California: Golden State Is Thriving, Despite Its Woes

I appreciated the following quotation for its funniness and truth:

There are real differences between (crunchy, techy) Northern and (hipster, surfer) Southern California, and especially (richer, denser, bluer) coastal and (poorer, sparser, redder) inland California. But one generalization has held true from the Gold Rush to the human-potential movement to the dotcom boom: California stands for change, for disruption of the status quo. “California is not another American state,” concluded Carey McWilliams in his 1949 history California: The Great Exception. “It is a revolution within the states.”

This is pretty cool:

When it comes to energy, California is not just ahead of the game; it’s playing a different game. Its carbon emissions per capita are less than half the U.S. average.

This is very uncool:

Its expensive housing, even after the real estate crash, poses a real obstacle to the dream of upward mobility. So do its public schools and other public services, which have been deteriorating for years — in part because older white voters have been reluctant to subsidize younger minorities.