California, Pivot of the Great Recession
http://metrostudies.berkeley.edu/pubs/reports/Walker_93.pdf
Here's more news to bear out what Walker's saying. There are links to the studies cited at the Times website:
Poverty rate soars in hard-hit Inland Empire
October 7, 2010 | 1:24 pm
The Inland Empire has seen a significant increase in poverty since the recession began, according to a new study released Thursday.
The Brookings report, based on Census data, found that the Inland Empire's poverty rate rose from 11.8% in 2007 to 15.4% in 2009.
The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area saw a 3.4% increase in the poverty rate over that three-year span, according to the report.
Brookings said that was the third-highest increase for a suburban area, behind Lakeland, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.
The Inland Empire has been particularly hard-hit by the economic downturn, which was fueled by the bursting of the region's once red-hot real estate bubble. In Riverside County, the unemployment rate is now 14.8%, and a new report finds it will be several years before it goes back into single digits.
-- Shelby Grad