California is at a crossroads. For decades a global leader, inspiring the hopes and dreams of millions, the state has recently faced double-digit unemployment, multi-billion dollar budget deficits and the loss of trillions in home values. This atlas brings together the latest research and statistics in a graphic form that gives shape and meaning to these numbers. It shows a new California in the making, as it maps the economic, social, and political trends of a state struggling to maintain its leadership and to continue to offer its citizens the promise of prosperity. Among the world’s largest economies, California is the nation’s agricultural powerhouse, high tech crucible and leader in renewable energy. The state is the most populous and most diverse state in the continental U.S. Yet its infrastructure is coming under increasing pressure. Water supply systems are strained, the legendary highways are over capacity, and the celebrated system of public schooling is unable to offer affordable quality education at all levels. Health and welfare services, particularly for the poor, needy, disabled, and seniors, are at great risk. This indispensable resource gives readers the tools they need to understand the transformation as California attempts to forge a new identity in the midst of unprecedented challenges. Richard Walker is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of many books, including The Conquest of Bread and The Country in the City. Suresh K. Lodha is Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz and coauthor of The Atlas of Global Inequalities. The Atlas of California Mapping the Challenges of a New Era By Richard A. Walker, Suresh K. Lodha, Jannet King UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Copyright © 2013 Myriad Editions Limited All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-520-27202-6 Contents Introduction, 9, Acknowledgments, 15, Photo Credits, 15, Chapter One Land & People, 16, Chapter Two Politics, Governance, & Power, 30, Chapter Three Economy & Industry, 42, Chapter Four Urban Areas, 54, Chapter Five Water & Energy, 66, Chapter Six Environment, 78, Chapter Seven Health & Education, 88, Chapter Eight Inequality & Social Divides, 100, Chapter Nine Challenges Ahead: A Glimpse into the Future, 112, Chapter Ten Data Challenges, 116, Definition of Key Terms, 118, Sources, 120, Index, 126, CHAPTER 1 Land & People California enjoys the most distinctive and varied landscape in North America. It boasts high peaks and sunken valleys, live volcanoes and earthquake faults, rolling hills and lava beds, white water and level plains. Its climate is even rarer, falling between rainy northwest and arid southwest, with a Mediterranean balancing act in between. Coastal fog and alpine snow frame the scene. But nothing prepares the visitor for the astounding array of microclimates and regions, nor for the fantastic biodiversity nestled into the innumerable corners of the state. California's unique landscape is the stage on which its rich history has played out, leading to claims of three, four or a dozen different Californias divided by mountain ranges, ocean vistas, and water politics. Without a doubt, the wealth of nature has benefitted Californians economically, but it has equally touched their hearts, making this the world center of environmentalism for over a century. Millions of people have been drawn to California since the Gold Rush, creating a state of permanent migration, both domestic and international. It remains an unsettled place in many ways, a mixing pot that never quite melds. Yet it has been a continual source of wonderment for the diversity of its people and the way they have carved out a way of life — and degree of tolerance and optimism — at odds with so much of the world. Not to be forgotten, however, is the dark side of this collision of peoples from many continents: a dissonant history of racism, repression, and annihilation of the native people. The lure of California has had many names: the California Dream, the Golden State, the Land of Sunshine. No doubt a favorable climate and hopes for the future have led people to our shores, but the foundations of the state's allure are mostly practical: a thriving economy, lots of jobs, an open society, reuniting families torn asunder, and more. Once here, it is the people, their wits and their labor, who have built the California dreamworks. Few, however, wish to remember the failures and defeats, or simply the bent backs and unrewarded drudgery that mar the gilded image. California stands at a threshold today. The golden economy has lost some of its luster, inequality is growing, and the state is finding it hard to provide for the new Californians of this generation, the new majority of people of color. What we and they choose to do about it will tell if the Dream stays alive. Land & Nature California is so distinct in topography, cli