Out With Mass Incarceration and in With Mass Commerce

Can California Call It Progress When Rural Prisons Are Replaced With Retail Warehouses?

As California starts closing prisons, what might open in their place?

I glimpsed one answer to that question while driving to Deuel Vocational Institution, between the San Joaquin County cities of Tracy and Manteca. The demise of Deuel, which shuts at the end of September, is more than just the first closure of a state-owned prison in a generation. It also opens a prison window on the future of our landscapes, and on the peculiar predations of California progress.

Heeding my phone’s directions from Oakland, I exited I-205 at Tracy and followed …

by Joe Mathews | September 21, 2021

There’s Only One Entity Ruthless Enough to Reopen All California Schools

The State Faces a Choice: Outsource School Reopenings or Watch Schools Crumble

by Joe Mathews | February 23, 2021

Many Californians say schools need to re-open now. But no one has had the guts to open all schools, and all grades, and actually send all kids back to class. …

Why Fresno Is on the Leading Edge of a ‘Wave’ of Political Change

A Progressive, Technocratic, and Majority-Latino City Council Points to a Larger Transformation in California

by Joe Mathews | January 28, 2020

Looking for the biggest wave in California? Go to Fresno.

It’s not just that fast-growing Fresno is emerging as the Golden State’s next great city. Fresno is also undergoing dramatic—and overdue—changes …

What 19th-Century Kansas Cow Towns Teach Us About Global Capital

Like Amazon Today, Railroads Determined the Fortunes of Even the Most Distant Communities

by Joshua Specht | November 21, 2019

Boasting dozens of windows and a hundred-person dining room, the Drovers Cottage was quite a hotel by the standards of the 19th-century American West. Even more impressive: It managed to …

Why Two California Billionaires Should Buy Newspapers

Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk Could Launder Their Reputations—And Maybe Serve the Public

by Joe Mathews | September 10, 2018

To: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
From: Joe Mathews
Re: Acquisition and Reputation

Have you two lost your minds?

Both of you are suffering through long-running, self-inflicted public relations crises. Mark, Facebook’s …

The Amazon Headquarters Sweepstakes Is Bad for Cities

The Tax Incentives Doled out to the Online Shopping Giant Aren't Worth the Gains in Jobs

By Christopher Thornberg and Taner Osman | May 2, 2018

Envious of Silicon Valley’s success, more than 80 places throughout the world have renamed one of their neighborhoods “Silicon-something,” including “Silicon Beach” in Los Angeles, “Silicon Bayou” in New Orleans, …

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