California's gloomy future

According to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California, the state soon will face serious challenges in providing sufficient resources for education and transportation, and those needs are compounded by a lack of public awareness and a paucity of political leadership, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 8 million to 10 million more people will live here by 2025. And the state doesn't produce enough college graduates to fuel its own economy, nor is it preparing its roads, water resources or once-celebrated school system for the future. The toughest challenge will be in transportation, where spending has not kept pace and - if current trends continue - commute times could increase by almost 50 percent by 2025. "The voters, who will have a major say in what type of future we have, are very disengaged and very distrustful," said Mark Baldassare, director of research. "The public is not particularly aware and not impressed with the ability of state and local government to plan for the future."
Indeed, only 5 percent of Californians know the size of the state's current population (36 million), and only 13 percent put the 2025 population in the 40 million to 49 million range, according to the report, "California 2025: Taking on the Future".