Only three years after the discovery of gold, the fast-growing county was formed from portions of Sutter and Yuba counties on April 25, 1851 with Auburn as the county seat.

In both 1981-84 and 1984-87 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire were amongst the fast-growing counties, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Wight.

So, it seems, are a lot of other communities in the region's fast-growing rural counties.

About 134,000 people live in this fast-growing county, a number that is expected to grow to 180,000 by 2020.

The agency is in the midst of an ambitious capital plan that includes three urban light-rail projects and a half-dozen new commuter rail lines proposed for fast-growing counties.

The fast-growing suburban counties are running out of employees, while Newark, Jersey City and other cities still support large groups of jobless people who cannot find a way to get to the jobs.

Mr. Hughes, who writes extensively on New Jersey's demographic trends, sees the most pronounced changes in the fast-growing central counties that he calls "the wealth belt."

However, lack of local control and accountability over roads became much more of an issue late in the 20th century, especially in fast-growing counties.

Late in the 20th century, the problems inherent in this arrangement became especially apparent with regards to the secondary roads system in many fast-growing suburban counties outside incorporated towns and cities.

Lancaster County also shares the predicament of being a fast-growing county with pressure to preserve agricultural land.