Maps depicted California as an island for hundreds of years after it was discovered to be connected to the mainland. Why? 🧵 The first European to spot CA was Spanish mutineer Fortún Jiménez in 1533. Hernán Cortéz sailed part way up the Gulf of California two years later looking for gold. During the expedition Cortéz drew the first map of California, which included just the southern tip of Baja.

1830 Map of Central California by José María Narváez. Notice how the Central Valley is submerged beneath a 300-mile long, 30-mile wide shallow lake/marsh Another depiction of this lake/marsh, albeit somewhat smaller, can be seen in this 1843 map from American explorer, general, and politician John C. Frémont.

1/9: Gov Newsom this week announced the first 10 hotel-to-homeless-housing conversion projects using $600 million of COVID relief money from #ProjectHomekey. How do these projects stack up? 2/9: What really jumps out is the value. These 10 projects will secure 579 units for $76.5 million, or about $132k per unit. That's WAY cheaper than is typical for these projects. For example, this Oakland project cost $314k per unit: huduser.gov/portal/pdredge…