Disappearing Hills

In my earliest memories, I recall my city, Brea, California, as a small, open town in the hills of northern Orange County. These hills, barren as they were, provided a sense of connection to the natural landscape for those of us in the town. Brea contains, now and in the past, many shopping centers and most of the city is urbanized; therefore, these hills, free of the grips of urbanization, were paramount in providing a balance between the hustle and bustle of the city with the untouched environment. I recall riding the bus on the way to elementary school and finding myself staring blankly at the hills as they were the only natural landscape that I had seen with my young eyes. They were not much of a sight—the hills lacked much greenery and were relatively unkept—yet the peacefulness of these unoccupied slopes was alluring. However, as early as 2007 housing began development on these hills beginning with Walden Estates. I did not notice what was going on at the time (the deterioration of the natural landscape), but the introduction of this small neighborhood would represent the beginning of a much larger development. Fast-forwarding to 2010, the Blackstone neighborhood began development and further took away from the serenity of the hills. This neighborhood brought ushered in a new era in Brea as these hills on the north side of Brea were completely repurposed for housing plots, eventually leading to even further development of shopping centers and parks alike. What was once a small town with an abundance of natural landscape features, transitioned to another urbanized, commercialized area deplete of nature with a rapidly growing population.