Can someone tell me what happened to Elk Grove? (Sacramento: section 8, real estate)

[LarKev101]

I grew up in Sacramento and went to school in Elk Grove the greater majority of my early life back in the early 00's, and I remember the city thriving on new businesses/bunch of chain restaurants popping up all over Laguna + new housing and lots of apartments.

Then I remember everything just stopping before the recession. My perception could be off since I was young then , but I still make the trip to Sacramento twice a year to visit my parents and have drove through Elk Grove and it LOOKS THE EXACT SAME! And this was just earlier this year.

I now look at Roseville as the new Elk Grove (trendy chain restaurants, entertainment venues, cool bar scene, and a solid mall)


What happened? Am I the only one who noticed things just took off and then died completely? There was a ton of schools built too around that time period if I'm not mistaken.

[NickB1967]

The housing bubble burst especially hard in the Sacramento area. I think many areas are only *now* starting to recover, and the foundations of that are still shaky.

[things and stuff]

I've lived all over the country and usually if an area starts going downhill it's because the demographics have changed.

[pdizo916]

The OP is right, EG hasnt' changed since the bubble crisis. They're building a strip mall off of Grant and 99. I don't know if they're building any trendy restaurants in EG, but they're suppose to be building a LA Favorita Taqueria that suppose to open this fall. YUM.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by things and stuff

I've lived all over the country and usually if an area starts going downhill it's because the demographics have changed.

But by and large the demographics of Elk Grove *haven't* changed all that much. Still mostly Caucasian, with sizeable Hispanic, East Asian or South Asian populations as well, and your typical Elk Grove person is still a Bay Area transplant priced out of said Bay Area.

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by LarKev101

I now look at Roseville as the new Elk Grove (trendy chain restaurants, entertainment venues, cool bar scene, and a solid mall)

EG is more suburban sprawl. I do agree with you that Roseville has more trendy stuff. From my experience in Sacto since 2005, EG never did. It was just newer & growing then.

Originally Posted by pdizo916

They're building a strip mall off of Grant and 99.

yea, the failed outlet mall. But hey, it's back on course. http://www.egcitizen.com/articles/20...d265231253.txt

[hd4me]

Originally Posted by LarKev101

I grew up in Sacramento and went to school in Elk Grove the greater majority of my early life back in the early 00's, and I remember the city thriving on new businesses/bunch of chain restaurants popping up all over Laguna + new housing and lots of apartments.

Then I remember everything just stopping before the recession. My perception could be off since I was young then , but I still make the trip to Sacramento twice a year to visit my parents and have drove through Elk Grove and it LOOKS THE EXACT SAME! And this was just earlier this year.

I now look at Roseville as the new Elk Grove (trendy chain restaurants, entertainment venues, cool bar scene, and a solid mall)


What happened? Am I the only one who noticed things just took off and then died completely? There was a ton of schools built too around that time period if I'm not mistaken.

Growth at all costs...for example, some of the developments were built next to unimproved two lane country roads where infrastructure seemed to be a second thought creating traffic jams. And there are still the same two lane country roads with too much traffic. Too much emphasis on big box retailers and chain restaurants but that's what people in suburbs seemed to want.

I also think people's tastes have changed...restaurants (chain restaurants) that were considered "good" back then maybe not so good now. EG has those same restaurants.

And the housing collapse hit places like Elk Grove pretty hard. It hit Roseville too ( I remember touring some homes in the Fiddyment Farm area during that time and it was really depressing (Even the real estate reps seemed in need of Prozac or something to perk them up a bit).

I think what helps Roseville too is it draws from nearby communities that have people with spending cash (like Granite Bay). Elk Grove doesn't really have surrounding communities like that.

[2sleepy]

I can't say that Fairfield is anything like Elk Grove, but one area fairly near the downtown core had a large number of foreclosures mostly due to homeowners who got liar loans to rehab their houses, or even to buy boats and motorhomes. Of course when the economy turned to crap they lost their homes. Investors swooped in and bought the foreclosures did 10k flips and turned them into shiny freshly painted homes with laminate floors. About 90% were turned over to a local property management company which specialized in section 8 rentals. They immediately raised the rent of all properties not occupied by section 8 tenants in order to chase them out because HUD pays far more than market value rent. As a result, what was once a stable area of older, mostly owner occupied homes was turned into a miserable ghetto of rentals with sofas decorating front lawns and broken down cars on cement blocks in driveways. If you drive through that part of town today you will be greeted every few hundred feet by a drug dealer offering you his 'product'. It's an absolute disaster. I could not have imagined that demographics could change so radically over a short period of time

[bluevelo]

There's a HUGE difference between Elk Grove and Roseville.

Like about 100K or so (at least) difference in prices for a house (cheaper) in EG, and the houses in Elk Grove aren't nearly as well-built as Roseville.

Roseville has a lot more $$$, is much nicer, and in 10 years will not turn into just an extension of South Sacramento - crime, gangs, run down houses, and just hood creep - whereas that is what the newer areas of Elk Grove will eventually become.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by bluevelo

There's a HUGE difference between Elk Grove and Roseville.

Like about 100K or so (at least) difference in prices for a house (cheaper) in EG, and the houses in Elk Grove aren't nearly as well-built as Roseville.

Roseville has a lot more $$$, is much nicer, and in 10 years will not turn into just an extension of South Sacramento - crime, gangs, run down houses, and just hood creep - whereas that is what the newer areas of Elk Grove will eventually become.

Keep in mind that:
1. Elk Grove is its own incorporated city--with its own police force.
2. Elk Grove is in a whole different school district.

Those two elements should prevent Elk Grove from going downhill a la Arden Arcade and North Highlands, or at least will be a serious impediment.

Think of how San Leandro got and still gets spill over problems from Oakland, but the difference between the two cities was and is still stark.