Special Report Archives

North County has been experiencing a growth spurt for more than a decade. The area boasts seven of the 10 fastest growing cities in San Diego County -- Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Oceanside, Poway, San Marcos and Vista -- and 41 percent of new home sales in the county.

Like the wallflowers transformed into beauties on TV reality shows, South County is undergoing its own "extreme makeover."

If you sit on the left side of a plane making an approach into San Diego's Lindbergh Field, you can't miss the towering construction cranes downtown. Most of them are doing the heavy lifting for a building that will house dozens, if not hundreds, of condos or apartments.

With housing and property prices in coastal San Diego still in the stratosphere, growth in the East County has picked up a lot of buyers looking for a piece of the ownership dream at a lower price.

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Riverside County formed in 1893 and is the fourth largest county in the state, comprised of more than 7,200 square miles of river valleys, deserts, mountains, foothills and plains. The county was first known for its agriculture - primarily the citrus industry -- but commerce, construction, manufacturing, transportation and tourism are now considered major contributors to the county's economic base.

In this special section, the Corporate Directors Forum, together with The Daily Transcript, call attention to San Diego's outstanding leaders with the 14th annual Director of the Year Awards, taking place March 1.