Abstract
In April 2014, the Sacramento City Council approved two infill housing development proposals in East Sacramento: Sutter Park Neighborhood and McKinley Village. Following the council’s approval, the Sutter Park project moved to the next development phase. The community overwhelmingly supported this proposal. Litigation and lawsuit delayed McKinley Village construction for another three years. Many opposed this housing development. My research focused on what explains these differences and how it related to public engagement.Debates and controversies around housing proposals can intensify or weaken during the public participation process. I hypothesized that public engagement played a role in generating community support and opposition. The central research question asked how the public engagement strategy influenced the outcomes of community opposition to and support of two infill housing development projects in East Sacramento, Sacramento.
For McKinley Village and Sutter Park Neighborhood public participation case studies I conducted qualitative semi-structured in-person interviews with people involved in the engagement process: residents, developers and local government representatives, including elected officials and staff. I analyzed the data from the interviews by identifying emerging themes. I also reviewed the recordings of the Sacramento City Council and Planning and Design Commission hearings as well as project documents including staff reports and public comment letters for additional information such as project features, approval timelines, community concerns and engagement events.
My research found that historical starting points – location, history of opposition, community attitudes and project externalities – were critically important to the success of the public engagement. Yet the public engagement strategy did influence the outcomes of community opposition to and support of infill housing developments. Even recognizing that the two projects started from separate places with respect to historical context, it mattered whether or not developers used a collaborative, bottom-up project planning strategy that focused on dialogue, listening and trust building.