Housing in the Capital

A lot of hope is being pinned on the Aggie Square development project happening near the Oak Park, Elmhurst and Tahoe Park neighborhoods of Sacramento. But gentrification, housing, rent prices and who gets to work there are all top concerns. To give us a better idea about what's happening around this development, Solving Sacramento hosted a live event on Jan. 31 of this year.Speakers Part 1:Sumiko Hong - Community Engagement Dir of Aggie SquareTamika L'Ecluse - Exec Dir of Sac Community Land TrustMichael Blair - V.P of Workforce & Business Development at the non-profit People Working TogetherTravis Sheridan - Chief Community Officer of Wexford Science and TechnologyLeslie Fritzsche - City of Sacramento's Office of Innovation & DevelopmentSpeakers Part 2:Leah Miller - CEO for Habitat for Humanity of Greater SacramentoSierra Edwards - Director of Operations for Norcal Step UpChristina Kitchen - Program Administrator for The Salvation Army SacramentoAshley Garner - Program Director at CLTRE

This week how housing advocate Cathy Creswell and Civic Thread's Jordan Grimaldi dig into the facts and figures of how housing affordability and availability tie into regional transit.Correction: It was the Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) board that cast the votes, not the Sacramento City Council, as originally reported.

This week: Approaches to the challenges found in the for-profit development world from two people who started businesses in the field. John Vignocchi of Urban Capital and Katie Hanten of Vertical Pacific speak about goals, risks and the current projects, which you may find yourself calling "home" some day soon.

CADA's Danielle Foster and CLTRE's Roshaun Davis are applying the future to the present moment. From adapting to continued home shortages and rent hikes to arming first-time homebuyers with the know-how to own in their neighborhood hear how they're focused on the city in 2040 and beyond. As a primer here's a link to Sacramento's General Plan for 2035.

The conversation this week is a look into the work of nonprofit housing agencies. Nur Kausar works for EAH Housing and Jonathan Cook is from the Sacramento Housing Alliance. They walk us through what they see as barriers to housing, how Sacramento stacks up with other cities in availability and affordability and how to navigate renting here. ...Also, despite how Nick opens the show, the series has not morphed into a Micky Rooney-style review of rock operas.

Challenges for Sacramento's unhoused communities run deep. Access to simple yet life saving medicine isn't easy to come by. For those transitioning off the street, finding shelter isn't always a magic wand to a new, happier chapter. This week Anna Darzins of the Sacramento Volunteers of America and Joe Smith of Hope Cooperative sit down to discuss the stigmas, the cycles and the hurdles finding stable shelter when you're unhoused.

Just below Seattle and San Jose, just above Denver, Stockton and Washington D.C. in 2023 U.S. News & World report placed Sacramento among the top 20 most expensive places to live in the country. A local housing advocate and the city's vice mayor sit down to talk about the broad picture of affordability, sustainability and how Sacramento is navigating a major issue for the state and the country.