Neighborhood Watch Needs You

We are happy to announce the official formation of the Creekside Natomas Neighborhood Watch.

Started by a small group of concerned neighbors who are interested in maintaining a high level of safety and security in Creekside, the watch group had its official kickoff this Fall, and over the past two months held a series of informative workshops led by Community Safety Officer McCray. The workshops focused on personal, auto, and home security. City officials have pledged their support to assist in making this Neighborhood Watch a reality. But as residents of this community, we need to keep up our end of the bargain to make it a success.

We must take action and get involved.

The wonderful thing about a Neighborhood Watch, is that it doesn't require any additional time or commitment. It simply requires us to "Look Out For Each Other." Here are a few simple steps that you can make to impact the safety in Creekside:

1) Listen to your senses, and ACT.

When you see something suspicious or out of the ordinary, report it. Every time. No matter how small, it may be just the piece of information needed to help law enforcement officials put together the puzzle. And, as we all know, Creekside is vying against all the other neighborhoods in North Natomas for law enforcement presence and surveillance. The more incidents that are REPORTED, the more law enforcement support our neighborhood will get.

• Emergency: 911
• Police Non-Emergency: 264-5471
• Crime Alert Tip Line: 443-4357
• City Operator (General Info): 264-5011

2) Look Out for Each Other (and exchange information with your neighbors).

The best crime prevention network you have is right next door. And across the street, and on the street behind you, etc. Who knew living so closely to one another could actually be an asset? When it comes to deterring and reporting crime it is. In a neighborhood where no one looks out for each other, criminals have it easy. The only people they need to worry about are those who they are attempting steal from, assault, etc. But in a neighborhood with an aggressive Watch, every house is a potential informant, and we have them surrounded!

• Take 5 minutes to exchange information with the neighbors in front, behind and to the sides of you. Not only is it nice to know the names of the people who you're living so close to, but if you see something suspicious, you can alert them as well. Bottom line is, if a neighbor sees a suspicious person peeking around my yard, I want them to be able to call me (after they call the police) and notify me.

3) Use Common Sense and Be Aware of Your Surroundings!

A large percent of crimes happen as a result of people not paying attention to their surroundings and not using common sense. Here are a few tips to consider for improving your safety:

1. Take a Lap: When arriving home in the evening, drive past your house and take a quick lap around your block. Take notice of anything suspicious that may be going on around your (or your neighbor's) home.
2. Pull the shades: The holidays are here, and after all the effort of decorating our homes, we want to show them off right? Night time during the holidays is the perfect time for criminals to take inventory of valuables in your home. With the lights on inside, you can't see outside! So, please draw the curtains and pull down the shades at night. If you must show off your home during the holidays, make sure it's the outside.
3. Garages and Car Locks were made for a reason: With the recent spike in car break-ins, it seems appropriate to remind everyone of 3 things we should all be doing anyway.

• USING OUR GARAGES. Cars parked in the street not only are more suceptible to vandalism and theft, but they create terrible hazards to the children playing on our streets.

• REMOVING VALUABLES: It's pretty simple. If you don't, they will.

• LOCKING OUR CARS. While very cute and fairly clean, our neighborhood isn't the set of "leave it to beaver" or "father knows best". If you leave valuables in an unlocked car, please don't be surprised if they aren't there in the morning. Of course, if we all just followed the first of the bulleted reminders, we could leave our cars unlocked with valuables in them to our heart's content.

Finally, the reason I love this blog, is because it provides a forum for neighbors to engage in open dialogue and share their thoughts about what makes Creekside a great place, and what can make it better. What I've found is that our small community is very vocal and passionate about our quality of life. With that said, I encourage all of you to take your passions a step further and get involved in the neighborhood. We are a 100% volunteer group. So without neighbors rolling up their sleeves to get involved in both small and large ways, this association doesn't exist. So I urge you, please get involved. Attend a monthly association meeting or join the Neighborhood Watch. If for no other reason than to stay informed about what is going on in the neighborhood, it will make a world of difference in Creekside.

Creekside Community Fair A Success

To the Neighbors and Friends of Creekside,

Thank you for making this year's Community Fair a huge success! The day was filled with games, contests, music and prizes. Most importantly, it was a great chance to mingle with neighbors and community leaders to talk about what makes Creekside a great place to live, as well as what we would all like to see improve.

Thank you to our city and county officials like Councilmember Ray Tretheway, as well as law enforcement officials like officer McCray for spending the day hearing the concerns (and praise) of our neighbors.

Thank you to Lewis Communities for your constant support and dedication to the neighborhood. We are fortunate to have such a generous and committed partners.

For those of you who stopped by the Creekside Neighborhood Association (CNA) booth, it was a joy to speak with so many of you who had positive things to say about the work the association is doing. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts about the neighborhood and ways we can work together to improve it. I hope to see all of you at our next neighborhood meeting, the 3rd Wednesday of each month!

Click Here to View Photos (Courtesy of Sacramento Virtual Home Tours)
http://sacramentovirtualhometours.com/creekside/fair/fair.html

http://sacramentovirtualhometours.com/creekside/timo/timo.html

We have made some real strides in Creekside, but there is so much work yet to be done. Since we are a 100% volunteer group, it will take the efforts of all of us working together to see more progress made.

2nd Annual Community Fair October 21st

Fall in Sacramento is truly a special time of year. The leaves are changing color and the kids are back in school. This time of year also marks the return of a new tradition in Creekside. The Annual Community Fair. For those of you who attended last year, it was a great opportunity to spend a few hours in the park and mingle with neighbors, community leaders, and have some fun with family and friends. This year there is even more in store. There will be games, face painting and bounce house fun, along with a rock climbing wall, live music, and a special appearance by Slamson! Take some time on Saturday, October 21st, to walk over to Kokomo Park from 11-2 and Celebrate Creekside. See you there!

What Matters to You

In a few short years, Creekside Natomas has grown from a small outcrop of homes on the fringes of farmland, to a thriving, diverse and dynamic community. This is a community that values the opinions and viewpoints of each of its residents. Use this space to share with the community what matters to you. Is it development of the regional park? Maintaining the appearance of our public and private property? Is it ensuring the safety of our children? Whatever your point of view, express it here.

Regional Park Planning Underway

Many of us moved to North Natomas because of the proposed regional park. We can all remember the exciting conversations had with sales representatives during our model tours discussing the future of our neighborhood and the wonderful Regional Park that would be the center of it all.

In our minds, we imagined this community as the next land park (or better). Many have since been discouraged at the lack of development of our park. We drive by the vast undeveloped field and wonder if our vision will ever come to fruition. But together we can make it happen.

On June 14th city leaders held a community meeting and forum to discuss the planned development of the park and to gain public input on how to spend the funds already approved for the next phase of development.

Initial proposed options, including development along Natomas Park Blvd and along the opposite bank of the pond, were set aside due a debate over juristiction and funding sources. New options that were favored included a dog park on the west side of the park and development of the perimeter of the park.

Regency Park and Natomas Park residents are clearly getting organized. On the one hand, this is great because the more people involved the quicker our park can become a reality. But on the other hand, they will be representing their own interests, not necessarily those of our community. As you well know, much of their side of the park has already been somewhat developed, while our side continues to lag behind. At the very least we should have a path for our kids to get to Inderkum High School instead of having to trample through weeds and the current dirt path. Also, it would be great for the current bike/walk trail that circles the pond to connect to our neighborhood so that we can enjoy the walk to the pond without having to cross back and forth over North Park Drive.

The city is still accepting public comment and input. Whether you share these specific views or have your own ideas, it is imperative that we have a strong contigency from Creekside to have our concerns represented at these public forums and ensure that the broadwater side of the park is equally developed. Stay tuned for announcement of the next public meeting!

Click here for official meeting notes.

Creekside Pride

Creekside is a community of wonderful diversity and promise. And it is wonderful to see so many neighbors taking pride in our community. However, it only takes the actions of a few individuals to ruin the efforts of the group. We all have to do our part to make this community the safe, clean, and beautiful place it can be.

Why are neighborhoods like Land Park, East Sacramento and Natomas Park such desirable places to live? Why have the home values in those communities continued to climb while those in our community have leveled off and dropped? It is because the residents in those neighborhoods have set a standard for their community that inspires it to be great. They have made a commitment to doing a few "little things" that make a big difference.

Help Creekside become the community we know it can be by doing a few of these "little things."

1. Maintain your lawn and property. This is the single biggest statement a community says about its character, its values, and its pride. Overgrown lawns and weeds are not only a haven for unwanted pests, but are also a significant fire hazard.
2. Park in your garage (or at least your driveway). Vehicles parked on the side of the street can obstruct the view of small children playing.
3. Obey speed limits and traffic signs.
4. Keep noise levels down after 10pm. Our properties are just feet apart from each other, and the sound carries easily into the homes of others. Especially on beautiful summer nights when we open our windows to let the warm breezes in. Respect your neighbors by keeping the noise down.
5. Keep parks and public spaces clean. We are fortunate to have beautifully landscaped parks and trails surrounding our community. Encourage your entire family to use trash and recycle bins.

This section is something we are going to call "Creekside Pride." Take a moment to share the things that you see happening in our community that make you feel proud to call this place home.