Urban redevelopment in Sacramento, California facts for kids

The city of Sacramento is the capital of California. It was started in December 1848 by John Sutter. The next year, the California Gold Rush brought many people, called "forty-niners," to the area. This led to more businesses and jobs. For many years, Sacramento's downtown area grew with shops, factories, government buildings, and homes. It was a lively place.

Why Downtown Sacramento Changed

By the mid-1900s, many parts of historic downtown Sacramento started to look old and neglected. Several things caused this. People stopped investing money in the area. Also, many residents moved to new neighborhoods outside the city, often called suburbs. Some areas faced unfair practices that made it hard for them to get loans or improvements. City buildings and roads were not always kept up well.

Between 1950 and 1970, Sacramento changed a lot. This was due to projects called urban renewal and the building of new highways.

Urban Renewal Projects

The Federal Housing Act of 1949 was a law that aimed to improve poor living conditions. It helped cities get money for urban renewal projects. At first, these projects focused on improving homes. But by 1954, the law changed to focus more on building new businesses.

Sacramento city planners used these changes to turn the West End area into a business district. In 1950, most of the city's minority residents lived in the West End. This included 87% of Mexican residents, 75% of Asian residents (many of whom were Japanese people returning home), and 60% of Black residents.

How Highways Changed the City

At the same time, new interstate highways were built. These included Interstate 5, Interstate 80, and U.S. Route 50. These highways created physical barriers. They sometimes separated neighborhoods, especially those where many minority residents lived.

In 1950, about 7,900 non-White residents lived in areas directly affected by these projects. This was about 75% of all non-White residents in the city. In just two years, urban renewal projects completely cleared 15 city blocks, mostly in the West End. Over 20 years, highway building took over 100 city blocks in central Sacramento. In 1950, almost half of the West End residents were non-White. By 1970, this number dropped to only 5%.

Bringing Downtown Back to Life

In the 1970s, people became more interested in renewing cities and saving historic buildings. This led to big changes in the 1980s. Old Sacramento was rebuilt with public money. New office buildings were also built along the Capital Mall.

After a small slowdown in the early 1990s, Mayor Heather Fargo made downtown a key part of her plans in 2001. Since then, more people have moved to the city. There is more traffic, and housing prices have gone up. This has made living in high-rise apartments downtown more popular and possible for many. In recent years, many new buildings and projects have appeared in the capital city, both from private companies and the government.

Images for kids

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  Capitol Mall Redevelopment Project

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