I don't live in that area, but am not too far away- before the recent spike in prices, $100/sq ft was probably the average in many places. That doubled to around $200/sqft, and although prices are going back down, I see local listings still trying to be sold at that ridiculously inflated value.
That conspiracy show with Jesse Ventura did an episode about corporations and water privatization. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I think Nestle was a focus.