1/ Southwest Fresno residents together suffer from numerous problems: bad air, poor health, high crime, low income. Will California's high-speed rail project turn the community around? @davelevinthal reports in our latest Abandoned in America story. bit.ly/2Ondqs1
@davelevinthal 2/ Fresno Mayor Lee Brand believes economic development projects — particularly California high-speed rail — could significantly improve life in Southwest Fresno, a historically neglected part of the city. 
@davelevinthal 3/ Supporters of the high-speed train say it could whisk Fresno residents to Silicon Valley and Los Angeles in about an hour, establishing California’s 5th most populous city as an essential connecting point for northern and southern California.
@davelevinthal 4/It's been 4 years since politicians broke ground on the high-speed rail project. The most optimistic projection for initial service to begin is 2022 with an estimated cost of more than $77 billion. The overall project is nowhere close to being fully funded.
@davelevinthal 5/Overall public enthusiasm for California high-speed rail has waned in the 10 years, but Gov. Jerry Brown is now seeking federal assistance from President Trump to fund the project.
@davelevinthal 6/This could be another chance for Trump to redeem himself in some residents' eyes. Back in 2007, he said he could make historically neglected Southwest Fresno "the hot side of town" with a massive golf course project. It never happened.
@davelevinthal 7/Gary Hunt and Ivanka Saunders say their neighborhood has numerous needs like cleaner air, better job opportunities, safer streets. They're hopeful about a high-speed rail, "but we’re suspicious after we’ve been duped so many times” by politicians and businesspeople.
@davelevinthal 8/ While politicians fight over @CaHSRA's bullet train project, dozens of Southwest Fresno residents reported a real need for massive government intervention and incentives to help people lift themselves out of poverty and transform their community.
@davelevinthal @CaHSRA 9/Southwest Fresno is an overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhood where few Trump political supporters are found. Nevertheless, they want the president to pay attention and support their community now. bit.ly/2Ondqs1
