Could new Sacramento mayor continue Northgate Boulevard’s revival after years of neglect?
Joe Contreraz has lived just off Northgate Boulevard since 1952.
Back then, Contreraz said, the roughly two-mile stretch of road consisted of mainly tomato and corn fields. In the early 1960s, the boulevard’s two main neighborhoods — Northgate and Gardenland — were incorporated into Sacramento. Soon after, city development resulted in the area changing from farmland to a vibrant commercial area.
Today, more than 150 small businesses and restaurants line the primarily Latino, working-class boulevard. The bustling stretch, which offers some of the region’s best Mexican food, has become widely regarded as one of the city’s most vital economic corridors.
“Everything comes through here,” Contreraz said. “All the businesses rely on all the people that come through Northgate.”
But the area’s growth has faced challenges with inconsistent investment over the decades. That has changed during the last decade with collaboration among politicians and community leaders pushing for funding and projects to uplift the neighborhood.
Now, with Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Flojaune Cofer competing to become Sacramento’s next mayor, residents are hopeful that the electee will continue the momentum.
“It’s time to invest and really look into Northgate,” said Marbella Sala, president of the Gardenland Northgate Neighborhood Association. “It’s a major corridor. It’s right across the river from downtown and it’s just been taken for granted. We’ve been taken for granted.”
‘Very bright future for this corridor’
Both mayoral candidates have expressed their support for commercial corridors outside downtown. In separate interviews, Cofer and McCarty named Northgate Boulevard a top economic corridor.
“As much as we want the heart of downtown to thrive, we also want our businesses like Northgate, which have a lot of pride, economic activity and have a cultural flair, as well,” McCarty said.
Still, there’s an acknowledgment on both sides that city funding will be hard to come by given the city’s estimated budget shortfall of $77 million.
“Obviously, right-sizing our budget is going to take at least a few years, so we need to have a clear plan on what the priorities are and what steps we need to build up that area,” Cofer said.
Sala began advocating for her community in 2016, when her daughter pointed out how little the neighborhood had changed. Moved by this, she took over leadership of the neighborhood association and started attending nearly every City Council meeting. Sala wanted to ensure that city leaders knew that the commercial corridor had been “neglected” for decades.
“I had been here more than 30 years, and there had been little investment into Northgate,” Sala said.
Sala started small, pushing for public art on the boulevard to mirror similar streets in Sacramento. In 2020, a mural of butterflies and ballet folklórico dancers was installed on Northgate Boulevard and Peralta Avenue.
Recent investments, including $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money in 2022, have improved the road’s infrastructure. The funding has partially gone to street improvements including installing new street pole banners and replacing the existing wooden fences lining the boulevard with concrete.
That money also led to a partnership with the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to provide small business assistance services. Through this partnership, the organization has spearheaded two rounds of funding for Northgate Boulevard small businesses, the development of a Taco Plaza and weekly classes for small businesses.
Cathy Rodriguez, president of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said these investments will lead to economic growth in one of the city’s under-invested and most diverse commercial corridors.
“This (Northgate) has been long neglected, but there’s great momentum and a very bright future for this corridor,” Rodriguez said.
For Cofer, city partnerships would be a priority. She highlighted potential programs, including a gift card program that would encourage residents to shop at small businesses, to uplift the city’s economy. She also committed to not “leaving behind” any state or federal funding.
“I see the city also as having a role in thinking creatively, in partnership with our neighborhood associations, our chambers of commerce and our businesses to encourage support for the areas,” she said.
McCarty emphasized smaller expenditures, such as the street improvements currently taking place. Northgate could benefit from the bike and pedestrian improvements seen downtown, he added.
“We’ve done a lot of work on our bike and pedestrian improvements in downtown and midtown and the grid,” McCarty said. “We need to make those all across the city, on key stretches like Northgate.”
‘It’s not really safe’
One focus for the new mayor should be the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the six-county region’s lead planning agency, said Sacramento Councilwoman Karina Talamantes, who represents Northgate Boulevard.
The agency provides transportation planning and funding for the region, guiding how and where local officials invest hundreds of millions of dollars. Talamantes stressed the importance of the new mayor advocating for funding that could go to Northgate Boulevard transportation projects.
But above all, she said, the new mayor “must be present” in that area.
“Saying you care for a community is different than showing up for a community,” Talamantes said. “Saying you support an event versus attending an event is important.”
Still, for longtime residents like Sala, nearly a half-century of neglect won’t be fixed in a few years. She called on the city, and its new leadership, to create a strategic vision for the boulevard, particularly when it comes to its traffic issues.
“This feels like a band-aid approach,” Sala said. “I think it’s time that we get the focus and attention of the city’s resources and staff going towards Northgate.”
Certain intersections of the boulevard have high rates of car fatalities and injuries, according to previous reporting by The Sacramento Bee. Sala said the issue is worsened by the design of the street and the lack of safety-enhancing work on the road.
Cars have been speeding down that road for nearly his entire life, Contreraz added.
Little has changed in that time.
“You don’t ever see anybody walking on Northgate Boulevard or don’t see anybody ever riding bikes because it’s not really safe,” Contreraz said.
The election will be held Nov. 5. The new mayor and two new council members will be sworn in Dec. 10.
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
