Thank you to SJPC note-taker Jacob Benitez for his work on this piece!
The City of Sacramento Community Development Department (CDD) held a meeting on Thursday September 22, 2022 with members of the community and local organizations to discuss the Stockton Blvd Plan.
*graphics in this post are pulled from Community Working Version of the Stockton Blvd Plan - linked here
What is the Stockton Blvd plan?
The plan’s primary stated goal is to transform Stockton Blvd into a “thriving corridor that expands opportunities for existing residents and small businesses while accommodating growth and centering racial equity”.
In order to combat gentrification and displacement (hypothetically), the CDD created values that are to guide (hypothetically) the Stockton Blvd Plan.
Why does this plan matter?
The Stockton Blvd Plan is still a work in progress and is being prepared and molded by community members and engagement teams.
It is important that anti-displacement values are prioritized so that people are kept in their homes and in their communities in the face of increasing rent and economic pressure. Ultimately, displacement occurs when individuals and families (mainly in lower-income households) are forced to move out of their neighborhoods because of rising housing costs and other neighborhood conditions that drive people out. This plan aims to help combat the gentrification in communities which occurs when the essential character of a neighborhood is changed by higher income households displacing lower income ones. Ultimately, gentrification has a clear racial component that must be combatted.
What are the priority actions?
The Plan hopes to prioritize taking care of people in the Stockton Blvd Corridor at its heart. This includes helping people stay where they need to live and help local businesses thrive.
Tier 2 involves strategies for longer term vibrancy which include items that may be more difficult and time consuming, for example the development of a transportation plan.
Tier 3 involves overall community leadership .
Citywide Policy Actions - keep in mind that these "policy actions" do not represent any real efforts on the part of the City to combat the housing crisis - they're pretty much all talk
2021-2029 Housing element
This housing element is an 8 year strategic plan on developing affordable housing and anti-displacement measure in the city.
Local Homeless Action plan
This plan is in partnership with Sacramento Steps Forward and the Sacramento County to ramp up access for homeless response and shelter response.
Comprehensive Siting Plan
This plan works together with the Homelessness Action to build permanent housing for those who are at risk.
What anti-displacement measures have been set in place?
The CPBA allocates money for anti-displacement efforts including $16 million out of a total of $50 million going towards infrastructure financing over time. 20% of the $50 million (which is $16 million) is set aside for affordable housing. Currently, $29 million has been allocated towards affordable housing development and $10 million total for anti displacement programming.
What projects are under construction?
The following chart demonstrates the current projects under development or in construction in the Stockton Blvd area.
Next steps?
So far, the project has done relatively well at collecting community feedback and responses from the areas of the community that need the most support. Requests for home repair, homeless prevention, first time homebuyer assistance, and rental assistance have been made. Programs for anti-displacement efforts are set to launch in late 2022 and early 2023.
Hopefully things like the Stockton Blvd Plan can actually help to combat displacement and prompt equity in Sacramento.
The Stockton Blvd Plan can be found here: Stockton Blvd Plan | Community Working Version (konveio.com)
The thing is, we have seen time and time again that the business community in Sacramento has NO vested interest in helping lower-income folx, or to actually taking any meaningful action to combat the housing crisis. On the contrary, they have consistently shown a disregard for the humanity and safety of our unhoused neighbors (see any number of blog posts on the issue here). Including input from the business community is not the same thing as ensuring equity. We need to monitor the development of this project and do our best to ensure the protection of marginalized communities living within its parameters.