California Roadmaps

For most of its history, the constant for California has been change. In many ways, the state has been a laboratory for the rest of the nation, grappling with evolving demographics, birthing new ideas and industries and testing its power as the world’s fifth-largest economy. Two of the best thinkers about the state of California are Manuel Pastor, a sociology professor at USC, and Narda Zacchino, a former editor at the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle who is now a fellow at the USC Annenberg Center. Each has recently written a book about where California currently stands and where it’s going. Alta asked them to review and comment on each other’s work.

Narda Zacchino chronicles California’s comeback under Gov. Jerry Brown

By MANUEL PASTOR

The United States seems to have rediscovered its fascination with California. Long viewed as a sort