Moorpark

The 1990s brought a more diverse population to Ventura County. Due largely to an influx of Latinos in every local city, and a boom in upscale housing in the east county, the number of Ventura County residents rose to 753,000--up 84,000 in 10 years. The people pictured below represent the region’s increasing diversity.

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Kim Carbonati’s family followed the well-worn trail from Los Angeles County to Ventura County’s new eastern suburbs of big salmon stucco houses and red tile roofs.

Carbonati, 44, and husband Harry, 46, moved here from Long Beach in 1990 after repeated visits to friends in the area sold them on the rugged beauty of the Simi Hills and small-town life in Moorpark.

Now, they are raising two young sons in a 3,200-square-foot house twice as large as their previous one. She runs the family pizza parlor across from the local high school and even brought her mother down from Alaska to help. He commutes to Santa Barbara, where he is a manager at Raytheon Co.

“My husband says this is as close to paradise as you get,” Kim Carbonati said. “I think everybody who comes here is looking for what we found--a good family lifestyle and a safe environment. Our block, I think, is all families.”