Where is California's "Mississippi Delta"? (Sacramento, Bakersfield: rental, houseboats)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Let me add some comments to the OP's post.

A place where most people live in poverty, depending on the government for financial support (welfare, social security, farm subsidies, etc.).
I am from the Southern part of the state and I have not seen too much of what you are looking for around here.

A place where most people historically worked in agriculture and, due to the mechanization of farm labor, there is now a surplus of unemployed people.
Around here in Oxnard we grow strawberries and there is not a whole lot of mechanization when it comes to picking them. That job is labor intensive. Also the majority of people that pick the strawberries are of Latin American descent and can make more money here picking than they can back home.

A place with a high crime rate.
Most of the high crime areas that I am aware of have little to do with current or former agricultural workers. Most that I can pinpoint comes from urban areas where those commiting would never venture into the field to pick anything.

A place where substance abuse is high because a lot of people don't have anything better to do.
Once again, I don't know anyone in ag that has the time to spend getting high. Maybe drinking a bit. Not to say that it doesn't happen though. I can imagine some of the farm owners kids getting high. I was good friends with the owners of Mil-Gro and I do remember some of thier kids getting into some trouble. Then again I don't remember drugs. The Millers have a net worth of somewhere in the $60 million range so when kids have lots of money things can happen, if you get what i mean.

A place where the air is polluted with chemicals used in agriculture.
Wow, you don't know about the laws that this state has to go through to continue making the kind of produce that feeds the rest of the nation.

A place where the summers are long and hot.
The summers are long and hot in Palm Springs, but still I don't know how many people that live there that are working in Ag.

A place where schools perform poorly, usually because most students come from families where education DOESN'T begin at home.
Still I would see this as an inner city issue as most of the people I know in ag want to make sure that there kids don't have to work in the fields. My wifes grand parents are a prime example of that. They raised 15 kids and the older ones made sire that the younger ones could go to school so someone in that family would have a better life. It worked for the best. If you know Latino families they are very family oriented.

A place where the "best and brightest" have been leaving for decades.
People are always leaving California, but plenty return to take there place. Last I heard we were still the most populace state in the Union. Let me add that the best in the brightest in the nation seem to be here in California. I know in my part of the state we have the Bio Tech corridor with AmGen, Baxter and a slew of other Bio Tech companies. In the Northern part of the state we have Silicon valley and people from all over the globe seem to want to be there. It would almost seem that the best and the brightest from the remaining 49 states flock to California.

A place full of abandoned buildings
In most cities that I am aware of Agriculture is not the only thing going for it. Although I have seen towns with plenty of abandoned buildings, that was not due to agriculture. I remember visiting Taft California, a city based on the crude oil industry. When things are down the city can close down or get close to it. Still plenty of people still live there.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by Chris Balducci

I already live in the "real" Mississippi Delta, so I have no desire to move to California's version of it, which I think exists somewhere in the San Joaquin Valley.

The response above this post was excellent. California is not Mississippi and there are no Mississippi Delta like areas socially, we have a very nice delta with hundreds of miles of waterways, and quaint little delta towns with fine catfish. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

The response above this post was excellent. California is not Mississippi and there are no Mississippi Delta like areas socially, we have a very nice delta with hundreds of miles of waterways, and quaint little delta towns with fine catfish. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta.

Generally accepted to be a thousand miles of waterway ... love it. Just left there a week ago. Dog was in heaven swimming everyday we camped. No leeches either, unlike Mississippi's delta ... or poisonous snakes, gators, etc.

And you can add to catfish, all the list below ... terrific fishing:
American Shad
Large and Smallmouth Bass
Bluegill
Crappie
Blue, Bullhead, Channel, Flathead and White Catfish
Salmon
Steelhead
Striped Bass
Sturgeon

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

Generally accepted to be a thousand miles of waterway ... love it. Just left there a week ago. Dog was in heaven swimming everyday we camped. No leeches either, unlike Mississippi's delta ... or poisonous snakes, gators, etc.

And you can add to catfish, all the list below ... terrific fishing:
American Shad
Large and Smallmouth Bass
Bluegill
Crappie
Blue, Bullhead, Channel, Flathead and White Catfish
Salmon
Steelhead
Striped Bass
Sturgeon

Ya fergot delta smelt.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Ya fergot delta smelt.

*sigh* ... no, I didn't ... I purposely left it out so as to avoid ... well, you know what's next now that you've thrown that fish up on the bank

[.highnlite]

[quote=nullgeo;24510538]

Generally accepted to be a thousand miles of waterway ... love it.

Yes, I have read that it has a thousand miles of waterway, I need a rainy night with nothing to do, drag out my Topo! program and verify that number.

In fact, I may start now, I just finished a job, time to relax.

[Bulldogdad]

I believe the "thousand miles of water ways" is the square miles the Delta encompasses.

It is a Natural California Gem to be sure.

[sacramento916]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Oh, I like them fine. Spent a lot of time in them while living in Sacramento for almost 2 years. Stockton, Lodi, Galt, Modesto, where are they?

Funky is fine and fun.

Sac delta has some slow and tiny towns that feel like they are stuck in time. But they are hardly impoverished, and not anywhere like the poverty in MS.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by Bulldogdad

I believe the "thousand miles of water ways" is the square miles the Delta encompasses.

It is a Natural California Gem to be sure.

Nope: boat-able miles.
Yep: gem.

Used to keep a liveaboard boat in Isleton. Sometimes think I will again.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by sacramento916

Sac delta has some slow and tiny towns that feel like they are stuck in time. But they are hardly impoverished, and not anywhere like the poverty in MS.

I know. I was just joshing him. Strange question. Even Locke's been coming back, or was when we left, or maybe because we left. Hell, I don't know. But Al the Wop's was doin' fine.