Our Community

Arden Arcade is a 16-square mile Census Designated Place (CDP) that lies east of the City of Sacramento in Sacramento County in California's Central Valley. The population in 2010 was 92,186 (US Census data); that made us the 2nd-largest CDP in California. As of 2019 the Census models predicted we would have slightly over 100,000 residents. The official 2020 Census number is now stated as 94,659 - probably an undercount given the 2020 Census controversies over immigration and homelessness and considering the massive influx of very recent refugees from Afghanistan. Still, 95,000 is a significant number of people. And, with a population density of 5900 people (or more) per square mile, Arden Arcade is a heavily urbanized area.

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Our Physical Setting

As arbitrarily designated by the County of Sacramento, Arden Arcade is a 16 square mile area immediately east of the City of Sacramento with the American River on the southwest and south and the Capital Cities Freeway/I-80 on the northwest and north. The County says Arden Arcade "ends" at Mission Avenue, though the eastern edge used to go to Walnut Avenue. The climate is mild. It rarely snows and…

Our Socio-economic Setting

Once consisting of native grasses and oak meadows, Arden Arcade's earliest settlements were oriented around agricultural pastures and orchards. Mather and McClellan Air Force bases were both significant from World War II until their closures in 1993 and 2001 and provided significant local employment for many years. The post-WWII suburban building boom resulted in many working-class subdivisions…

Our local governments

California is a big state with a large, diverse population. So it should not come as a surprise that the local level of government is complicated. Within, and in addition to, the County itself, local governmental services in our county are provided by:

Our Invisibility

Arden Arcade is invisible. We don't exist on most maps. We can't be found at election time. The freeeways don't identify our exits. The media names us if something bad happens (a crime, say) but…

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A nice Bee article for a change

There is much to like about Mark Billingsley's feature article about Arden Arcade in the Bee's Real Estate Section on August 27th. Why? Because it portrayed our community in a positive vein. As…

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