California

A regularly recurring issue in California politics is whether the state should continue to aggressively expand its freeway network or concentrate on improving mass transit networks in urban areas. New York has ten sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International (SCI): Beijing, Budapest, Cairo, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Rome, Santo Domingo, and Tokyo. The rapidly growing population of the state is straining all of its transportation networks. See also: Tallest buildings in New York City. Both Greyhound and Amtrak provide intercity bus service. The borough of Queens has also been developing its own skyline in recent years with a Citigroup office building (which is currently the tallest building in NYC outside Manhattan), and the City Lights development of several residential towers along the East River waterfront. Nearly all counties operate bus lines, and many cities operate their own bus and light rail lines as well. The Downtown Brooklyn skyline is the smallest of the three, and is centered around a major transportation hub in Northwestern Brooklyn.

San Diego has Trolley light rail and Coaster commuter rail services. The Downtown skyline will also be getting notable additions soon from such architects as Santiago Calatrava and Frank Gehry. Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) connects Tracy, Livermore and other edge cities with Silicon Valley. Today it is undergoing the rapid reconstruction of Lower Manhattan, and will some day include the new "Freedom Tower" which will rise to a height of 1,776 feet when it is completed in 2009. Metrolink commuter rail serves much of Southern California, and Caltrain commuter rail connects San Jose to San Francisco. The Downtown skyline was once characterized by the presence of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. San Jose and Sacramento have only light rail. The largest of these skylines is in Midtown, which is the largest central business district in the U.S., and also home to such notable buildings as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Rockefeller Center.

San Francisco and Los Angeles both have rapid rail/subway networks, in addition to light rail. In fact, New York actually has three separately recognizable skylines: Midtown Manhattan, Downtown Manhattan (also known as Lower Manhattan), and Downtown Brooklyn. Intercity rail travel is provided by Amtrak. New York City has by far the most famous skyline in the world; because of its high residential density, and the extremely high real estate values found in the city's central business districts, New York has amassed the largest collection of office and residential towers in the world. The Port of Oakland handles most of the ocean containers passing through Northern California. See also:. The giant seaport complex formed by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in Southern California is the largest in the country and responsible for handling about a fourth of all container cargo traffic in the United States. Dedication to the sciences starts early for many New Yorkers, who have the chance to attend such selective specialized high schools as the Bronx High School of Science (which boasts the largest number of graduates who are Nobel Laureates of any United States High School), and its rivals, Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Technical High School.

California also has several excellent seaports. Brooklyn also hosts one of the country's leading urban medical centers: SUNY Downstate Medical Center, an academic medical center, the oldest hospital-based medical school in the United States. Professor Raymond Vahan Damadian, the discoverer of the MRI, was part of the faculty from 1967 - 1977 and built the first MRI machine, the Indomnitable, there. There are about a dozen important commercial airports and many more general aviation airports throughout the state's 58 counties. Jonas Salk, developer of the vaccine for polio, was an intern at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Upper Manhattan. As for air travel, San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport are major hubs for trans-Pacific and transcontinental traffic. In the Bronx, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is a major academic center. only by New York City for severe traffic congestion. Manhattan contains the campus of the world-class Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, as well as Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and NYU Medical Center and their medical schools.

Most Californians usually resort to the roads for their commutes, errands, and vacations, which is why California's cities have a reputation equalled in the U.S. New York City is also a major center of academic medicine. California's vast terrain is connected by an extensive system of freeways, expressways, and highways, all maintained by Caltrans and patrolled by the California Highway Patrol. The city is also home to a number of other institutions of higher learning, some of national or even international reputation, including Columbia University, Fordham University, New School University, and New York University, among many others. One thing they all have in common is a state mandate to teach fourth grade students about the history of California, including the role of the early missions; most schools implement this by requiring students complete a multiple medium project. New York City is served by the publicly-run City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban university in the United States, which has a number of campuses throughout the five boroughs. In poor regions, literacy rates may fall below 70%. There is also the free Staten Island Ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island, operated by the New York City Department of Transportation.

In some regions, administrative costs divert a significant amount of educational monies from instructional purposes. Many private ferries are run by NY Waterway, which provides several lines across the Hudson River, New York Water Taxi, with lines connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan, and other operators. The quality of the local schools depends strongly on the local tax base, and the size of the local administration. The T&LC also regulates and licenses "car services," which are legally permitted to pick up only those customers who have called the car service's dispatcher and requested a car, although most of these pick up hailing passengers as well. The primary schools are of varying effectiveness. "Medallion taxis," the familiar yellow cabs, are legally permitted to pick up passengers hailing them on the street. Mandatory full-time instruction begins at age 6. There are two officially recognized car services in the city.

Elementary schools teach pure skills, history and social studies, with optional half-day kindergartens beginning at age 5. Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. In many districts, junior high schools or middle schools teach electives with a strong skills-based curriculum, for ages from 11 to 13. The first airport in the city was Floyd Bennett Field, now closed as an airport and today part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The Port Authority also operates the AirTrain service, a train which connects the JFK and Newark airports to local subway and heavy rail systems. They accept students from roughly age 14 to 18, with mandatory education ceasing at age 16. JFK tends to handle international traffic, whereas La Guardia tends to handle shorter domestic flights, and Newark handles both international and domestic; Teterboro is New York's primary general aviation airport, handling heavy business jet traffic together with cargo and medevac flights and some light plane traffic. Secondary education consists of high schools that teach elective courses in trades, languages and liberal arts with tracks for gifted, college-bound and industrial arts students. The Port Authority also owns and operates the four major airports in the New York City area, JFK International Airport in Jamaica, Newark Liberty International in Newark, New Jersey, La Guardia Airport in Flushing, and Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, New Jersey.

Near Los Angeles, there are numerous art and film institutes, including the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the CalArts Institute. Short-distance rail, primarily for commuters from the suburbs, is operated by New Jersey Transit, the MTA (serving Long Island, Connecticut and regions in New York north of the city as the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad), and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which also operates regional bus terminals. For example, Southern California, with one of the highest densities of post-secondary institutions in the world, has a very large base of classically trained vocalists that compete in large choir festivals. Responsibility for providing public transportation falls to a variety of government agencies and private corporations. Amtrak provides long-distance rail service. This leads to many unique entertainment and educational opportunities for residents. Because of the extensive mass transit system, many New Yorkers do not possess cars or even driver's licenses. California has hundreds of private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions. In addition to these, city residents rely on hundreds of bus lines, both publicly and privately operated (many to be taken over by the MTA sometime in 2005), which serve nearly all areas of the five boroughs.

Preeminent private institutions include Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (which administers the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA). The city is also served by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's PATH subway system, which connects the borough of Manhattan to New Jersey. The system serves a student population of over 2.9 million. The subway system connects all boroughs except Staten Island, which is served by the Staten Island Railway via the free Staten Island Ferry (which connects to the 1 and 9 subway lines). It is composed of 109 colleges organized into 72 districts. It is the most extensive subway system in the world when measured by mileage of track (656 miles of mainline track), and the fifth largest when measured by annual ridership (1.4 billion passenger trips in 2004). It also provides lower division general-education courses, whose credit units are transferable to the CSU and UC systems. The world famous New York City Subway is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

It awards certificates and associate degrees. New York City boasts the most extensive network of public transportation in the United States. The California Community Colleges system provides vocational education, remedial education, and continuing education programs. The city is served by an extensive network of parkways and expressways, including four primary Interstate Highways enter the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area: I-78, I-80, I-87 and I-95. Interstate 287 serves as a partial beltway around the city, and there are numerous three-digit Interstates of I-78 and I-95. Lower-division course credits are frequently transferable to the University of California. Unlike most of America's car-oriented urban areas, public transportation is the common mode of travel for the majority of New York City residents. It is intended to accept most college-bound high-school students, while carrying out some research, especially in applied sciences. See also: List of New York City sports teams.

With over 400,000 students, the CSU system is the largest university system in the United States. Both of these construction proposals have stirred considerable opposition, and may have an impact on the City's bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. The California State University system provides education for teachers, the trades, agriculture and industry. Current sports issues include Bruce Ratner's proposal to move the New Jersey Nets to a new Brooklyn Nets Arena, and a proposal to build a West Side Stadium in Manhattan for the New York Jets in 2008. The University of California also administers federal laboratories for the Federal Department of Energy: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Also, many outsiders are unaware that the current Madison Square Garden is actually the fourth separate building to use that name; the first two were near Madison Square, hence the name, and the third was at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue. An eleventh campus, in Merced, is scheduled to open in 2005.[1] (http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/welcome.html) The UC system is intended to accept students from the top 12.5% of college-bound students, and provide most graduate studies and research. New York has also buried more sports history than most American cities ever experience: Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until 1957, was torn down in 1960, and the Polo Grounds in northern Harlem, just across the river from the Bronx's Yankee Stadium, was the home of the New York Giants of Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1957 (and the first home of the New York Mets) before being demolished in 1964.

A tenth campus, in San Francisco, teaches only law. The Brooklyn Cyclones are a New York Mets affiliate, and the Staten Island Yankees are affiliated with the New York Yankees. A ninth campus, in San Francisco, teaches only graduate health-sciences students. New York City is also home to two minor league baseball teams that play in the short-season Class A New York - Penn League. The eight general campuses are in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Riverside, and San Diego. Also playing in Nassau Coliseum are the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League. The preeminent state university is the 9-campus University of California, which employs more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution in the world and is considered one of the finest public higher-education systems in the country. At the Continental Airlines Arena also in the meadowlands the New Jersey Nets play NBA basketball and the New Jersey Devils play NHL hockey. The New York Islanders are the third NHL team in the Metro area; they play their home games in Nassau Coliseum in Long Island.

California's educational system is supported by a unique constitutional amendment that requires 40% of state revenues to be spent on education. New York's NFL teams, the New York Giants and New York Jets, play at Giants Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands. Main article: List of colleges and universities in California. At Madison Square Garden, 'the world's most famous arena,' New Yorkers can see the New York Knicks play NBA basketball, the New York Rangers play hockey, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA. 1 Belvedere, California - Marin County - $113,595
2 Rancho Santa Fe, California - San Diego County - $113,132
3 Atherton, California - San Mateo County - $112,408
4 Rolling Hills, California - Los Angeles County - $111,031
5 Woodside, California - San Mateo County - $104,667
6 Portola Valley, California - San Mateo County - $99,621
7 Newport Coast, California - Orange County - $98,770
8 Hillsborough, California - San Mateo County - $98,643
9 Diablo, California - Contra Costa County - $95,419
10 Fairbanks Ranch, California - San Diego County - $94,150
11 Hidden Hills, California - Los Angeles County - $94,096
12 Los Altos Hills, California - Santa Clara County - $92,840
13 Tiburon, California - Marin County - $85,966
14 Sausalito, California - Marin County - $81,040
15 Monte Sereno, California - Santa Clara County - $76,577
16 Indian Wells, California - Riverside County $76,187
17 Malibu, California - Los Angeles County - $74,336
18 Del Monte Forest, California - Monterey County - $70,609
19 Piedmont, California - Alameda County - $70,539
20 Montecito, California - Santa Barbara County - $70,077
21 Palos Verdes Estates, California - Los Angeles County - $69,040
22 Emerald Lake Hills, California - San Mateo County - $68,966
23 Loyola, California - Santa Clara County - $68,730
24 Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara, California - Contra Costa County - $66,972
25 Los Altos, California - Santa Clara County - $66,776
See complete list of California places. The New York metropolitan area is the only one in the United States with more than one team in each of the four major sports, with nine such franchises. The following list is ranked by per capita income:. Outsiders are frequently unaware that few baseball fans in New York are fans of both teams at once.

Thanks to the state's powerful economy, certain California cities are among the wealthiest on the planet, as evidenced by large numbers of extravagant mansions, sports cars, and beautiful people. For most American baseball fans, the most intense rivalry is between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, but in the city the rivalry between the Yankees and the Mets is just as fierce. The state of California has many cities, and the majority of them are within one of the large metropolitan areas below. A "Subway Series" between city teams is a time of great excitement, and any World Series championship by either the New York Yankees or the New York Mets is considered to be worthy of the highest celebration, including a ticker-tape parade for the victorious team. The three largest Protestant denominations in California are: Baptist (30% of total state population), Methodist (10%), and Lutheran (6%). Although in much of the rest of the country American football has become the most popular professional sport, in New York City baseball arguably still stirs the most passion and interest. The religious affiliations of the people of California are as follows:. Despite the name, many "Broadway" theaters do not lie on Broadway the street, and the distinction with Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway (which tend more toward experimental theater) is simply a reference to the seating capacity of the theater.

Religion. Along with those of London’s West End theater district, Broadway theaters are considered to be of the highest quality in the world. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California ranks:. The dozens of theaters in this district are responsible for tens of thousands of jobs, and help contribute billions of dollars every year to the city's economy. Rankings. It serves both as the center of the American theater industry, and as a major attraction for visitors from around the world. California has the second-largest Asian population (percentage-wise) of any state, Hawaii having the largest. New York City boasts a highly active and influential theater district, which is centered around Times Square in Manhattan.

Because of high levels of immigration from Latin America, especially Mexico, and higher birth rates among the Hispanic population, Hispanics are predicted to become a majority around 2040. See also:. Hispanics make up almost one-third of the population; in order, other groups are Asian Americans, African Americans and American Indian. The city has served as an important center for many different genres of music ranging from Big Band Era and jazz, to punk rock and hip-hop (the latter of which is generally acknowledged as having originated in the Bronx around 1973). It is the third minority-majority state, after Hawaii and New Mexico. Non-Hispanic Whites are still the largest group, but are no longer a majority of the population due to high levels of immigration in recent years. With its connection to media and communications and its mix of cultures and immigrants, New York City has had a long history of association with American music. California lacks a majority ethnic group. New York City is also the home of the four major television networks, ABC, CBS, the Fox Network, and NBC, and while the local film industry is dwarfed by that of Hollywood, its billions of dollars in revenue make it the second largest in the nation.

California's population is:. New York City boasts over forty daily newspapers in several different languages, including such national heavyweights as the Wall Street Journal (daily circulation of 2.1 million) and The New York Times (1.6 million), and America's oldest continuously-published newspaper, the New York Post, founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton. Race and Sex. New York has also been the setting for countless works of literature, many of them produced by the city’s famously large population of writers (including Jonathan Franzen, Don Delillo, Thomas Pynchon, Susan Sontag, David Foster Wallace, and many others). California is the most populous state in the U.S., and contains about 12% of the U.S.'s population. New York’s portrayal on television is similarly varied, with a disproportionate number of crime dramas taking place in the city despite the fact that it is one of the safest cities in which to live in the United States. Census Bureau reports California's 2000 population as 33,871,648, and estimates its 2003 population as 35,484,453. From the sophisticated and worldly metropolis seen in many Woody Allen films, to the chaotic urban jungle depicted in such movies as Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, New York has served as the unwitting backdrop for virtually every conceivable viewpoint on big city life.

The U.S. Because of its sheer size and cultural influence, New York City has been the subject of many different, and often contradictory, portrayals in mass media. Population. Main article: Media of New York City. See also: California unemployment statistics. See also: List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City. Recent (Spring 2005) economic data (http://uclaforecast.com) indicates that economic growth has resumed in California, although still slightly below the national annualized forecast of 3.9%. Other notable performance halls include Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are currently emerging from economic depression caused by the dot.com bust, which caused the loss of over 250,000 jobs in Northern California alone. The largest of these is Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which is actually a complex of buildings housing 12 separate companies, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York City Ballet, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. While some coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S., notably San Francisco and Marin County, the non-agricultural central counties have some of the highest poverty rates in the U.S. In addition to these museums, the city is also home to a vast array of spaces for opera, symphony, and dance performances. Most farm managers are highly educated, most with at least master's degrees. A number of the city's museums are located along the Museum Mile section of Fifth Avenue. The Central Valley has the most extreme contrasts of income, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage, contrasted with farmers who frequently manage multimillion-dollar farms. There are also many smaller specialty museums, from El Museo del Barrio with a focus on Latin American cultures to the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design.

Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. New York is a city of "great museums" with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's assemblage of historic art, the Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum's 's 20th century collection, and the American Museum of Natural History and its Hayden Planetarium focusing on the sciences. Per capita personal income is $33,415 as of 2003, ranking 12^th in the nation. See also: List of New York City parks. This is followed by aerospace; entertainment, primarily television by dollar volume, although many movies are still made in California; and light manufacturing including computer hardware and software, and the mining of borax. Flushing, Queens is home to the legacy of the 1964 New York World's Fair (including the Unisphere), the US Open in tennis and Shea Stadium. The predominant industry, more than twice as large as the next largest, is agriculture, (including fruit, vegetables, dairy, and wine). The Bronx Zoo is world-famous, and the Bronx Bombers don't play in Manhattan.

If California was considered as an independent self-sufficient economy, it would be ranked the 6th, ahead of France. Brooklyn's old Coney Island is still a center of seaside recreation, with its beach, boardwalk, and amusement parks. Many enjoy the spectacular views available from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry. state, and every country in the world (by Purchasing Power Parity) save for the other combined 49 United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Many tourists only think of "New York" in terms of Manhattan, but there are four other boroughs which, if they can't compete in skyscrapers, still offer other kinds of attractions. The state's GDP, which at $1.4 trillion USD (as of 2003), is greater than that of every other U.S. Now the World Trade Center site has itself become an important place for visitors to see. California is responsible for 14% of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). The city was nearly devoid of tourists for months, and it took two years for the numbers to fully rebound with fewer international, but more domestic visitors.

Many California endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat. The World Trade Center was an important tourist destination before the September 11, 2001 attacks, which devastated the city and its tourist industry. California's great abundance of species of California lilac (Ceanothus) is an example of adaptive radiation. Annually on New Year's Eve, hundreds of thousands of people congregate in Times Square to watch the ball drop as millions watch on television. Many other endemics originated through differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions. Since then this has been an annual event drawing tens of thousands of spectators and in later years millions of television viewers. California endemics include relict species that have died out elsewhere, including the redwoods and the Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York on November 27, 1924.

California has a rather high percentage of endemic species. There are also large shopping districts found in Downtown Brooklyn and along Queens Boulevard in Queens. The state of California is part of the Nearctic ecozone, and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions, and is perhaps the most ecologically diverse state in the United States. The "diamond district" (located on 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) is the city's main location for jewelry shopping, and SoHo, formerly the center of the New York art scene, is now famous for high-priced clothing boutiques, and the art galleries are now concentrated in Chelsea. California's diverse geography, geology, soils and climate have generated a tremendous diversity of plant and animal life. In southern Manhattan, Greenwich Village is home to hundreds of independent music and book stores. Ecologically, California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. In recent years 23rd Street has become a major location for "big-box" retailers.

Main article: Ecology of California. Macy's, the nation's largest department store, and the surrounding area of Herald Square are a major destination for more moderately-priced goods. The low deserts east of the southern California mountains, including the Imperial and Coachella valleys and the lower Colorado River, are part of the Sonoran Desert, with hot summers and mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California, including the Mojave Desert, Owens Valley, and the Modoc Plateau, are part of the Great Basin region, with hot summers and cold winters. Shopping is popular with many visitors, with Fifth Avenue being a famous shopping corridor for luxury items. California's desert climate regions lie east of the high Sierra Nevada and southern California's Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges. Maritime attractions include the South Street Seaport, site of a historic port, and the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, housed in a World War II aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson River. On the east side of the mountains is a drier "rain shadow". The city also has 578 miles of waterfront and over 14 miles of public beaches.

The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and moderate heat in summer. Other major parks in the city include Riverside Park, Battery Park, Prospect Park, Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, and Forest Park. The Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate, but with greater temperature extremes than the coastal areas; parts of the valley are often filled with thick fog, similar to that found in the coastal valleys. The best known of these is Central Park, which is one of the finest examples of landscape architecture in the world, as well as a major source of recreation for New Yorkers and tourists alike. Northwestern California has a temperate climate with rainfall of 15-40 inches (38-102 cm) per year. There are over 28,000 acres (113 km²) of parkland found throughout New York City, comprising over 1,700 separate parks and playgrounds. Westerly winds from the ocean also bring moisture, and the northern parts of the state generally receive higher rainfall than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well; moisture-laden air from the west cools as it ascends the mountains, dropping moisture; some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Patrick's Cathedral and the Brooklyn Bridge, among other attractions.

As one moves away from the coast, the climate becomes more continental, with hotter summers and colder winters. Many visitors make it a point to visit the Empire State Building, Times Square, Radio City Music Hall, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, United Nations Headquarters, the American Museum of Natural History, St. The influence of the ocean generally moderates temperature extremes, creating cooler summers and warmer winters, and the cold oceanic California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Tourism is a major local industry, with hundreds of attractions. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. See also: List of famous New Yorkers. Different regions of California have very different climates, depending on their latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coast. Drastic reductions in crime have changed "the ungovernable city" of the past into a remarkably civilized place, and recent polls show that a vast majority of New Yorkers think the city "is moving in the right direction.".

Other volcanoes include Lassen Peak, which erupted from 1914 and 1921, and Mount Shasta. Today, there is a palpable sense of optimism in New York, fear of terrorism has lessened dramatically, and a massive confluence of transportation infrastructure projects promises to greatly expand the city's economic potential. California is also home to several volcanoes, some active such as Mammoth Mountain. Nationally, Americans felt increased solidarity with New Yorkers. Notable movies in which the possible destruction of much of California by an earthquake includes the titles Earthquake, A View to a Kill, Escape from L.A. and Superman. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, pride in the city and the New York way of life increased for many, though others may have shown signs of paranoia. The fact that this scenario is completely implausible from a geologic standpoint does not lessen its acceptance in public conventional wisdom, or its exploitation by the producers of science fiction and fantasy media. Although gentrification generally has led to lower crime, more business activity, and higher land values, many of the native residents of these communities have been adversely affected by the skyrocketing housing costs associated with these rapid changes.

Popular legend has it that, eventually, a huge earthquake will result in the splitting of coastal California from the continent, either to sink into the ocean or form a new landmass. This process is exemplified by the cases of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Manhattan's Lower East Side. While more powerful earthquakes in the United States have occurred in Alaska and along the Mississippi River, California earthquakes are notable in their frequency and location in highly populated areas. Beginning primarily in the 1990s, although in some cases earlier, neighborhoods that had been seen as less desirable or unsafe became entirely transformed by the arrival of young professionals, often preceded by artists and “hipsters’. California is famous for its earthquakes due partly to the presence of the San Andreas Fault. No other American city has experienced the effects of gentrification to the same degree that New York City has. To the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in North America. With space at a premium, lack of closet space is a common problem, and self-storage is a strong local industry.

The south-central desert is called the Mojave. Many residents rent apartments, and some areas are under rent control and rent stabilization laws. In the south lie the Transverse Ranges and a large salt lake, the Salton Sea. The median sale price of a Manhattan apartment in 2004 was $670,000 [1] (http://citi-habitats.com/press/viewarticle.php?article_id=432), with prices in the outer boroughs lower but rising. To the west is Clear Lake, California's largest freshwater lake by area. The great majority of Manhattan residents live in apartments in what is usually seen as a very overpriced and difficult housing market, although there are immense neighborhoods of suburban-style homes in the outer boroughs. To the east of the Sierra are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential seabird habitat. Even the city's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is a "straphanger," (subway commuter), and can be encountered on the train to City Hall each morning.

Also located in the Sierra are the world famous Yosemite National Park and a deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume. This pattern is strongest in Manhattan, where subway service is better and traffic is worse than in the outer boroughs. In the center and east of the state are the Sierra Nevada, containing the highest peak in the continental U.S., Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4421 m). Because of traffic congestion and the well-designed New York Subway, six in ten residents, including many middle class professionals, commute to work via public transportation, making the everyday lifestyle and "pedestrian culture" of New Yorkers substantially different from the "car culture" that dominates most American cities. With dredging, several of these rivers have become sufficiently large and deep that several inland cities, notably Stockton, California, are seaports. Some celebrated ethnic/racial neighborhoods include Harlem, Little Italy, Chinatown, Washington Heights, and the Lower East Side. Mountain-fed rivers, dams, and canals provide water to irrigate the Central Valley. Regardless of ethnic origin, all groups share a common identity as New Yorkers.

Down the center of the state lies the Central Valley, a huge, fertile valley bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the granite Sierra Nevada to the east, the volcanic Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The five boroughs are home to many distinct ethnic enclaves of Irish, Italians, Greeks, Chinese, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Jamaicans, African-Americans, Iranians, Arabs, Jews, South Asians and many others, and there are also many multi-ethnic neighborhoods where people of different backgrounds coexist comfortably. California has extremely varied geography. cities except Los Angeles, giving New York an international flavor, and making it the archetype of the American ideal of a "nation of immigrants." The city government employs translators in 180 languages. However, the capital, Sacramento is in the Central Valley. New York absorbs a greater diversity of immigrant groups than any other American city, and it absorbs a larger number of immigrants every day than all other U.S. Most major cities cling to the cool, pleasant seacoast along the Pacific, notably San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa Ana/Orange County, and San Diego. Other nicknames attributed to New York City include "the Big Apple", "Gotham", "the Naked City", "the Capital of the World", and the slogan introduced in 2005 by Mayor Bloomberg in an effort to win a bid for the 2012 Olympics, "the World's Second Home.".

With an area of 410,000 km² it is the third largest state in the U.S. Residents of the metropolitan area generally refer to New York City (or sometimes just Manhattan) as "The City," or "New York," and the acronym "NYC", as opposed to just "NY", help to avoid confusing references to the State of New York and the City. The state has striking natural features, including an expansive central valley, high mountains, and hot dry deserts. New York City residents are called "New Yorkers," although this term may also refer to suburbanites, and there is some use of borough-specific identifications, such as Manhattanites, Bronxites, Brooklynites, Queensites and Staten Islanders. California borders the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Baja California. New York City, sometimes called "The City That Never Sleeps," is famously fast-paced and active, and the American idiom "in a New York minute" means "immediately." The stereotypical "hard-boiled New Yorker" has a reputation as self-centered, rude, and impatient, and takes pride in the crowds, noise, and hardships of city life. Main article: Geography of California. See also: List of major corporations based in New York City.

See also: List of California Governors, US Congressional Delegations from California, List of California counties, List of California ballot propositions. The city also has a large tourism industry. Bush received a majority of votes in more than half the counties, but still lost California by 9%. New York also has the most important scenes for art, music, and theater in the U.S., with an increasingly active artist's community. In 2004, George W. Manhattan's Madison Avenue is synonymous with the American advertising industry, while Seventh Avenue is nicknamed "fashion avenue" as it serves as an important center for the fashion industry. While California is among the most Democratic and liberal states in the nation, there are areas of California which are politically very conservative, notably Orange and San Diego counties. The city is by far the most important center for American mass media, journalism and publishing.

House of Representatives. New York is also the center of many of the service sector industries in the U.S., with more Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city than anywhere else in the country (including companies as prominent and diverse as Altria Group, Time Warner, American International Group, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, JetBlue, DC Comics, Estée Lauder, Sony Music Entertainment, and many others). 33 Democrats and 20 Republicans represent the state in the U.S. Many corporations also have their headquarters in New York. Senators from California are Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Financial markets based in the city include the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, American Stock Exchange, New York Mercantile Exchange, and New York Board of Trade. The two U.S. Today, New York City is the chief center of finance in the world economy, with Wall Street in Lower Manhattan's Financial District.

California has the most Congressmen and Presidential Electors of any state. The city was also the first center of the American film industry, until it moved to Hollywood, California, and still has some television and movie production. Electoral College. New York was formerly a national center for clothing manufacture, and some continues, sometimes in sweatshops. Like international shipping, though, manufacturing gradually declined in the late-twentieth century with rising land values. It has 55 electoral votes in the U.S. Manufacturing first became a major economic base for New York City in the mid-nineteenth century with the advent of industrialization and the railroad. At the national level, California is represented by two senators and 53 representatives. But despite changes in international shipping, trade and the tertiary sector have always remained the real basis of New York's economy.

California's legal system is explicitly based on English common law but carries a few features from Spanish civil law. Since the 1950s, most shipping activity in the area has shifted to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey. California judges are always appointed by the Governor but must be regularly reconfirmed by the electorate. The old port facility was at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan, but today there is only residual activity remaining at Red Hook in Brooklyn, and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal in Staten Island. California's giant judiciary is supervised by the seven Justices of the Supreme Court of California. The value of this port was greatly expanded upon in 1819 with the opening of the Erie Canal, which gave New York an enormous advantage over the competing ports of Boston and Philadelphia. The capital moved to Sacramento for good on February 25, 1854, except for a four-month temporary move in 1862 to San Francisco due to severe flooding in Sacramento. Historically, the city developed because of New York Harbor, widely considered one of the finest natural ports in the world.

The capital moved to Sacramento temporarily in 1852 when construction on a State House could not be completed in time in Vallejo. New York City's unemployment rate in March of 2005 was 5.2%, identical to the nationwide rate. In California's early history, the capital was located in Monterey (1775-1849), San Jose (1849-1851), Vallejo (1852-1853), Benicia (1853-1854), and San Francisco (1862). For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.9 males. The state's capital is Sacramento. For every 100 females there are 90.0 males. Schwarzenegger replaced Governor Gray Davis (1999-2003) who was removed from office by the October 2003 California recall election. The median age is 34 years.

Frazier). In the city the population is spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who are 65 years of age or older. Schwarzenegger was only the second person in the history of the United States to be put into office by a recall of a sitting Governor (the first was the 1921 recall of North Dakota Governor Lynn J. 21.2% of the population and 18.5% of families are below the poverty line, of whom 30.0% are under the age of 18 and 17.8% are 65 and older. The current Governor is the Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose current term lasts through January 2007. Per capita income is $22,402; men and women have a median income of $37,435 and $32,949 respectively. In the Senate, there are 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans. The average household size is 2.59 and the average family size is 3.32.

For the 2005-2006 session, there are 48 Democrats and 32 Republicans in the Assembly. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.9% are single residents 65 years of age or older. The Senators from the even-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years, in the gubernatorial election cycle. 19.1% have a single female householder, and 38.7% are non-families. The Senators representing the odd-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four, i.e., presidential election years. There are 3,021,588 households with a median income of $38,293; 29.7% contain children under the age of 18 and 37.2% are married couples living together. The terms of the Senators are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. New York City is also home to the nation's largest community of American Jews, with an estimate of 972,000 in 2002, and is the worldwide headquarters of the Hasidic Lubavitch sect and the Bobover and Satmar branches of Hasidism.

Senators serve four year terms and Assembly members two. The ethnic makeup is 9.8% Puerto Rican, 8.7% Italian, 5.3% Irish, 5.1% Dominican, and 4.5% Chinese. The California State Legislature consists of a 40 member Senate and 80 member Assembly. 35.9% of the population is foreign born (18.9% born in Latin America, 8.6% Asia, 7.0% Europe). The Governor of California and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be reelected only once. 26.98% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The State also allows direct participation of the electorate by referendum, recall, and ratification. The racial makeup of the city is 44.66% White, 26.59% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 9.83% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 13.42% from other races, and 4.92% from two or more races.

California is governed as a republic, with three branches of government, the executive branch consisting of the Governor of California and the other elected constitutional officers, the legislative branch consisting of the Assembly and Senate, and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. There are 3,200,912 housing units at an average density of 4,074.6/km² (10,553.2/mi²). Main article: California government and politics. The population density is 10,194.2/km² (26,402.9/mi²). The state is liberal-leaning, technologically and culturally savvy, and a world center of engineering businesses, the film and television industry and, as mentioned above, American agricultural production. As of the census² of 2000, there are 8,008,278 people, 3,021,588 households, and 1,852,233 families residing in the city. From 1965 to the present, this population completely changed and became one of the most diverse in the world. See also: Geography of New York Harbor.

In the period from 1900 to 1965 the population grew from fewer than one million to become the most populous state in the Union, sending the most electors to the Electoral College to elect the President. Although most of the city is adequately above sea level, parts of it could be threatened in the future if the current patterns of global warming continue. Citrus, oranges in particular, were widely grown, and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production of today. The total area is 35.31% water. Out West, residents were discovering that California was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. 785.6 km² (303.3 mi²) of it is land and 428.8 km² (165.6 mi²) of it is water. The connection of the far Pacific West to the eastern population centers came in 1869 with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,214.4 km² (468.9 mi²).

During the American Civil War, popular support was divided 70% for the South and 30% for the North, and although California officially entered on the side of the North, many troops went east to fight with the Confederacy. Travelers are advised to check forecasts and bring several layers of clothing in late fall and in the early spring months (e.g., November, March, April). In 1850, the state was admitted to the Union. However, the weather is notably unpredictable, with mild, almost snowless winters (such as in 1997-98) and relatively cool summers (such as in 1992) an occasional surprise, and huge snowstorms arriving as late as the second week in April (significant snow after mid-March is fairly rare though). But after gold was discovered, the population burgeoned with Americans and a few Europeans in the great California gold rush. Autumns are comfortable in New York and similar to spring in temperature. In 1848, the Spanish-speaking population of distant upper California numbered around 4,000. Summers in New York are hot and humid, with temperatures commonly exceeding 90 °F (32 °C), although high temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) are about as rare as subzero (F) lows in winter.

portion, Alta (upper) California, was to become the state of California. Springs are mild, averaging in the 50s (degrees Fahrenheit, 10–15 degrees Celsius) in late March to the lower 80s °F (25–30 °C) in early June. The western part of the U.S. New York winters are typically cold (though not severely so; temperatures below 0-deg F only occur about once per decade on average), and sometimes feature snowstorms that can paralyze the city with over a foot (30 cm) of snow. The Mexican portion, Baja (lower) California was later divided into the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. New York has a humid continental climate, though being adjacent to water it suffers less temperature fluctuation than inland areas. Following the Mexican-American War, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States. A number of smaller islands have been artificially enlarged, and the map of islands in Jamaica Bay has been completely transformed.

Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into San Francisco Bay and claimed California for the United States. Much of the natural variations in topography have been evened out, particularly in Manhattan (one possible meaning for Manhattan is "island of hills"; in fact, the island was quite hilly before European settlement). The Republic came to a sudden end when Commodore John D. The shape of the land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since Dutch times, most dramatically in Lower Manhattan, and continuing in modern developments like Battery Park City. In 1846, at the outset of the Mexican-American War, a California Republic was founded and the Bear Flag was flown that featured a golden bear and a star. Upper New York Bay is surrounded by Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the coast of New Jersey, and is connected by the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island to Lower New York Bay, which is partially surrounded by Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the coast of New Jersey, and opens to the Atlantic Ocean. Upon Mexican independence from Spain, the chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government, and they were quickly dissolved and abandoned. The East River and Harlem River, really a single tidal strait, stretch from the Long Island Sound to New York Bay, separating the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island.

Beginning in the late 1700s, Spanish missionaries set up tiny settlements on enormous grants of land in the vast territory north of Baja California. The Hudson River, sometimes known in the city as the North River, flows from the Hudson Valley into New York Bay, becoming a tidal estuary that separates the Bronx and Manhattan from New Jersey. The first to explore the entire coast and claim possession of it was Francis Drake in 1579. There are also some smaller islands in the surrounding waters. The first European to explore parts of the coast was the Portuguese Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. The city itself has been built on the three major islands of Manhattan, Staten Island, and on western Long Island (Brooklyn and Queens), as well as on the mainland in the Bronx. Main article: History of California. New York City is situated among an archipelago of islands astride the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of North America, surrounding the fine New York Harbor, which was the very reason for the city's founding.

(For further discussion, see: Origin of the name California.). See also: Timeline of New York City crimes. The name comes from Las sergas de Espladián (Adventures of Spladian), a 16th century novel, by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, where there is an island paradise called California. For New York City crime Statistics see http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/pct/cspdf.html. In these early times, the boundaries of the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast were only partially explored and California was shown on early maps as an island. Another notorious crime story is the serial killings by the "Son of Sam", who on July 29, 1976 began a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year. The entire region originally known as California was composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California and the land in the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona and Wyoming, known as Alta California. New Yorkers are famous for doing things "bigger and better," and this sometimes applies to criminal activity: Organized crime has been associated with New York City since the early 20th Century, when legendary mobsters Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, and Lucky Luciano transformed it, although later decades are more famous for Mafia prosecutions (and prosecutors like Rudolph Giuliani) than for the influence of the Five Families.

The vast majority of the population lives within 50 miles (80 km) of the Pacific Ocean. California dominates American culture and economy, contributing significant advances in technology and legal reform, in addition to paying significantly more to the federal system than it receives in benefits. New York City's crime rates vary by neighborhood and borough; Staten Island is the safest overall and Brooklyn and The Bronx have the highest crime rates. Southern California is highly populated, while the larger northern California is less densely populated. Some feel that the implementation of COMPSTAT crime analysis by the New York Police Department in 1994 is responsible for the positive changes. postal abbreviation is CA, and its Associated Press abbreviation is Calif.. Violent crime in the city has dropped by 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2004 was at its lowest level in over forty years: there were 572 murders that year compared to 2,245 in 1990. California's U.S. Since 1991, New York City has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime and is now among the safest cities in America; many neighborhoods that were once considered dangerous are now thriving with new businesses and housing, and many residents feel safe to walk the streets late at night.

The state's official nickname of "The Golden State" is often thought to be a reference to California’s 1849 gold rush but is in fact reference to the native grasses that turn a golden color during the dry season. Unlike other counties in New York, judges for Family Courts in New York City are appointed for ten year terms by the mayor, instead of being elected. California is both physically and demographically diverse. Instead, there is a single Civil Court, with a presence in each borough and city-wide jurisdiction, and a Criminal Court for each New York City county which handles lesser criminal offenses and domestic violence cases, a responsibility shared with the Family Court. It is the most populous and third largest state in the U.S., has a population roughly the size of Canada and it is the sixth largest economy in the world. Unlike the rest of New York State, New York City does not have typical county courts. California is a state located in the western United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. If the mayor vetoes the bill, the Council has 30 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.

Walnut Creek (San Francisco Bay Area). Bills passed by a simple majority are sent to the mayor, who may sign it into law. Ventura (Greater Los Angeles). Like most legislative bodies, the City Council is divided into committees which have oversight of various functions of the city government. Torrance (Greater Los Angeles). Council members are elected every four years, and the leader of the majority party is called the Speaker. Thousand Oaks (Greater Los Angeles). Legislative power in New York City is vested in a unicameral City Council, which contains 51 members, each representing a district of approximately 157,000 people.

Temecula (equidistant between Inland Empire and San Diego Area). The divisions, each comprising several city agencies and headed by an appointed Deputy Mayor, are:. Sunnyvale (Silicon Valley). The mayor has executive authority over five divisions of city government as well as several independent government offices. Simi Valley (Greater Los Angeles). The executive branch of New York City is headed by the Mayor, who is elected by direct popular vote. Santa Clarita (Greater Los Angeles). Like most governmental entities in the United States, the city government is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Santa Clara (Silicon Valley). Though subservient to the State of New York, the city enjoys a high degree of legislative and executive autonomy. Santa Ana (Orange County). The charter is enacted and amended by the New York State legislature, and occasionally through referendum. Pasadena (Greater Los Angeles). New York City is governed pursuant to the New York City Charter, as amended. Palo Alto (Silicon Valley). See also: Neighborhood rebranding in New York City.

Ontario (Inland Empire). List of Staten Island neighborhoods. Newport Beach (Orange County). 459,737) is somewhat isolated and the most suburban in character of the five boroughs, but has become gradually more integrated into city life in recent decades, particularly since the opening of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in 1964, an event that bred controversy and even a recent attempt at secession. Irvine (Orange County). Staten Island (Richmond County, pop. Huntington Beach (Orange County). List of Queens neighborhoods.

Glendale (Greater Los Angeles). Geographically it is the largest of the boroughs, and the legacy of its old constituent towns is still evident. Fremont (San Francisco Bay Area). 2,225,486) is the most diverse county in the U.S., with more immigrants than anywhere else. Concord (San Francisco Bay Area). Queens (Queens County, pop. Chula Vista (San Diego Area). List of Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Burbank (Greater Los Angeles). It ranges from a business district downtown to large residential tracts in the central and south-eastern areas. Berkeley (San Francisco Bay Area). 2,472,523) is the most populous borough, with a strong native identity. Anaheim (Orange County). Brooklyn (Kings County, pop. Important suburbs (within or near the above urbanized areas)