Battered by Foreclosures, Stockton Looks Downtown

California’s San Joaquin Valley has been one of the epicenters of the foreclosure crisis. Cities like Sacramento, Modesto, and especially Stockton saw some of the worst of the housing crash and economic downturn. At one point, Stockton had the highest rate of foreclosures in the nation, with an estimated one in every 31 homes in foreclosure during the third quarter of 2007. Recovery is but a word in Stockton, where the city has continued to struggle with foreclosures, which still total above the national rate. The city was recently happy to lose its first place position in another ranking, Forbes’ Most Miserable Cities list. Stockton was at the top of that list in both 2010 and 2011, but improved to 11th place in 2012. Better, but still not great.

Now, in Stockton and other San Joaquin Valley cities, officials are trying to reframe development, shifting away from the sprawling subdivisions and unrealistic mortgages of the past and toward a more compact, dense and centralized pattern. These foreclosure-wracked cities are refocusing growth downtown.