The hidden history of Santa Monica’s Black coastal enclaves.
Economy
Posted inArticles
7 statistics that illuminate the housing crisis
Headwaters Economics shines a light on record-breaking costs in the West.
Posted inArticles
Home after fire: A new housing model aims to give kids stability
Wildfires often hit low-income, minority families the hardest. Talent, Oregon, offers a home-grown solution to the displacement that follows.
Posted inArticles
How community control of housing and land can help solve the housing crisis
Communities are turning to land trusts and real estate cooperatives as possible solutions.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Where do public lands factor into the homelessness crisis?
As the housing crisis in the West deepens, more unhoused people are making a home outside.
Posted inArticles
What Las Vegas area workers say about navigating record unemployment rates
Federal benefits ended last month, but over 100,000 Nevadans are still out of work.
Posted inArticles
Why investing in libraries is a climate justice issue
For vulnerable communities, libraries are increasingly becoming a refuge in times of disaster.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Idaho denies proposed land exchange
The state found that the timber tracts offered in a proposed trade are worth much less than the land around Payette Lake.
Posted inArticles
In spite of bans, evictions in New Mexico continued during the pandemic
Landlords and property managers filed more than 11,000 eviction notices since April 2020.
Posted inArticles
California tribal colleges offer ‘sense of belonging’ for Native students
While the schools boost retention and graduation rates, they face funding and accreditation hurdles.
Posted inArticles
Illegal marijuana grows are stealing from California’s scarce water
As drought grips the Golden State, water thefts have increased to record levels. The most common offender: illegal pot farms.
Posted inArticles
The threat of wildfire in the West arrives alongside tourists
In Mammoth Lakes, California, residents are still anxious from the 2020 fire season.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Crowds swarm the public lands
Land managers and gateway communities struggle to keep up.
Posted inArticles
Can the sun solve New Mexico’s energy conundrum?
The state is dependent on oil and gas, but Carlsbad has opportunity to become the epicenter of renewable energy.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Oil and gas behemoth ExxonMobil shaken by shareholders
Three new directors appointed to company’s board could steer a transition to renewables.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Cannabis has a carbon problem
The burgeoning marijuana industry gobbles up electricity.
Posted inArticles
Solving the West’s housing crisis
We need to care for the priced-out average worker or something is bound to break.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
The Los Angeles River’s overlooked anglers
Unhoused Angelenos use the urban river as a source of sustenance, but a proposal to revitalize the waterway could push them out.
Posted inArticles
What’s the value of tracking recreation in the West?
Fast-growing Western communities face a paradox of increased visitors.