Connecting California

Am I in Heaven or Just Flying Out of Palm Springs?

The Sunsplashed Airport in the Desert Soars Above the Pack—Even in the Pandemic

If you’re heading to heaven, you really should fly out of Palm Springs.

I offer that line not as a jab at the advanced average age of the Coachella Valley’s retiree-heavy population. Rather, it’s a testament to the warmth and wonder I felt while waiting for a recent flight at Palm Springs International Airport.

Pandemic-era air travel in California is typically a miserable combination of unhappy passengers and unreliable service—except in Palm Springs. There, flying still feels like a miracle.

The airport is small, with fewer than two dozen gates, and easy to …

by Joe Mathews |

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More In: Connecting California

Let the People of California Solve the State’s Homelessness Crisis | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Let the People of California Solve the State’s Homelessness Crisis

A Citizens’ Assembly Could Unify People Around a Thorny Problem and Succeed Where Politicians Have Failed

by Joe Mathews |

Dear Governor Newsom,

You’ve made herculean efforts to address the complexities of California’s long-running homelessness crisis. So have other state, federal, and local officials around the Golden State.

But while you’ve all …

What If Everyday People Ran Los Angeles?

The Solution to America’s Representation Crisis Should Start in the County with the Nation’s Biggest Democratic Deficit

by Joe Mathews |

If the crisis in American democracy had a capital, it would be Los Angeles.

And if American democracy is going to be saved, that rescue needs to start in Southern California.

This …

Dear God, Why Does Gavin Newsom Keep Picking Up California’s Trash?

A Governor, in His Devotion to Clean Up, Has Located the Essence of His Job

by Joe Mathews |

Is he our governor or our garbage man?

Gavin Newsom combines those roles so routinely that the picking up of trash has become a defining image of California’s chief executive. He’s …

A History of California in Six Super Bowl Stadiums

The State and Its Football Fields Have Gotten Glitzier, Gaudier, More Exclusive, and More Disconnected

by Joe Mathews |

On February 13, the most watched event in America visits its birthplace, California.

Inglewood’s oversized, overpriced SoFi Stadium—the most expensive stadium ever built in the United States—is hosting Super Bowl LVI. …

Is Public Office the Best Place to Do Public Service?

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Is the Latest to Join an Exodus of Talented California Leaders in Search of Real Impact

by Joe Mathews |

If you want to serve the people of California, is public office the best place for you?

The question came up again as one of our most accomplished state legislators, Assemblymember …


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