Future of Sacramento (San Jose, Fresno, Stockton: real estate, homes, neighborhoods)

[zen_klown]

What do you think the Sacramento region will be like in 2030, a little more than 20 years from now.

I assume that anglo population will have peaked in size and that most of the growth in the region will be from a lot more hispanic and asians moving into the region.

In 2030, most of North Natomas will be as old as most of South Natomas is today. I imagine that North Natomas will look a lot like South Natomas does today. I think a lot of Elk Grove could look like a lot of South Sacramento as well. But either Galt or next edge city south of Galt will look a lot Elk Grove does today.

I also think the largest city in Sutter County could be on the Sutter County border with Sacramento County.

I am hopeful that West Sacramento will be considered a success of urban redevelopment and people will talk about the time when you buy into West Sacramento for next to nothing.

By this time the San Jose Kings may have won an NBA title and Sacramento will debating public funding for Baseball Stadium in order to bring the A's to the Sacramento region.

UC Davis will have an athletic program as strong as Fresno State's is today. Sacramento State will have dropped football, but its basketball and volleyball programs will be competitive nationally. CSU Roseville will be making the transition to division 1 athletics. The University of Sacramento will have its main campus in Placer County and the library will be named after a greek developer.

Fulton Avenue will go through a period were its mostly abandoned as the car dealerships move out to automalls, but the area will be colonized by hispanic businesses the way Stockton blvd has been colonized by Asian businesses. Folsom Blvd in Rancho Cordova will challenge Stockton Blvd as the areas center for asian community. Rancho Cordova will be the first city in the region to have an Asian majority on its city council.

Foothill farms and Lincoln will be hispanic neighborhoods.

The region will hail the success of urban growth plans and then largely ignore those same plans. After the region declares an area reserved as open space, developers will buy those same regions up cheaply as undevelopable land and then through campaign contributions get those areas approved for growth making a fortune in the process (in the way North Natomas was approved despite the fact that its in a flood plain). Growth will largely follow the existing freeways.

[bigdave01]

All sounds pretty accurate. However, I think the Kings will be in Las Vegas, and both UCD and Sac State will be in the WAC. Hopefully we can get the A's, although they are building a new stadium in Fremont, so its not very likely.

It will be interesting to see what happens to suburbs like Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Rocklin, etc. I agree that Elk Grove will go downhill along with North Natomas, but what will happen in the eastern suburbs? Will Auburn and Placerville be the new hotspots? I think the large undeveloped area south of 50 will probably be big, Folsom is annexing a lot of land down there. I agree with your assesment of West Sac, it has a very bright future.

I don't know about Galt. That is a long ways down there. I think the areas south of 50, where University of Sacramento is going is where Sacramento will grow.

I am also interested to see if the greenbelt between Davis and Fairfield continues. That is very prime real estate that could easily be sprawl from Davis to Vallejo.

[PapaDoc313]

Yeah. I'd be surprised if the Kings are here in 5 years, let alone 30. It doesn't look like anyone in this city is interested in forking over the cash to purchase a stadium for a perennial .500 team that, at best, is good for a first round playoff loss and is owned buy a couple of guys more interested in getting people through the Palms' doors than paying to get elite players in a Kings jersey.

I'd be equally surprised, though, if they end up in Vegas. It seems the NBA (namely Stern) doesn't want a team there. I'd think Seattle (Stern has said he'll try as hard as he can to get them a team as soon as they finally build anew arena), or possibly somewhere like Pittsburgh or even Europe (it's been talked about) is more likely.

And if we do lose the Kings because we won't pay for an arena I don't think there's much reason to think we'd agree to buy a park for the A's.

[CityGirl72]

Just to help the hopeful out - could you enlighten me to what will be greta in Sac - or how about the stuff that might stay the same?

(not including sports - cuz I could give a hooey about it, I was never a Kings fan)

[wburg]

* Landowners along K Street will continue their practice of evicting tenants in buildings along the K Street Mall, allowing the buildings to sit vacant until someone sets the building on fire, and then knocking them down, leaving gaping holes in the street. The city council will then be blamed for failing to revitalize K Street.

* As more midtown homes are demolished, they will be replaced piecemeal with mid-rise residential buildings. Despite tepid response from buyers who would probably prefer actual high-rise residential buildings downtown to mid-rise buildings in midtown, investors will buy more old buildings, get them demolished, and build more mid-rises because the land's cheaper in Midtown.

* At some point, we'll get a heavy rain year, and then we'll get to see which of Sacramento's new neighborhoods gets to be on CNN--as a series of inundated rooftops viewed from a rescue helicopter.

* As rents go up and affordable housing gets demolished, the homeless population will increase. Most people will not connect these two things as related events.

[CityGirl72]

geeeeez stop with the doomsday predictions

[wburg]

citygirl: sorry, it has been a rough weekend. Two historic buildings, one along K Street and one in Southside Park, got demolished this weekend, and there are a bunch more on the chopping block. I have some sunny predictions too.

For starters, I'm pretty sure that the central city will have a streetcar system--by 2025, most likely running from Southport and downtown West Sac through downtown and into Southside, Midtown and maybe into East Sac.

I am pretty sure that the Kings will stay, and that by 2025 there will be an arena at Cal Expo, and probably a crop of mid-rise to high-rise residential and office towers along Expo, Challenge and Response roads. I'm also willing to wager that the area will have its own streetcar loop, running from the light rail line past Arden Fair Mall, up to Howe Avenue, and back up Expo.

Then, unlikely by 2025 but certainly possible, connect the lines together up Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks to J Street.

[PapaDoc313]

"I am pretty sure that the Kings will stay, and that by 2025 there will be an arena at Cal Expo"

I would be shocked. The roads around Cal Expo, and it's relation to the always over packed mall, would cause such traffic mayhem. Especially on say weekend day where a basketball or volleyball tournament is being held. Can you imagine the hell it would be trying to move around in that area on a Saturday when people are going to the mall and an event is being held at Cal Expo?

[wburg]

PapaDoc: That's why you put in a streetcar line. There's not much point in putting a streetcar in places where people don't want to go. The idea is to give them an alternative. If it's an easy, trouble-free drive to a place, they'll drive there. If it's busy, they will at least consider transit alternatives, if it becomes easier and more trouble-free than driving.

Arden and Expo are both very wide streets with high speed limits. They are both lined with huge, spacious parking lots. Yet traffic and parking are constantly issues there. Maybe the wide streets, high speed limits and parking lots are the problem, and not the solution?

[PapaDoc313]

A streetcar line could help. But it's really not the Sacramento way (or CA, for that matter) to public transit it. Even if they did I think it would take awhile to catch on, if it ever did. I would still be shocked if it ends up at Cal Expo, but to be honest, I'd be equally as surprised if it ends up anywhere in Sacramento. My guess is that the Kings are on their way out. Yeah, Sac loves their team but they're going to need a new stadium soon and sometimes loving your team isn't enough to get you one. Look at Seattle.

Who knows what those Maloofs are ever up to.

You could be right of course. I mean if funding does ever get approved where other than Cal Expo is there?