Abstract
Statement of Problem
The social and economic impact of the redevelopment of Sacramento’s West End on the area’s families, minorities and single men, and on the surrounding communities of the Central Business District, Southside, Washington/Alkali Flat, and Oak Park.
Sources of Data
Sources fall into four categories: books, government documents and reports (primarily federal censuses, and local Sacramento public agency reports), newspaper, magazine and journal articles, and miscellaneous materials (interviews, unpublished documents, and other pertinent materials).
Conclusions Reached
Between 1950 and 1970, Sacramento’s West End experienced a dramatic socio-economic metamorphosis because of urban redevelopment. By 1970, the area was no longer an “outstanding slum.” The low-income population and small businesses it once harbored were gone, replaced by tall buildings and day workers. But the impact of renewal went beyond the borders of West End redevelopment projects. For one, over three-quarters of all former residents relocated into just four areas. Secondly, the population split into separate groups, with a majority of each group relocating into one of these communities. Thirdly, by the early 1970s, each group dominated their particular relocation area. And finally, socio-economic characteristics of these areas were seriously affected by the migration of this displaced population. Redevelopment, in effect, simply transferred the social and economic problems of the West End to other parts of the city.