Check out the map link at reply #12...
My county, just across the river to the south has suffered from arrested development during the same period and is as light colored as your very northerly CA county.
Before, I couldn't find an affordable place to move to in Placer because of the boom, so now maybe I can move across the river due to the bust... I'm sure most of the darker coloration in Placer is due to the part closest to Sacramento, however.
I'm off to look for a forclosure in Placer County, tubebender!!!(either that, or a swap)
I wish I could. I have some stupid setting on my computer that won't let me view it. I have the same problem with some javascript links (and Chron.com--I can't view any articles at all on their website). One of these days I'll hire a computer geek to come figure it out for me--I've already spent hours trying to fix it, to no avail.