Though calling it smart growth by the standard definition of the term, is stretching words a bit the infill building occurring in the south area is good for all.
No land left behind
'Smart growth' helps cut sprawl, revive area
By Jim Wasserman - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, December 17, 2006
Five years after Phat Khong moved from the Bay Area to Sacramento, he roams the upstairs floor of a south Sacramento model home that he, his wife and family members have already visited twice.
It's a ritual that plays out daily across the region, a family's repeat inspection of a home being considered by relatives. In Khong's case, it's his wife's parents who are the potential buyers.
What's different this time is the location.
The new two-story house built by Calabasas-based Ryland Homes near the corner of Mack Road and Franklin Boulevard occupies an older city neighborhood suddenly booming with new choices for homebuyers. In a part of Sacramento that hasn't seen a residential housing boom in decades, builders are in varying stages of building and selling 872 singlefamily detached houses in eight new neighborhoods. Their sales prices range from the low $200,000s to the mid-$300,000s for houses on small lots.
Area builders, city officials and business leaders say the new subdivisions sprouting six and seven miles south of downtown Sacramento along the Franklin Boulevard, Mack and Meadowview roads corridors can bring fresh growth to an area that's rich in transit options while spurring added retail development.
