Creating and maintaining Downtown Sacramento as a true regional center has been the goal of the area’s leaders since the city was founded. In recent years, however, developments in downtown have been overshadowed by developments elsewhere in the region. An opportunity now exists to add to the role of downtown by creating a regional cultural, recreational, and environmental asset as part of the downtown geography, not unlike Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Balboa Park in San Diego, and Central Park in New York City.

