SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At a special town hall meeting Wednesday night, the Cabrillo Park Neighborhood Association - part of the wider Meadowview community - met to discuss what's good and what's challenging in their area.
The Cabrillo Park neighborhood spans the southeast quadrant of Florin Road and Freeport Boulevard.
"What got (this meeting) started was watching social media and seeing on Facebook and Nextdoor a lot of people talking about some crimes or shootings and stabbings that were happening in the area,” Cabrillo Park neighbor Ron Brasel told ABC10.
Meadowview has a rough reputation in some people’s minds. Sacramento City Councilmember Larry Carr, whose District 8 includes much of Meadowview, explained to ABC10 why, in part.
“You know, in the 70s, these were starter homes for people – 50s, 60s, 70s…And then as people got raises, they moved out, and some of them rented, some of them sold, and the neighborhood changed its character,” Carr said. “For a while, there was a lot of crime here.”
The District 8 councilmember at the time worked hard to reduce the violence and drugs in Meadowview.
“But the area still maintained its reputation, even though those things are no longer happening,” Carr said.
"Friends outside of the area are questioning why I live here or being scared to come here,” said Brasel, who grew up in South Sac and raised his family in Meadowview’s Cabrillo Park. “To me, I never have been personally affected by it. I'm perfectly happy here."
Speakers at Wednesday’s meeting acknowledged Meadowview's problems, which include illegal dumping, graffiti and blighted properties.
"We need incentives to fill out the brownfields,” Carr said. “There's quite a bit of property that's vacant, that's just sitting there, and the property owners for one reason or another are not moving to do anything to develop the property."
Meadowview has had a number of high-profile crimes in recent years, such as shootings and stabbings, which get the public's attention. But as Carr pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean there's an overall high-crime rate.
"We know that District 8 is one of the safest districts in the city, always the second or third lowest in crime, month after month, year after year,” Carr said.
He’s focused on getting resources to his district, so places like Meadowview can thrive.
"People who live in Meadowview stay in Meadowview. They don't go anywhere!” Carr said. “They've been living here 20, 30, 40 years. They love the diversity of the community, they love their neighbors, and they just want a little bit of help to get things as good as they can be."
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, local non-profits talked about their work, and how people can get involved.
"It's just a well-established neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors, it makes a big difference," Brasel said.
Continue the conversation with Becca on Facebook.
________________________________________________________________