Aggie Square project brings worries Sacramento's Oak Park residents will be pushed out
SACRAMENTO — An effort is underway to protect people in Sacramento's original suburb from being priced out of their neighborhood.
Oak Park is seeing major redevelopment that includes a massive new tech hub under construction.
Doug Cupid has been trying to buy a house in Oak Park. There's a concern that Aggie Square, a new billion-dollar science and technology district being built near the UC Davis Medical Center, will make housing costs soar even more.
"It's going to bring great things to the area, but again, with that excitement, people will be displaced," Cupid said.
Many in the community worry they may not be able to afford to stay.
"Ten years ago, a house in Oak Park was $40,000. That same house is $400,000," said Ashley Garner, the program director for CLTRE Keeper, a first-time homebuyer program.
"People who have been here for generations, 50 years or more, this is home," Cupid added.
So the City of Sacramento and UC Davis are contributing $10 million toward programs to stop gentrification, including offering homebuying classes.
Garner teaches the CLTRE Keeper eight-week course.
"We've been tasked with anti-displacement and keeping people in this community," she said.
Since fewer homes are on the market now, CLTRE Keeper looks for foreclosures and works with lenders to accommodate buyers.
"So it's just finding ways and partnering with people that actually can give us more help," Garner said.
Graduates like Cupid are now house-hunting and are eligible for lower interest rates and a $17,000 downpayment.
"This class did an amazing job of helping us understand what goes into buying a home," he said.
The first phase of Aggie Square is on track to wrap up in 2025. Cupid supports the new jobs and improvements it will bring, but he doesn't want the community's character to change.
"You lose that once those people are out, and we want to avoid that at all costs," he said.
The CLTRE Keeper program hopes to offer another round of homebuying classes next year.
