Nowhere is the impact of growth more evident than on the sloping pasture of Eddie and Alice De Costa's ranch off Corona Road on Petaluma's outskirts. During the past 10 years, they've watched as Petaluma swept up to the edge of their 10-acre property, dotting their view with hundreds of homes, four school sites and a shopping center. He walks his hillside with about 20 beef steers and his pets, and laughs about what time has done to his world. Oh, boy, has it ever changed. But nowadays, that is all you see.
Houses are everywhere.
The population figures for California's cities and counties, delivered at the end of the first round of Census 2000 releases, continued a trend reported across much of the country that shows dramatic increases in Latino populations. In Sonoma County, the number of Latinos jumped 93 percent to 79,511. Latino numbers grew by 83 percent in Lake County and 72 percent in Mendocino County. Statewide, Latinos grew by 43 percent. Although the preliminary findings of Census 2000 only begin to paint a portrait of America, the figures released Thursday provide the numbers the state and county governments need to begin redrawing boundaries for congressional, state legislative and county supervisorial districts.