District 5 is made up of diverse neighborhoods running from Broadway to Florin Road to Freeport Blvd to 58th St. The most common heritage these neighborhoods share is that they were all once the suburban edge of Sacramento. From the oldest communities in Oak Park and Curtis Park, the growth of the city in the mid-century can be marked as the city grew into Tahoe Park, Colonial Heights, Hollywood Park, Fruitridge, Brentwood, City Farms, Golf Course Terrace, and other neighborhoods.
But many of these communities began to suffer as development and attention leapfrogged over these neighborhoods and left many to decline. The completion of Highway 99 in the 60’s stifled the commercial vitality of Stockton Blvd. and Franklin Blvd. The following decades saw a steady decline in many of these forgotten neighborhoods as the city and region bypassed them.
The call of this district is to promote and invest in these neglected neighborhoods in a manner that builds for the long term. The city has poured millions of redevelopment dollars into the area, but residents would be shocked at the price tag of these efforts when weighed against the progress they have seen.
I have lived in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Sacramento. I was a kid on Circle Parkway in 70’s. I lived in Valley Hi on Center Parkway in the 80’s and 90’s. Now I live just a few blocks south of Broadway and Franklin Blvd., nestled between some of the city’s wealthiest homeowners in Curtis Park and the poorest households of Oak Park. I know this city and this region because I have lived here, worked here, grown up here, and I raise a family here.
Kasey Cotulla
Neighborhoods
