Exurbs Hit Hard by Housing Crisis

"Victorville and other exurbs like it lie at the core of America's mortgage meltdown. A year ago, it was America's second-fastest-growing city (behind New Orleans) with a 9.5 percent surge between July 2006 and July 2007. Now, foreclosures have more than doubled in the county. New home prices in the city have plunged 43 percent."

"But while new exurbs – those once fast-growing communities at the fringe of major metropolitan areas – will rebound much more slowly than traditional suburban and urban communities, housing experts say, city leaders here are more upbeat. They have one advantage: They've learned how to handle downturns, offering one model of survival for other exurbs reeling from the housing crisis."