As students and professors search for real world communities to study, West Sacramento has frequently hosted UCDs academic pursuits. Posted here, we provide this research for members of the community to use as they see fit, to educate themselves about West Sacramento and to inform their decisions about the future of the city.

Community Development Graduate Student Research

In 2005, two members of the West Sacramento city council, current Councilmember Oscar Villegas and past member Carolyn Pierson requested that the Community Development Graduate Group do an interactive study of the Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods with the intention of promoting healthy and safe activities for youth in these neighborhoods. Under the leadership of Professor Ted Bradshaw, the Community Development graduate group committed to studying the Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods for 3 years, through the capstone course, CRD 440: Professional Skills in Community Development, typically taken by 2nd year graduate students. The following materials are the results of this ongoing relationship between UC Davis and the neighborhoods of Bryte and Broderick.

2006
During the Winter Quarter of 2006, CRD 440 students acted as a virtual consulting firm, creating an assetsbased community assessment of the Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods.  The thirteen graduate students interviewed over 100 community members, created an inventory of community services, and compiled and analyzed economic and demographic data.  The resulting report and executive summary formed a basis for all future 440 work in West Sacramento, and included concrete recommendations for city officials, residents, and other concerned community members, as well as appendixes on model city and community programs in similar neighborhoods through the country.

Report and Executive Summary
Executive Summary of 2006 report File(CRD440_B_B_summary2006.doc.pdf)
2006 Report on Bryte and Broderick: Enhancing Community Planning Capacity in West Sacramento File(CRD 440 Report  2006.pdf)

2007
During Winter Quarter of 2007, CRD 440 students worked with the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition and REACH to analyze data from extensive interviews in West Sacramento, and with a youth group called the Sac Town Heroes to map their perceptions of safe and unsafe places in particularly the Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods.

These three months of work by almost twenty students were incorporated into the REACH Coalitions report to the Sierra Health Foundation, as well as 3 GIS maps. The photographic assessment of their neighborhoods by the Sac Town Heroes, with input from other youth, yielded a map of these findings for Bryte and Broderick. In addition, a map was created of the services listed in the previous class services guide; and a final map makes recommendations for neighborhood development based on the two years of observation.

Papers
The report from the REACH Coalition, authored by the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition, with contributions from the 440 students, is entitled: West Sacramento Youth: A community profile File(Community_Profile_W_Sac.pdf)
The 440 students experience of working with the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition was documented in their final paper: File(CRD440_WSYRC_FinalPaper.pdf)
The community mapping research is summarized in the report: Defining Space in the Bryte and Broderick Neighborhoods of West Sacramento: File(CRD_440_Mapping_FinalPaper.pdf)
The community services inventory from the previous year was updated.  The 2007 version is: File(UpdatedServicesInventory.xls)

Maps
 
The methods used to create all the above GIS maps are documented here: File(Methods_for_GIS_Map.pdf)

For more information, contact Mailto(braustin AT ucdavis DOT edu, Bernadette Austin).

Additionally, several Community Development graduate students have done independent research projects in West Sacramento, for coursework or their masters thesis work.
