You Don’t Need to Go to Arizona to Find Silicon Desert

Why Riverside's Culture of Community Could Make It the Next Palo Alto

There’s a place in California far from Silicon Valley where startups are gaining ground. No, I’m not talking about the “Silicon Beach” of Santa Monica and Venice. I’m talking about the Inland Empire, home to a small but determined—and growing—community of startups. Call us the “Silicon Desert.”

While it’s true Arizona has laid claim to that moniker, I would argue that there are many reasons why the Inland Empire is, perhaps, a more natural fit. Many people don’t realize it, but we’re the 13th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. …

By Faeda Elliott | October 19, 2016

Can Books Build Community?

Putting California’s Inland Empire on the Literary Map

By Cati Porter | December 31, 2015

Ahtziri and I are sitting on a stone garden bench outside the church in Riverside, California, where my children take piano lessons. In her hand is a stack of papers—typed …

My Hometown Was in Crisis Before the Terror

I Worry That Everything in San Bernardino Will Soon Go Back to Normal

By Michael Tesauro | December 16, 2015

There was no hashtag or meme or Facebook artwork on August 1, 2012, when San Bernardino, California, filed for bankruptcy after a long fiscal breakdown. Massive budget cuts followed. The …

How a City Hopes to Fulfill New Dreams

San Bernardino Is Creating Space and Community for the Arts

By Ernie Garcia | November 13, 2015

In Southern California, most people know about San Bernardino and its ongoing municipal bankruptcy. Last summer, the L.A. Times called the city a “symbol of the nation’s urban woes.”

But most …

Bluegrass Isn’t Just for ‘Toothless Hillbillies’

Bringing the Sounds of Oklahoma to California, the Gifford Family Has Made ‘Banjo Music’ Popular in the Inland Empire and Beyond

By Marjorie Hernandez | July 24, 2015

“Only toothless hillbillies listen to that banjo music.”

John Gifford heard taunts like this all the time. Growing up in Riverside, a Southern California suburb, in the 1960s and …

Give Kids the Tools to Make Music, Not Trouble

A Successful Street Promoter Teaches the Art of Recording, Mixing, and Mastering

By Josiah Bruny | July 10, 2015

What happens when you give Inland Empire kids who dream of making music the space, instruction, and technological tools to do so? You can change lives.

For years, my nonprofit, …

Get More Zócalo