SACRAMENTO, Calif. — To many people in Sacramento, Del Paso Boulevard comes with a negative connotation. Because of that, a group of business owners are trying to change the area's reputation by sharing their stories of hope and future plans for the boulevard.
"In the 40s, 50s and 60s, the city of North Sacramento had always been its own city, and so Del Paso Boulevard is like downtown, your main street," said Daniel Savala, executive director of the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership.
It was the place to be for many. A place for people to live, eat and play. In the 1920s, it was known as the city of North Sacramento.
"Just a hub, you have two theaters. There are grocery stores, all these mom and pop businesses," Savala said. "There was the ice skating rink and restaurants, automotive car dealerships, a lot of good activity, coffee shops," Savala continued.
That ice skating rink now is overgrown with weeds and mom and pop shops, like Taber Furniture are closed.
"It is a struggle," said Candace Brooks.
"Just July, we were broken into three times in 30 days," said John Blair.
To many, Del Paso Boulevard's reputation never recovered. Some believe the downward spiral started when the area merged with the city of Sacramento in the 1960's.
"You just see spirals of whether it be poverty, crack cocaine, unemployment, all these things in the 70s, 80s and 90s. That took its toll on Del Paso Blvd," said Savala.
Today, business owners say the ongoing homeless crisis and crime make it difficult to succeed. Candace Brooks owns CMC Management Group, providing a venue for entertainment purposes.
"Starting a business in a property here, a commercial property, that has not had any care and attention for a long period of time, makes it challenging," said Brooks. "It's a struggle. So that is a whole different heartache and pain, the break-ins, the shootings, the violence and all of that," she continued.
A few steps away from Brooks is John Blair. He is the co-owner and founder of Never Board Inc. As a business owner and resident in the same neighborhood, Blair says he's doing his best to keep his business alive despite constant break-ins, shootings and homeless problems.
"Having to go through that and rebuild each time is very — that's a process, having people constantly sleep out in front of your business," Blair said.
It's gotten so bad for Frederick Adams, co-owner of Universal Clothing Boutique, he's had to close down a portion of his store after multiple break-ins this past year. He says he's lost more than $10,000 worth of merchandise. All of this makes him unsure about the future of his business.
"We're trying to do everything we can to stay here, but I'm not for sure. I don't know how much longer I could take it," he said.
Many of these business owners tell ABC10 they feel like the city has abandoned them and have not given them any help or resources. Despite that, the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership has received $280,000 from the city two years ago. That money went toward the partnership's clean and safe program, paying for maintenance crews to clean the streets, pick up trash and for an off-duty police program. The partnership will be asking the city for an additional $250,000 for more security and to pay for marketing to support small businesses.
On top of that, Councilmember Sean Loloee says more additions are coming to the boulevard, and it's starting with housing.
"I'm very proud to say that, potentially, we are going to have three major projects on the Del Paso Boulevard. We have a project that's about 150 units. These are market rate units with 15% of them for low income housing. We have another project that's 75 units. That's pretty much all local, low-income housing. And currently, we're in talks of a very exciting project. That's about another 120 to 130 units. That's a workforce, project and units," said Loloee.
It's something Elizabeth Mendez, director of Women's Wisdom Art, says has been missing and making it difficult for people to want to come visit.
"I think the biggest challenges that we have are how car centric it is. It's really hard to walk around here and there's no housing," said Mendez.
To add to the housing projects, the ice rink that has been a staple of Del Paso Boulevard is making a comeback. In November, Sacramento City Council approved a forgivable loan to restore Iceland.
"I'm very excited about this, the opening of Iceland," said Loloee. "It's going to also add to that foot traffic, which ultimately will support the local businesses on the boulevard as well," he continued.
When it comes to the future of the boulevard, these business owners say they have faith it will, once again, be the place to be.
"I think over time that that can happen. I love coming into work every day. I love this street, there is a community that's here. I feel like that if you open up a business here, you do have a, there is a sense of business owner community here, because we all have to have grit, and everyone's gone through very similar things," said Blair.
Public safety is the number one concern for Councilmember Loloee, but he tells ABC10 that an understaffed police department is to blame and making it difficult for officers to respond to incidents in a timely manner. He believes once the housing units open and people move in, there will be more requests for police, and he believes that will make a difference with law enforcement presence in the area once more people start living there.
Councilmember Loloee is facing legal issues of his own. Back in October, the feds investigated Loloee's Viva Supermarkets for accusations that he underpaid employees and violated child labor laws. When ABC10 asked him about this, he said it was all lies.
"So I can tell you very clearly, where's the camera that I can definitely look into it? And I'd say, I can honestly say that every one of those accusations is a complete lie," he said.
Loloee has already said he will not seek re-election and will remain focused on trying to better the district, and that includes Del Paso Boulevard.
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