actually, I've found out that we share a lot of other interests as well, including the fact we both work for local government. He works for City of San Diego. His site has some of the best links to roads sites I have seen and he has compiled a ton of interesting road related information on it.

• Joel Windmiller a.k.a. "The Highwayman." You may see a trend here - Joel also loves highways. His focus is naturally on Central California highways since he a native of the region who currently lives in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento. On November 12, 2000 he completed his 35 year old goal of traveling on every state, interstate, and US highway in California. Congratulations on this achievement!