When will S.J. finally be free from foreclosure grip?
At the end of each year, The Record news staff evaluates the region's most newsworthy events from the preceding 12 months. The resulting list of the year's Top 25 stories is offered to readers, who pick their Top 10 through online voting. This story is part of a week-long series looking back at 2011.
» Readers' pick No. 3: Foreclosure crisis keeps hold on San Joaquin County.
(Record staff No. 3: Public safety emerges as a labor issue)
Home ownership is the most obvious measuring stick of the American dream.
It represents personal security, wealth, comfort and status. Even with plunging values, owning your own home remains the primary way the middle class invests in the future.
And nowhere in the nation has home ownership been more fragile than in San Joaquin County.
The continuing, when-will-it-ever-end foreclosure crisis was rated by Record readers as the third most important story of 2011 - for good reason. It affected so many of them.