A major reason the Auburn Dam is needed, in addition to providing flood protection for Sacramento at the appropriate 500 year level, and protecting the integrity of the Parkway by not having to constantly use it as a flood waters conveyance system; is to provide water and power to the thousands moving here to fill these new homes being built in our area.
An excerpt.
Hot ... or not: Nearly 8,000 more homes on drawing board
One Elk Grove tract saw a boom of thousands of new houses; the timing for an adjacent tract is less certain
By Jim Wasserman -- Bee Staff Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, August 6, 2006
This tale of two vast land developments -- and what it says about the fickle fate of timing and changing fortunes of the capital region's home building industry -- begins with Vanjay Lee's $224,000 house in Elk Grove.
In December 2001, Lee signed a deal for a two-story, four-bedroom home to be built -- at an amazing price by today's standards -- in an empty area of Elk Grove known as the East Franklin Specific Plan. Five months later, the Sacramento resident and his family moved in and became suburban pioneers on 2,470 acres that were once home to dairy cows and jack rabbits. Lee hardly guessed he would soon see one of the most astounding housing booms in the capital region's history.
As hordes of construction workers carved out streets and poured concrete foundations around him on the land south of Elk Grove Boulevard, he could look across a landscape that developers predicted would take 10 years -- or maybe even 20 -- to fill up with homes.
It took a little more than three.
"Since I moved here, I have seen houses grow like a mushroom coming from the ground," said Lee, who can count about 10,000 new homes and two Starbucks stores within an easy drive. His own house has more than doubled in value.
Now, after the blinding speed that built East Franklin, developers are preparing a parallel suburban universe -- the Laguna Ridge Specific Plan -- just across the street.
On 1,900 wide-open acres, where valley oaks and grasslands make a spectacular setting during winter fog and summer sunsets, developers plan nearly 8,000 more homes, a civic center and five schools for one of California's fastest-growing cities.
