I’m The Bee’s new opinion writer. Sacramento has an identity crisis
I once attended a Kings game with my mother at the old Arco Arena. I remember it was loud and hot — and made all the louder by the hundreds of cowbells I could hear clanging throughout the arena any time Vlade Divac or Chris Webber scored.
Over the din, I asked her, Why cowbells? She told me that someone had once tried to call Sacramento a “cow town,” but we had made the insult our own. The cowbells said Sacramento was proud of where we came from and who we were.
That was probably the day I fell in love with Sacramento.
I’ve always rooted for the underdog, which perhaps explains my Kings fandom and almost certainly explains my affinity for this city. Somehow, I always feel as though I am defending it to an outsider. Maybe you have to live here to really get it.
I was born and raised here. My father was stationed at McClellan Air Force Base in 1984, and I was born some five years later. I grew up in a house bought with Veterans Affairs-backed assistance that my family still lives in.
Sacramento in the 1990s was idyllic for my young family, which lived in a pocket suburb off I-80 called Foothill Farms. But by the time I graduated from Foothill High School, I wanted out so badly.
Sacramento now is very different from the Sacramento I grew up in, but I am also very different from the girl who grew up here. I’d like to think we both have matured.
At this point, I’ve lived and worked as a journalist all over Northern California, from the sweltering inland heat of the North State to the cool breezes of the coast. It took a global health emergency for me to realize there’s truly no place like home. Returning to work at The Sacramento Bee is the culmination of many years’ work, and to do so as an opinion writer is something I never dreamed was possible. It’s a wonderful responsibility that I’m excited to have been chosen for.
My old neighborhood is different, too. After the Air Force base closed, Foothill Farms and the surrounding areas of North Highlands and Rio Linda became synonymous with being on the wrong side of the tracks — quite literally. When I search for news about my old neighborhood, all I see are stories about crime.
I think it’s high time we change that. I’m excited that the main focus of my writings will be my home — mainly, my old stomping grounds north of Interstate 80. My journalistic gut tells me there are so many more stories to be told about the people who live outside the city proper. They’re just waiting to be found — and I would not blame them for feeling forgotten.
Somewhere along the way, Sacramento began to shed that cow town label, for better or worse, and became more of a typical California metropolis. I see new housing here, but hardly any of it is affordable; the homelessness is worse than ever; and the wildfires every summer are creeping closer. Many people my age can’t even afford to go out for dinner, much less buy their first home. This is not my California Dream. Is it yours?
We have such large local government budgets and so many willing people who want to make this city great, so why do we still have such daunting problems?
I’d like to tell you that the next few years will be essential for our city and county to find those solutions, but the truth is that every year is essential. No matter where we live, we are responsible for shaping our community into what we want it to be.
So should Sacramento cling to our agricultural past? Are we about being the center of political power? Does our future lie in attracting talent, technology or business like San Francisco or Los Angeles? How should Sacramento stand out, and how do we show the outside world what we are accomplishing here?
To put it simply: What is Sacramento now, and what do we want it to be?
These are essential questions that we will have to answer despite deadly pandemics, divisive politics and a deteriorating planet. I’m honored to be home again, and I hope we can find some of the answers together.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
