Northern California

A Letter From Napa Valley, Where Love Burns Hotter Than Fire

A Writer Reflects on Fleeing Northern California’s Glass Fire, the Written History She Lost to the Blaze, and the Relationships That Sustain Her

A Letter From Napa Valley, Where Love Burns Hotter Than Fire | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

I nearly died last week, which is how I realized: All of my stories are about love.

It was about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27, and my husband Tom and I were asleep. My nose twitched and I thought, How odd to smell something burning. I assumed I was dreaming and kept my eyes closed.

Then I heard the wind through the open bedroom window: Whooooooosh, whoooooosh, whoooooosh!

I immediately opened my eyes—a burning scent and a boisterous wind do not a good combination make. I looked out the …

by Eileen R. Tabios |

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If You Can’t Beat the Bay Area, Join It

Solving Northern California’s Toughest Problems Requires a New Megaregion, from San Francisco and Tahoe to the San Joaquin and Salinas Valleys

by Joe Mathews |

Welcome to the Bay Area, Merced!

Further north, welcome as well to Modesto, Sacramento, Placerville, and Yuba City. And, to the south, you’re invited, too, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and …

All Aboard, Bay Area, on Your Fast Train to Wasco

This Kern County Town, a Conduit for High-Speed Rail, Has a Lot to Offer

By Joe Mathews |

Dear Bay Area,

Welcome to Wasco.

You may never have heard of this small city of 25,000 in the San Joaquin Valley. You probably can’t pronounce it (it’s WAW-skoh).

But you and …

I, Bigfoot, Am One Frightened Californian

Sasquatch Used to Instill a Healthy Fear of the Wild, Now He’s Crowded out of His Favorite California Haunts

By Bigfoot (as told by Joe Mathews) |

I’m so famous for keeping a low profile that some people doubt my existence. So I’m here to tell my fellow Californians that I’m proudly one of you.

I travel …

How California Can Teach Itself About Water

The Wet, Wasteful North and the Dry, Conserving South Must Share Perspectives, and Plans

by Chris Austin |

In California, we owe the existence of our communities to the willingness of previous generations to rearrange our natural assets. Billions of dollars have been spent rerouting rivers to channel …

To Remember JFK, Let Them Come to Whiskeytown

In the North State, Kennedy's Last Appearance In California—at a Dam—Is Being Commemorated

by Joe Mathews |

It’s a little-known event in a little-known part of California’s far north. But at dawn this Saturday, people from Redding and nearby places will gather at Whiskeytown Lake and stand …


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