We asked: What is the Sacramento region’s best asset? And biggest challenge?

Abridged interviewed audience members at Valley Vision's 2025 Livability Summit in Citrus Heights.

Published on October 2, 2025

Abridged at this week's Livability Summit in Citrus Heights.

Martin Christian

The Sacramento region is at a critical moment. And residents have many opinions about where the region is headed.

Residents appear evenly split between those who think we need to speed up the production of housing and those who believe development is happening too fast, according to a recent poll conducted by regional nonprofit Valley Vision. Many of us think our financial situation has improved over the past five years. Still, more people report their mental health has gotten worse than those who say it’s improved.

Abridged served this week as the news partner for Valley Vision’s Livability Summit, a one-day event at the Citrus Heights Event Center that brought together 350 community leaders unified behind one theme: ensuring the Sacramento region is an equitable, sustainable and prosperous place to call home.

Abridged asked more than a dozen attendees two vital questions: What is the Sacramento region’s best asset? And what’s the biggest challenge in the region?

Here are some of their answers.