New development in Roseville (San Francisco, Sacramento: middle-class, to rent, house)

[orchid1]

I've been reading a lot about Placer County since we're considering a move to the area in the next 1-2 years. It sounds like Roseville and Folsom are the areas to be.

I found some information on some redevelopment that is either in the works or is already underway.

Here are some links to the info I found:

City of Roseville, California - Historic Old Town

http://www.roseville.ca.us/civica/fi...sp?BlobID=9196

City of Roseville, California - Downtown Vernon & Old Town Specific Plan

Does anyone know what is happening with this project and what are your thoughts on the potential changes to the downtown, old town areas? Are the downtown/old town areas really lacking (business, entertainment, shopping, dining, etc) that much right now?

Thanks!

[wburg]

Folsom is in Sacramento County, not Placer County.

Downtown Roseville and Old Roseville are the remains of the old town of Roseville, not a city-type downtown, the former a remnant of Roseville's origins as a railroad town, the latter a remnant of the commercial strip intended to serve Highway 40. Both have some remnants of historic commercial architecture. Old Roseville has seen some interesting restoration and reconstruction, while Vernon Street has (in my opinion) suffered as many of the older businesses have been pushed out by speculators who ended up not being able to rent out those spaces, resulting in vacant storefronts.

Like many other small towns that get turned into exoburbs, the remnants of the small town tend to suffer as most of the business goes to new shopping centers and malls. Projects like these are intended to make the old city more attractive to the exoburban shopper.

[quasi888]

As a Roseville resident, I'm all for it if they can draw a good mix of small, independently-owned businesses, and less of the large chain establishments that this city is known for. One of the things I miss about the Bay Area is the cities that have downtown/commercial areas that were older but vibrant and very walkable -- San Mateo, Burlingame, Mountain View, SF, Oakland.

[wburg]

Roseville had a good mix of small, independently-owned businesses along Vernon Street before they had a mall nearby. As is the case in many small cities, as soon as you plunk a new shopping center/mall nearby, the old downtown tends to empty.

A lot of Bay Area suburban cities were built during the interurban/streetcar era, and thus based around a far denser development philosophy than the automobile age. The city center was based around the interurban stop (in the Bay Area, often Borax Smith's "Key System", or Sacramento Northern, or one of several others) with local commuter streetcar lines, allowing middle-class workers to live far from San Francisco or other office job centers, while working-class folks typically walked to work in the same city where the working jobs were (along the waterfront in docks, shipyards, canneries, etcetera.)

The difference is that Oakland and San Francisco were cities before the age of the automobile; generally, you only get that kind of walkable downtown in places where walking (or taking public transit) was simply how everyone got around. Before World War II, Roseville was a small town with a big railroad yard, surrounded by farms and open country (heck, most of it was farms and open country in the 1970s and 1980s.)

The only place in the region large enough to have a developed pre-automobile downtown was Sacramento, with smaller examples in Davis and Woodland. Aside from the original Old Town, downtown Roseville follows Vernon Street so closely because it was the route of Highway 40, just as North Sacramento was defined by Del Paso Road (another part of the Highway 40 route) and the Bassetlaw Avenue trolley line (now Arden Way.)

Beyond that, aside from former small towns like Elk Grove and Galt, the nearest cities were Stockton, Yuba City/Marysville, and Chico (not coincidentally, all connected to Sacramento via steam and electric railroads, and from there to the Bay Area.)

[slinville85]

I lived in Roseville for 3 years. I own a home there in the historic part. We LOVED IT! It was 5 mins from the mall, dining, freeways and Old Historic Roseville always had something going on... like Tuesday Night Markets (live bands and hot rod shows) which were every Tuesday night during the summer and just a few blocks from the historical homes. They also have art shows on the weekends and an old theater house that still puts on plays. On Saturday they have a produce market...There are about 5 or 6 bars off Main Street that were pretty fun. Ones from dancing to more laid back and live music. There is hand full of Mexican food restaurants also around there. This is all walking distance. Outside of the down town area, but still in Roseville, you have every type of restaurant you can imagine! From Taco Bell to really upscale.

They have some nice parks and bike trails and a nice golf course about 2 mins away.

I remember seeing the signs for the new development going up in old Roseville about a year ago. It looked pretty cool from everything I saw. We loved the historic old town feel of Roseville even though we were 5 mins from everything. I think looking into Roseville is a great idea!

Over the past few years they have been redoing the streets and putting in bricked walk ways and new stop lights.. it really looks good!