Michelle Say

Teresa and Michelle Palmisano used to shoot hoops in the driveway of their parents' Ventura home, dreaming about the day they would play on the same professional basketball team. The girls became stars of their high school basketball teams, eventually earning full athletic scholarships to college, where they were all-Americans. Teresa went on to play professional basketball for various teams in Europe, scoring 42 points in one game.

When crossing through Southwinds park these days, Oxnard resident Ron Holton more often hears the whooshing sound of soccer balls flying through the air than the wail of a police siren. It wasn't always this way. This sprawling patch of green in south Oxnard used to be a seedy haven for drug dealers, gangbangers and drunks, recalls Holton, chairman of the Southwinds Neighborhood Council.

Welcome to California's capital of "almost." Jim Vetter, for instance, is almost ready to leave. His underground art gallery was supposed to have become part of a cultural explosion--a tech-moneyed Left Bank, a Silicon Valley Soho. Unfortunately, what mostly caught fire was the 25-year-old artist's cost of living. "This almost worked, but I'm outta here," Vetter shrugged, rubbing his beard in irritation. "I don't know why anyone would intentionally come to San Jose."