Sacramento- California's 'Filthy City'

In case you were confused about my Mr. Wong reference allow me to give you some context about 'Filthy Cities'. Filthy Cities is a program that features several well know cities- before their prime, whilst they were over populated, unsanitary, and all around filthy ( if you had Mr. Wong you might remember the infamous London one we watched). Interestingly enough I hadn't really thought much about the show until today when I was doing community service. 

While driving to community service at Loaves and Fishes we past Friendship Park and I couldn't help but think about how this was the part of California that nobody talked or knew about. Homeless people laid across the sidewalks camped out against chain link fences and dozens of them zoomed past our parked car on worn down bicycles. It was almost painful to sit in a temperate and air conditioned car while they sat in the 90 degree heat against concrete without food, water, or shade. 

A common theme in Filthy Cities is that the filth had perpetuated over years because of dismissal and ignorance, which led to it eventually being unmanageable. In London overpopulation led to excess feces littering the streets, so much so that they had to hire people to clean them; similarly San Diego was dousing their streets with bleach to prevent a deadly Hepatitis A breakout from spreading. 

California is the 9th wealthiest state according to U.S. News and is the 3rd highest in terms of homelessness (around 367 people are homeless per 100,000); and if you look at Sacramento alone we have a 131.7 billion dollar spending budget however only around 5 million of those dollars are invested in those without permanent housing which comprises a staggering 30% of our population. 

These numbers are what is little know about a staggering part of our city, and its the reason that Friendship Park doesn't seem so friendly if you've never been exposed to it before. I'll admit that the area seems almost like a different town, almost like one of those poverty stricken countries we sympathize with. But the reality is its in our backyard, and unfortunately it lacks the public support needed to set the ball in motion for any change. We can't even blame this on a lack of media exposure anymore- the Sacramento Bee features an entire section deemed "The Homeless News". Sacramento has simply chosen to maintain the facade and opt for a bright shiny 558.2 million dollar arena with all the bells and whistles because it presents our city favorably. It seems like now more than ever Sacramento is trying to forget its 'filthy' aspects and compromise what makes it most appalling. Its interesting all the coverage our arena got and the revenue it brings in, with the various vendors, performances, and games which use it. But I guess 30% of our population is a fair price to pay for than much revenue, right?