What the A's move could mean for improving West Sacramento's Bridge District
WEST SACRAMENTO — The buzz about the Oakland Athletics moving to West Sacramento continues this week with discussions about how it can improve the city's Bridge District.
West Sacramento's Bridge District features open space just waiting for shovels to be put in the ground. Some may think that A's are the catalyst to move these forward. However, the work from city leaders over the last two decades set the table not just for the development but to make the bridge district enticing enough for the ballclub to stay, if even only for a few years.
The official announcement of the A's temporary relocation was a celebration years in the making.
"The creative financing opportunities that the past city council has taken advantage of makes it affordable," Mayor Martha Guerrero said.
Plans to further build up the Bridge District got a boost with the A's coming to town, but West Sacramento City Manager Aaron Laurel said the development is coming all the same.
"It'll help really put some eyes on West Sacramento and the Bridge District and build some excitement about what this place can be," he said. "But I really want to emphasize it's happening."
So how did we get here?
"The stadium, when it was first built, was in an environment for all the development that was happening around it," Laurel said.
To adjust for this, the city got creative and used a combination of grants, tax revenue, and districting to make the area development-friendly.
"The potential for future development is four times what you see in the Bridge District," Laurel said.
Now, the district is poised to thrive with more areas currently being developed while others have been proposed. The city said that thousands of housing units could come online in just the next few years.
For laurel, it's gratifying to see it come together.
"The best site for it to occur, if there's an expansion team or otherwise, is right here in the bridge district," he said. "Right here in the Riverfront."
With a major league team on the way, the dreams turn to possible expansion dreams as well as practical solutions.
"We will continue to make sure that the community is protected. We plan to partner with the City of West Sacramento in any way we can," Yolo County Supervisor Oscar Villegas said.
In the meantime, the A's introduction to the city will provide a boost to development to potentially help secure grants.
"If the A's are located here temporarily, it's a good marker for what the need could be in the future," Laurel said.
The city is currently exploring long-term options for transportation in the area, from Sacramento Regional Transit's proposed streetcar across the Tower Bridge to another bridge that would connect Broadway and the Bridge District. They are proposals that could be helped along by the A's and a possible MLB expansion push.
