Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Can a Neighborhood Come Back?

Wednesday, July 24, 2013 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
  

by Cosmo Garvin

photos by Andrew Nixon

Since the late 1970s, Franklin Boulevard has had a reputation for crime and blight. Frank Cable has been the owner of the south Sacramento Leader Pharmacy since 1973. Today he is president of the North Franklin District Business Association.

“It started when the Sacramento Union, a now defunct newspaper, named Franklin the ugliest street in town,” explains Cable. “Joe Serna happened to be our council member at the time. And it just inflamed Joe that the ugliest street in town was in his district.”

0724CG Pharmacist

Out of that frustration the north Franklin district was formed. The District stretches along Franklin roughly from Broadway down almost as far as Florin Road, and includes parts of 24th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

In 1993, the neighborhood was declared a redevelopment area--targeted for more than $200 million in new investment over the next 35 years.  The real total was far less, but it was enough to fix sidewalks and improve building facades and make other changes.

0724CG Burger shack

“The main change has been with the streets. They get rid of the power poles, they got sidewalks. When we first got it we didn’t have any sidewalks,” says Scott Hackett, who has owned and operated Scott’s Burger Shack since 1981. 

Despite having some of the highest crime and unemployment rates in Sacramento County, the boulevard is home for many family businesses which have been around for decades. In fact, there are at least 25 establishments inside the District which have been in business for more than 50 years.

The Campbell Soup plant, opened in 1947, was among them. For decades, it was the major employer on the boulevard. But the company’s decision to close the plant this year is one of many recent setbacks.

0724CG Soup plant

The neighborhood school, Maple Elementary, is also going to be closed because of budget cuts. And when California Governor Jerry Brown eliminated redevelopment agencies this year, many projects to improve the Franklin District were put on hold or scrapped.

So, the neighborhood is improvising. For example, the District recruited UC Davis sociologist Jesus Hernandez to help write a new community development plan for the post-redevelopment era.

“Part of rebooting a community is turning it into a place," says Hernandez.  "It’s hard to turn a neighborhood into a place when you have four lanes of high-speed traffic running through it. You calm it by eliminating a couple of lanes, putting in bike lanes, making the sidewalks bigger so pedestrians can actually walk on the sidewalk and walk to business. ”

0724CG Professor

Hernandez believes the boulevard’s future depends on improving the transportation infrastructure in the area. For example, the light rail station at 47th Avenue, which is surrounded by warehouses and the now-idled Campbell Soup plant, which company is trying to sell.

“When you have a light trail stop like this, it is supposed to be an event. It is supposed to bring commerce, it’s supposed to bring retail, it’s supposed to bring housing. And you can’t see any of that here,” says Hernandez.

0724CG light rail

Marti Brown is the new Executive Director for the North Franklin District Business Association. She says the closure and change of ownership of the Campbell site could be an opportunity for the neighborhood.

“So it would be our hope that the fence that surrounds the Campbell’s soup site would come down and we’d create some more synergy and connectivity between the site and the light rail station and really capitalize on the opportunity for transit oriented development and increased retail as well as affordable housing around the site,” Brown says.

0724CG Executive

Campbell has received several offers for the property. But the new owners may not be interested in making changes to the site.

That won’t stop the North Franklin District from working on its plan, and trying to reconnect and reboot the neighborhood.

UC Davis' Jesus Hernandez sums it up this way, "Our goal is to turn it back into a place, that’s connected to the rest of the world.”


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    Related Stories

  • Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio

    South Sacramento Roads Improving

    Monday, November 17, 2014
    Some south Sacramento streets are in the middle of a renaissance.
  • Andrew Nixon/Capital Public Radio

    County Preparing For Franklin Boulevard Improvements

    Tuesday, August 13, 2013
    Sacramento County is almost ready to start work on the final, $2.3 million phase of the Franklin Boulevard improvement project.
  • Insight: Special Elections / Franklin Boulevard /"Folsom's 93" /"The Adventures of Flapjack" / James Finch

    Wednesday, July 24, 2013
    Results & analysis from two special elections yesterday. A look at Sacramento's Franklin Blvd. New book examines executions at Folsom Prison. Dan Cohen releases new novel starring his muse. Guitarist James Finch releases album.

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More Stories

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Sacramento County says no widespread sweeps planned, despite ban on homeless encampments

August 16, 2022

Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

Routine COVID-19 testing ends at Sacramento City Unified for upcoming school year

August 15, 2022

Kristin Lam / CapRadio

State agency investigates Sacramento council member. Here’s what could happen.

August 11, 2022

Most Viewed

Stalled U.S. Forest Service project could have protected California town from Caldor Fire destruction

Who is Harriet Hageman, the woman who beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming House race?

California coronavirus updates: WHO renames monkeypox subvariants away from regional signifiers

Northern California wildfires: Where to find updates on air quality, evacuations, and official information

California coronavirus updates: First Lady Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

Stalled U.S. Forest Service project could have protected California town from Caldor Fire destruction

Who is Harriet Hageman, the woman who beat Liz Cheney in the Wyoming House race?

California coronavirus updates: WHO renames monkeypox subvariants away from regional signifiers

Northern California wildfires: Where to find updates on air quality, evacuations, and official information

California coronavirus updates: First Lady Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.