Opinion: A note to our readers on the ‘Reimagine California’ project

In early May, the Los Angeles Times opinion team asked you, our readers, for your thoughts on how our democracy, economy and society might change for the better after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The feedback was remarkable.

We collected more than 3,700 responses on multiple platforms.

The submissions are like a time capsule of your fears during an extraordinary period of uncertainty. You identified big holes in our social fabric. You expressed hopes for a more equitable and better prepared future.

And yet so much has changed since you responded. The death of George Floyd in late May and subsequent nationwide protests brought forth a national reckoning on policing and race. Tragically, the pandemic has spread throughout the nation, and California has become one of the COVID-19 hot zones. We owe an update to you, two months after we first asked for your thoughts.

• We’re using your responses to inform the pieces we will publish in the months to come

  If you have not yet filled out our survey but would like to, please click here. If you already submitted a survey response but would like to contribute additional feedback, please click here.

  Using that input and what we’ve received so far, we plan to highlight reader letters, assign opinion essays and editorials, and incorporate data-driven analysis to summarize what readers told us.

  In the meantime, we hope you read our Letters editor Paul Thornton’s commentary digging into some of the most noteworthy themes and offering a sampling of the submissions.
  

• We’re reaching out to readers as we continue with our project and with covering the pandemic

  We are in the process of reaching out to readers who shared their thoughts to fill them in on what we’ve discussed here, share opportunities to collaborate with us further, answer any questions and field adjusted responses.

  We’ll have more to say in those conversations, but for now: Respondents, thank you. You took part in our survey because you believe a better California is possible, and that’s a powerful sentiment. We appreciate your patience, your feedback and your attention.

We hope you stay tuned for more on our “Reimagine California” effort. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comments section and a staff member will get back to you.