Think about the great rivalries involving California. San Francisco vs. Los Angeles. California vs. President Donald Trump.
And, of course, California vs. Texas.
“What’s happening in Texas and California is really the story of what is happening in America.” — Curbed
If there wasn’t a Golden State-Longhorn State rivalry before, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry created one — and got a rise out of Gov. Jerry Brown — by coming to California to woo companies to Texas in 2013.
Wrote Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune:
“What could be more fun than a throwdown between Governor Goodhair and Governor Moonbeam?
“Mr. Perry recently spent a pittance — $24,000 for a radio advertisement in a state like California has a smaller audience than a tweet from Paris Hilton — to tweak Mr. Brown’s nose on jobs.”
Special Report: The United States of Texas and California
Strip away the hype, and the realities are much different, as Curbed.com points out in its spectacular web presentation “The United States of Texas and California.”
“California and Texas are American heavyweights. They’re the two most populous states, with GDPs that place their economies in the ranks of global superpowers” begins the introduction to eight stories examining the politics and economies of the states.
“Their landscapes and their ideologies are etched deeply into the collective consciousness. … Seeing the two states in opposition misses the point: What’s happening in Texas and California is really the story of what is happening in America.”
This package from Curbed is too big to digest in one sitting. But it’s well worth devouring, over time, from beginning to end.
Story Links
Texas
— Bordertown, USA
— Betting on the Nickel
— A Mighty Wind
— Bullet Train to the Future
California
— Baghdad on the Border
— Los Angeles vs. Legal Weed
— The Giant of Santa Clara County
— When Electric Isn’t Good Enough
