The examples are all around us everywhere you look. Here’s a data point for you.
SD County population in 1995 2.6M.
SD County population in 2010 3.1M.
Do you beleive the additional 500,000 people are all poor?
Something from the census
Median Household income in 1989 was $35,000
Median Household income in 1999 was $47,000
Median Household income in 2008 was $62,000
You would have to be blind or at least have your eyes closed not to see how much this area has changed over the last 15 years.
Yes it got hammered in the 1990’s and alot of people you ask will say it has gotten hammered again. On a nominal basis the declines are far greater this time around. Granted homes were lower priced then but homes in nice middle class neighborhoods did not fall $200 to 300K in the 90’s like they have now.