The Current

California faces tough choices to overcome the state budget deficit (estimated at between $38 and $73 billion). State legislators and the governor must balance proposed funding cuts with the need to continue progress on pressing challenges such as housing affordability and climate change. SACOG’s Green Means Go program is a prime example of the impact state funding can have in advancing shared housing and climate goals.

Green Means Go was awarded more than $30 million in state funding through the state’s Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grants program. REAP funding goes to planning and infrastructure projects that revitalize and accelerate housing in locally adopted Green Zones, which are corridors with the capacity for infill housing but that have serious barriers to redevelopment. SACOG estimates its awarded REAP funding would help unlock 8,000 infill housing units (6,000 of which would be available to low- and moderate-income households) in areas that see a reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), double of the regional average.

Currently, state legislators and the governor are recommending budget cuts to the REAP funding, which would impact the grants and money already allocated to projects in cities and counties from Green Means Go. This would cause further delays to housing development and climate solutions in the region and state.

Investments awarded by this program go to infrastructure the public rarely sees or thinks about yet are necessary to support more housing options. In the northern part of the City of Sacramento, for example, the Del Paso Heights neighborhood was awarded $3.9 million from the program to help fund much-needed sewer improvements. This investment will support new infill housing for the area undergoing revitalization, but it is now at risk due to the proposed state budget cuts. These types of improvements are difficult without additional support because it doesn’t always make sense (or cents) for developers to complete these corridor-wide updates when they are developing only one specific parcel.

The Del Paso neighborhood has experienced many issues over the years including being cut off by freeways and from economic opportunities. But the charm and “good bones” to support a neighborhood full of potential remains. The area is smattered with vacant lots and available properties, and according to city officials, Del Paso has piqued the interest of developers who are beginning to believe in its future.

Another City of Sacramento community at risk of losing investments is the River District, an industrial neighborhood just north of downtown that is seeing rapid transformation as the city grows. Its proximity to the railyards and the American River once made it the perfect location for manufacturing and canning producers to place their distribution centers. Now as the downtown footprint grows, the district is struggling with making the necessary infrastructure upgrades to this area to support more dense housing and businesses.

From private investment in neighborhoods like Township 9, to public investments being made in communities such as Marisol Village, there is plenty of focus and interest in transforming this industrial area into a flourishing mixed-use community in the urban core.

A critical component in the redevelopment of the River District is the installation of a pump to improve storm drainage, better use stormwater runoff, and reduce flooding in the area.  Without this key piece of infrastructure, there is a limit to how much that area can grow in terms of housing, and it won’t reach its full potential of the more than 1,400 units that are planned for the area.