California

My Home Towns

     I was born in Boston, Massachusetts but I moved to southern California when I was 9 weeks old.  My dad was born in Massachusetts and my mom is a native Californian, so I consider myself to be from both states.

http://www.genengnews.com/media/images/AnalysisAndInsight/UGENWebsitepicturesTopStoriesAnalysisInsight2011March7_2011_USMapCAandMA_BiotechClustersAI1492482332.jpg

A Tale of Two Cities

     You might think that this title refers to a comparison between Boston and L.A. or Boston and San Francisco.  I’m referring to the section in Mayda on Cultural Perspectives: A Least Two Californias. (pg. 513)  In the book, it explains that California is divided by north and south in terms of water and population, the Mexican allegiance and Beach Boy culture versus hippies.  There have been a few attempts to actually divide California into two states.

     This reminds me a bit of Massachusetts.  Residents from the western portion of the state actually refer to it as Western Mass.  There is a much smaller population in the west and yet most of the resources are in the west.  One of the biggest issues is the development of the Quabbin Reservoir.  It was built in 1939 to supply water to the state but in reality it was to create a large enough water source to provide water for Boston and it’s suburbs.  To build this reservoir, the state had to flood 39 square miles of developed land.  The entire populations of four towns (Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott) had to be relocated.  Homes, businesses, highways and even cemetery gravesites had to be either moved or dismantled.  Needless to say, this didn’t go over well with Western Mass.  While no one is suggesting a division into two states, it does seem like a similar story.

     In the late 1980s, Professor Ed Klekowski and a group of divers from UMass Amherst collaborated with Massachusetts State Recovery Divers to explore the reservoir to "search for the lost cities of the Quabbin".  If you go to the following link, you can watch a video about the history of the area, what was lost and what can still be found underwater.  If you go to http://video.wgby.org/video/2365046325/ you can watch a video by Professor Klekowski about the dive and what was found. The video belongs to station WGBY 57 and wasn't on YouTube so I didn't upload it.  The video below is a presentation of still photos to show you what the city of Dana and the surrounding countryside looked like before it was flooded. It's really hard to see how they could justify this.   

The Lost city of Dana, Massachusetts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8h1MkxroJ4

Informal Economy

     California isn’t the only state with an informal economy.  The chapter seemed to focus mostly on this concept as it relates to untrained immigrant workers and undocumented workers.  I do see this as a huge problem, especially when it exploits those who don’t have the skills or education necessary to get a better paying job.  Instead they have to settle for a job with poor wages and no benefits.  I can also understand how this process can hurt the economic growth of a city or state in the long run because of the loss of tax revenues. 

     In some cases an informal economy develops out of a need to earn money anyway you can.  I remember during my first trips to Boston, we would go to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Markets all the time.  There are always a number of street performers outside, none of which are hired by any of the local businesses.  There are dancers, musicians, and comedians.  One time we even saw a female mime covered in silver paint and wearing a silver leotard.  These performers put out buckets or hat to collect “donations” but this is really a form of untaxed wages. I think a lot of people enjoy these performers and they probably draw bigger crowds to these tourist areas and they make some money on the side as well.  I suppose this has a negative effect on tax revenues from income but it also seems to bring a lot more people to areas like this. I chose the video below not so much because of the entertainment but because of the view of Faneuil Hall.

Street Performer at Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA

     Another form of informal economy takes place on Cape Cod.  Many businesses hire undocumented workers for motels and tourist businesses.  A lot of these workers are young people from Europe who come and work through the summer to make money and visit the states.  These employees are “under-the-table cash employees” Then at the end of the summer, some would go back and others would stay in the states illegally.  This has always been a big area of debate because the businesses feel that tourism brings in enough tax revenue the permanent residents don’t want undocumented workers staying in the towns. 

     I also found an article online in the Cape Cod times from back in 2006 that talked about the problem with undocumented workers begin hired by legitimate businesses in Massachusetts.  Most of these were construction related businesses so Massachusetts also has that in common with California’s informal economy.  I just couldn’t find any information as to whether or not these potential employees stood on street corners or if they were simply hired outright by the businesses.