Forget north vs. south – five Californias on this list
Metaphysically, if not physically, California has often been depicted as two distinct states – even sparking periodic efforts to divide it officially.
For many years, it was Northern California vs. Southern California. More recently, demographers, geographers and political pundits have seen it as coastal California vs. inland California.
To researchers Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis, however, there are five distinct Californias that are defined more by quality of life than geography. Their "A Portrait of California" covers virtually every corner of the state, applying a 10-point scale of personal well-being.
Its five distinct clusters range from "Silicon Valley Shangri-La," which scores an almost perfect 9.35 on the three indices for just 1 percent of the state's population, to the "Forgotten Five Percent" of residents in inner city Los Angeles and small farm towns at 2.59.
In between are the "Metro-Coastal Enclave" (18 percent of Californians) at 7.92, "Main Street California" (38 percent) at 5.91 and "Struggling California" (38 percent) at 4.17.
The report will be unveiled today at noon in Sacramento at the California State Association of Counties conference center at 11th Street and K Street Mall. The event is open to the public.
– Dan Walters
BILL WATCH
On a 33-1 vote, the Senate approved a bill Monday to require state parks officials to seek alternative funding sources before closing a park. The state Department of Parks and Recreation on Friday announced the pending closure of 70 parks. Senate Bill 386 would require the department to post each closure on its website and solicit offers for taking over the park.
WORTH REPEATING
"I'm giving you the blueprint. Now the other architects will start to screw it up."
GOV. JERRY BROWN, on his revised budget proposal
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