I've always heard it called the "armpit of California" and its politics resemble that of Mississippi. On the other hand, it has a large Latino population and a growing Democratic movement, and some beautiful and interesting neighborhoods where diverse cultures are flowering. Its LGBT community is particularly strong (and it has to be given its location).

However, the HSR system will be the demographic equivalent of putting Lenin on a sealed train bound for the Finland Station. It will make Fresno a desirable place to live for people currently priced out of LA or the Bay Area, producing over time a more Democratic electorate. This is what happened further north, when the Tracy area became home to folks priced out of the Bay Area who ousted a longtime Republican member of Congress in the 2006 election.

Fresno will be utterly transformed by HSR. If its right-wing residents understood the nature of that transformation they'd fight the train to the death. So far though, they have other things they're focused on...for now...

And the world will live as one