When 4,000 Homes Close In On A Canyon Lifestyle

"Residents of these rural Orange County enclaves have fought to keep tract homes and sidewalks out of the canyons. But after losing a drawn-out battle against a developer that plans to build nearly 4,000 homes on the hills and grasslands, some say many of the things that set the canyon way of life apart are being lost.

...Theirs is a familiar story in Southern California as the region's last open spaces are developed. People flee the city and find peace in the rural rough edges. Yet they inevitably waken one day and find the trappings of urban life on their doorstep, or at least down the street."