When the first forty-niners began to trickle into California in search of gold, the Central Valley was a fertile expanse of grasslands and marshes home to thousands of deer, tule elk, and grizzly bears — an American Serengeti. Within a century, the region radically transformed into a cornucopia of industrial agriculture to feed the state’s […]
Tag: central valley
Avoiding Traffic at All Costs: Is The Bullet Train Worth It?
Imagine this — you arrive in Los Angeles from San Francisco in a mere three-hour train ride to hang out on the beach with your friends. No painful six-hour drive or delayed flights, but rather, a trip that gets you to your destination as painless and quick as possible. The thought of having a train […]
The Decrease of Psychiatrists in California: Another Battle for Mental Health
On average, 1 in 20 adults in California suffers from a serious mental illness that severely affects the way they go about their daily activities. That staggering statistic, although shocking, should not be surprising. College campuses are constantly reminding students of the importance in seeking medical attention in high-stress environments, and as early as elementary […]
Fresno’s Future Fulton
The large open space scattered with couches and tapestries, filled with lush green plants hanging from the ceilings, would almost make you forget that you were on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. You walk throughout this new store and admire the vintage clothing, the handmade crafts, and the organic coffee and think to yourself, “Hey, […]
Prison Valley: Why Rural Californians Want Correctional Facilities
To many of California’s economically struggling and politically isolated rural residents, prisons are welcome additions to their communities. Former New York Corrections Commissioner Thomas Coughlin claimed, “Prisons are… the anchor of development,” in a 1990 Newsweek interview. “People [in the Valley] for a very long time have felt a sense that we don’t matter,” argued James Gallagher, […]
California’s Prolonged Drought And Its Effects On Economic Inequality: A Case Study On East Porterville
Though California’s recent El Nino weather pattern has lessened the severity of the drought and quelled concerns about its effects, water rights are still highly correlated with economic inequality, especially in an agriculture-heavy Central Valley. Many policy actions fail to address or include inequality, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s [D-CA] California Drought Relief Act of 2015, […]