SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A $50 million investment in housing was billed back in 2021 and called a community benefits partnership. It's part of Sacramento's $1 billion plan to expand the city's UC Davis campus.
It's called Aggie Square and the project is in the Oak and Tahoe park areas. It's a big investment and not everyone is on board.
Multiple neighborhood associations express concerns about traffic, parking, and locals getting priced out of the market.
That’s where Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s $10 million announcement Friday comes into play.
It stems from a settlement agreement between Aggie Square Community Benefit Partnership Agreement the city and UC Davis to counter the potential resident displacement and provide housing stability for existing neighbors.
First-time home buyer Steve Shin lives within the anti-displacement target area and says he's interested in these new programs, but also understands the concerns.
“People who live in neighborhoods for a while hopefully they can sell at a higher price, but then you get different demographics moving in so as long as the funding is meant to address all different socio and economic groups,” said Shin.
Programs include:
- Habitat for Humanity offering 50 households help with repairs and two home electrification projects.
- The Salvation Army will give help one time to upwards of 90 households with bill expenses to help people afford to stay in their homes.
- 100 people who are unsheltered or low-income will be helped with costs to find and attain housing with Step Up Homeless Prevention.
- 25 households will be helped with first-time homebuying.
The anti-displacement programs target neighborhoods in Districts 5 and 6, or zip codes: 95817, 95824, 95824, and 95828.
Cathy Creswell, Sacramento Housing Alliance Board's president, says they need more money to make sure they're doing enough.
“It’s the first time the city is investing in really trying to keep people in their homes, especially people who have suffered from past discrimination and from a lack of investment. It's just a drop in the bucket,” said Creswell.
We asked the mayor about what happens when the programs run out and the money is gone, wondering if these programs just delayed displacement.
“We will be able to get more money whether it from the city, county, state or federal government because we believe this is a model a state and national model for how to invest in improving communities, creating more industry creating more jobs without displacing people,” said Steinberg.
$2 million of the $10 million will be disbursed, then the city will re-evaluate what works before giving out more funding.
All of this still has to be approved Tuesday night at a city council meeting.
For those interested in learning more, there will be a meeting on Feb. 9 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Oak Park Community Center at 3425 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Sacramento.
The meeting will discuss an overview of the affordable housing unit, housing survey results, and how to apply for these upcoming programs.
Register by Feb. 7 at bit.ly/Aggie-Square-Housing-Meeting
If you cannot attend the meetings and information will be on the website aggiesquare.ucdavis.edu
