Meadowview, Sacramento, California
Encyclopedia
Location
Meadowview is a neighborhood of Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
located in the southernmost of the city.
Detail
It is bordered by 47th avenue to the north, the Watt/I-80–Downtown–Meadowview Light Rail Line to the east, an open field to the south, and State Route 160California State Route 160
State Route 160 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California consisting of two sections. The longer, southern, section is a scenic highway through the alluvial plain of the Sacramento River, linking SR 4 in Antioch with Sacramento via the Antioch Bridge...
on the west. The Meadowview area is also located near Interstate Highway 5 (I-5). The neighborhood started out with middle and working class African-American families migrating from the Bay Area, Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
, and Midwest. Early on it was a tight knit community with many families attending the same church congregations or sharing the common bond of migrating to Sacramento from other areas of the country. There were also working professionals with college degrees in the community such as Doctors, Teachers and many veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
s. During the late 1970s to early 1980s more families started to migrate from the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. During this time many businesses closed down in the neighborhood. Crime and gangs started to prevail. Once considered a war zone during the 1980s and early 1990s, Meadowview is vastly improving from its bad reputation to a place where families can be safely raised. New additions like the Sam C. Pannell Community Center (named after the late African American city official), Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...
and new housing development on the south side of the neighborhood.
Schools/Learning
The Meadowview area is zoned by the Sacramento City Unified School DistrictSacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified School District is a school district in Sacramento, California. The district's main office is located at the Serna Center in Sacramento....
with schools in the neighborhood being: Rosa Parks Middle School
Rosa Parks Middle School
Rosa M. Parks Middle School is a public school for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 located in Olney, an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland....
(formerly Goethe), Mark Hopkins Elementary School, John Bidwell Elementary School, John Sloat Elementary School, Freeport Elementary School, Edward Kemble Elementary School, Cesar Chavez High School, Susan B. Anthony High School, and the Luther Burbank High School. At the Samuel C. Pannell Community Center, where there are many events such as Teen Unity (The Basement), Exercise Room, Computer Lab, etc.
Crime
Meadowview is a part of Sacramento that is consistently referred as a solo city within a city. This part of Sacramento is known for drug & gang violence, mainly affecting the African American community. During the 1970s and 1980s the apartment complex known as Danger IslandDanger Island
Danger Island is the westernmost and the southernmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago.-Description:...
/The Rock was a hotspot for narcotics in Sacramento. Streets like 68th & 69th Avenue, Detroit Blvd, Skelton Way and 29th Street were known in the 80's for heavy criminal activity.
Notable residents
- LeVar BurtonLeVar BurtonLevardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...
, Actor - Greg VaughnGreg VaughnGregory Lamont Vaughn is a former Major League Baseball left fielder and right-handed batter who played for the Milwaukee Brewers , San Diego Padres , Cincinnati Reds , Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Colorado Rockies . He was born in Sacramento, California, where he attended Kennedy High School...
, Major League Baseball player - Cornel WestCornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
, Academic