Hoboken NJ has local control
There's an interesting article in Curbed about how Hoboken NJ values pedestrians over motor vehicles. As a result, the city has experienced NO traffic deaths since 2018 and has had very few crashes and injuries compared to neighboring communities of equivalent size.
Obviously our community is very different from Hoboken, which has become fairly upscale in recent years: a population about the same as Orangevale, a median income like Mill Valley's in Marin (more than 2 1/2 times what it is here), and a median house costing about the same as one in Rocklin ($730K vs. here @ $581K). Apples and oranges, for sure. But what struck us about the article was what the city's transportation guy said about how he was able to get stuff done:
“There’s nine city council members, one square mile, plus the mayor. All of these people feel very vested and connected to every ounce of space. And there is no bureaucracy that at a higher level can say, ‘This is our policy, we’re just going to do it.’”Ryan Sharp, City of Hoboken Transportation-and-Parking Director, quoted in Hoboken Hasn’t Had a Traffic Death in Four Years. What’s It Doing Right? (Christopher Robbins, Curbed.com, June 17, 2022)
Pretty basic, isn't it? Hoboken has 1 elected official for every 6000 people. We have 1 for every 320,000 people. And all 10 of Hoboken's elected officials are focused on making life better for the residents and businesses of a place 40% smaller than ours. So if you have something to say to your municipal government, you will get much better responsiveness in Hoboken than you will ever get here. Sure, we have a decent person for our Supervisor, but he'll be the first to tell you that the county is not structured to handle our municipal needs and that it's not right that 1 person is the municipal government for 320K people. Hoboken has local control; Hoboken is a city. Arden Arcade does not have local control; Arden Arcade is not a city. Do you want the situation here to change and are you willing to do anything to change it?