California Dream

The California Dream is a global brand. For more than a century the state has been a magnet for migrants from around the world, and now has the largest foreign-born population of any state in the country. Here are five maps and charts illustrating the past and present of who's moving in and, lately, moving out.

Immigrants tend to be bigger risk-takers than people born in California when it comes to starting a business. Here’s why that’s good for the economy.

Some residents, saying Bethel Church's civic influence threatens the city's integrity, hand out "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" stickers.

Lenny Mendonca: Government officials don't do a good job of engaging the public as we grapple with big, complex challenges. Today, my team at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development is launching a new podcast called Made in California to change that dynamic.  

We Californians grabbed nothing less than the edge of a continent, 1,000 miles in length. Highest mountain, lowest desert, longest coast, most epic valley, riparian forest, redwood forest, wetland, grassland and inland sea. The rain fell 125 inches a year in one place and seven inches a year in the other place. A land this crazy makes people crazy.

Two tax increase measures have reached the floors of the Senate and Assembly. Both threaten to delete Proposition 13’s important taxpayer protections from the California Constitution. Put simply, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 and Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 would be taxes on California affordability.

In a decade roughly 1 in every 5 people will be 65 or older—a group more racially and ethnically diverse, and more likely to be single and childless. The growing need: culturally sensitive and professional caregivers.

A growing number of California seniors are building "in-law units" or "granny flats," and having their adult children move into their backyards—or vice-versa.

California is getting old. Within a decade, more than 20% of the state’s residents will be seniors -- a higher proportion than currently resides in Florida, a state famous for its large population of snowbird retirees.

California is getting grayer. Over the next two decades, as more Baby Boomers reach retirement age, the state’s senior population will double. We profile California seniors and look at how their experiences have been shaped by, and will continue to shape, the California Dream.