Nearly a perfect storm of excessive optimism - a hot, unpleasant-looking Central Valley city full of gang violence and meth labs where new home developers overbuilt and thought they could con people into moving because it's "only" a two hour commute to San Francisco. And still, I'll bet most of the foreclosures there are on bent-rules sales to illegals...
I've come to the conclusion that the desire to live a semi-rural lifestyle is the root of all evil for borrowers. If you want to live in the country, live in the country. If you need to work in the city, live in the city. Living in the suburbs - especially distant suburbs - is the worst of both worlds. You overpay for all of the same noise and traffic and bad schools and youth crime you'll find in the city without any of the convenience and cultural amenities.
There’s a simple reason I like the suburbs.
Living in the city=living with crime, liberals, freaks, gays, dirt, traffic and noise.
Living in the country=driving to the city to work unless you like living on minimum wage...
I know you’re more a fan of city living but that’s a minority of conservatives.