McKinley Village Nears Debut, Neighbors Worry About Increased Traffic

SACRAMENTO (CBS 13) – After being in the works for almost nine years, McKinley Village in East Sacramento is finally ready to open its doors to the public. Developers will host the first public open house on Saturday and give locals their first look at the new homes planned.

"They really capture something that you're not going to see in other homes in the Sacramento area," said Kevin Carson, the Northern California president for the New Home Company.

From modern to traditional styles, the 336 new homes will be spread across five neighborhoods in the village. With a price range between $300,000 and $900,000, the builders hope to attract a wide variety of families to the village.

"It offers a new set of housing opportunities for people who want to live close to midtown and downtown and they want to walk and bike to work or schools," said Phil Angelides, president of Riverview Capital Investments.

He told CBS13 that the village is environmentally friendly and will help the city fight pollution and reduce climate change.

"We've gotta stop sprawling for miles and miles and miles," Angelides said. "We gotta reduce congestion. Allow people more opportunities to have short commutes to work, to bike and walk to work."

Carson said the village's' close proximity to downtown coupled with the urban architecture make the community one of a kind in Sacramento.

"What makes them truly 21st century and unique and innovative is the design features that are inside the house: Larger rooms, secondary bedrooms that you can fit two children in, en-suite bathrooms, storage underneath stairs and extra pantries," Carson said.

With the environment in mind, the community features 10 parks and several landscaped common areas. But some neighbors are worried the new neighborhood brings an unneeded challenge close to home.

"The traffic for us, has an impact on us," said Claudia Bordin, who has lived near McKinley Park for more than 25 years. "What's that impact on us as pedestrians, bicyclists? It's huge. 3,500 more car trips down McKinley Blvd and in surrounding areas. It's huge."

But Angelides believes that having two entrances to the Village will alleviate possible bottlenecks. And he said focus groups conducted with East Sacramento residents found a great deal of interest in bringing new homes to the area.

"We wouldn't be here today but for the fact that literally over 800 people in the community stood up and said 'we want this!'" Angelides said. "I think if people come out and look, they'll get a good feel for how McKinley Village adds, doesn't subtract," Angelides said.

On Saturday, 14 model homes will be open for the public to tour. About 20 families are expected to move in by December and within the next two years, developers hope all of the homes will be built and sold.