Summary
The entire hillside was transformed into a patchwork of gated communities, and over the past 15 years, El Dorado Hills, as developers dubbed the spot, has been one of the fastest-growing areas in California. When a citizen formally asked the EPA to test the town's public areas for asbestos in 2003, Barber quickly emerged as the agency's most determined local foe.
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Extract
Not in Their Back Yard
The land in question is a high, rolling hillside, where California's Central Valley slopes into the Sierra foothills. Many have been drawn here, and after the first stampede, for gold in 1849, most left disappointed. Then the land lay virtually empty for many years until, as the state capital grew, its emptiness became valuable. In the late 1970s, as the local Chamber of Commerce tells it, a developer was traveling along U.S. Highway 50 when, 25 miles east of Sacramento, he looked up and had a vision.
Grand homes started to appear, followed by fine schools, lush golf courses, and a central shopping district modeled after a Tuscan village. The entire hillside was transformed into a patchwork of gated communities, and over the past 15 years, El Dorado Hills, as developers dubbed the spot, has been one of the fastest-growing areas in California. "High per capita income along with low crime rates have attracted many new families to this vibrant and desirable destination of the future," says the Chamber of Commerce's website. "As the name 'El Dorado' translates, this is ...See the full content of this document
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