The Current State of Downtown Stockton
On July 28th, 2012 the City of Stockton filed for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy facing over $2 billion in long-term debt, making it one of the largest cities in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy at the time. Three years later on February 25th, 2015 the city announced it was exiting bankruptcy but will be paying off its debts till 2053. The impacts of this bankruptcy still exist today and well into the future. Analysts and investors generally see Stockton as an extreme case of fiscal mismanagement over the past two decades with free spending on large projects to raise Stockton’s profile and revitalize the downtown area. In 2004 Stockton received a $47 million bond to finance the construction of a sports and concert arena in downtown, but it ultimately ended up losing money. The city’s funding suffered steep losses when financial markets plunged in 2008 and left Stockton with a 23% loss on its invested proceeds and in debt to investors who bought the bonds. What we are left with in downtown today is boarded up blocks of abandoned business, historical buildings subjected to fires, and an overwhelming amount of unhoused individuals living on the streets. In this series I captured the state of these buildings that have been neglected to show the effects that bankruptcy, the 2008 financial crisis and the city’s fiscal mismanagement has done to downtown Stockton. During the California Gold Rush the downtown area of Stockton became a thriving commercial center. A once successful downtown area has turned into a ghost town in a city that still serves as a major shipping point for agricultural and manufactured products in Northern California. Stockton’s glory days may be behind them, but the history is still at the heart of downtown in the buildings and people that the city neglects to invest in. I chose to document this particular issue because Stockton is a place dear to my heart. Both of my parents have worked in and with the Stockton community for their whole careers, so I have seen the city transform in many different ways. I believe that there are a lot of opportunities for Stockton with its geographic placement and diverse community to take action.
This series takes you through the northwest part of Downtown Stockton around California street and Weber Avenue. There is a mixture of full compositions and close up shots to capture the deterioration of the buildings. There is a combination of different elements in the photos that speak on the multitude of issues in the area. A great example of this is the photo of the shelters on an abandoned block of land right next to a church. The Church’s building in the background dates to 1924 and is located across the street from Fremont Square, also known as “Pill Park” for its popularity with drug users. While the Church does its efforts to help the community, the area is still affected by larger issues like unhoused individuals and drug addictions. The overwhelming theme I captured in this series is the lack of resources to clean up these areas near boarded up apartments and businesses. Many shots capture uncleaned streets, excessive trash, broken signage, fire residue, graffiti and the weathering of buildings. Stockton is not the only city in America to have similar issues to this, but capturing the neglect and the current state of what Stockton looks like can help raise concerns about what changes need to happen. There isn’t a lack of love in the Stockton community, many people would like to see things change, but it ultimately falls to the city government to take serious action.
Project completed at University of the Pacific 2023