The California Wellness Foundation’s Advancing Wellness Poll shows disparities not only between different California neighborhoods, but between the state’s regions. In the fast-growing Inland Empire, communities and jobs are often far apart, and residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties endure some of the nation’s dirtiest air and longest commutes. With wages low, people often work more, making it harder to find time for family and neighbors. Despite these stresses, the Wellness survey shows a community that embraces diversity and perceives itself optimistically—powerful signs that point to a bright future. How can communities in the Inland Empire better meet the challenges of population growth and sprawl? How can local institutions harness community good will to strengthen families and neighborhoods hampered by time and economic pressures? Greer Sullivan, director of UC Riverside’s Center for Healthy Communities, Rev. Samuel J. Casey, executive director of Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement, Luz Gallegos, community programs director at TODEC Legal Center, and research economist John Husing visit Zócalo to examine what it takes to build the community of the future in the Inland Empire. 

This event is part of a Zócalo Inquiry into what makes a healthy neighborhood, produced in conjunction with The California Wellness Foundation’s Advancing Wellness Poll.