Time Essay: What Ever Happened to California?

Before TIME Correspondent David De Voss moved to a new assignment, he spent nearly five years observing the California scene. This farewell essay gives his impressions of his favorite state's current condition.

Atop a bluff ten miles outside Sacramento sits California's opulent new Governor's mansion. When former Governor Ronald Reagan called for its construction a decade ago, he admonished his bureaucracy to design a home that symbolized the bustle and promise of America's fastest-growing state. Completed three years ago, the residence does indeed capture California's quicksilver suburbanty. It has expansive verandas, teakwood floors,...