The Sacramento Bee recently ran a story about the median price of homes in the 4-county Sacramento region having dropped since last year. The largest decline in the median sales price for neighborhoods with more than 10 homes sold was in the “good part” Arden Arcade, the 95864 Zip Code. There the median sales price fell $125,000, or 23 percent, to $425,000 in November 2018 compared to November 2017. There are people out there who unfairly consider our community to be, shall we say, undesirable, but they don’t tend to paint Zip Code 95824 with that same brush. 95824 has neighborhoods like Arden Oaks, Arden Park, Sierra Oaks and Sierra Oaks Vista, which have some of the priciest residences in the County. So it comes as a bit of a shock to learn that the “nice” neighborhoods aren’t quite so “nice” anymore. There is a current discussion raging on the local Nextdoor networks with people wondering how it could be that these places are in decline and pointing fingers at Sacramento County’s land use decisions, code enforcement, and the way the San Juan Unified School District has shied away from the concept of neighborhood schools. It is normal for property values to rise and fall. Still, when real estate prices are going up, it is discomforting to see our property values rise more slowly than other parts of the region and, when prices are declining, to have them fall faster here. Local control is an alternative to just being at the mercy of external forces. However, as has been mentioned, we can’t have local control until the state reforms its hostility towards new municipalities. Until then, our community’s property values remain adrift in the stream and we are left without a paddle. You can see our concerns about local property values are right there on our front page at “A Voice for a Better Community”. But what are your opinions? Your thoughts on this issue are welcome by commenting to us here or by responding to our Facebook page (“like”, comment, share) or our Twitter page (reply tweet, repeat tweet, “heart”)