A New Vision for Placer County

Placer Ranch brings Placer County an exciting new concept in community living. Centered around a university campus and business district, it will also include commercial, industrial and retail uses and a variety of affordable housing options. All these will combine to create a new community to serve the needs of residents today and in the future.

Placer Ranch is a 2,200-acre property located on the boundaries of the cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln. It was designated by Placer County in their 1994 General Plan to attract and retain businesses and industries that provide job opportunities to Placer County residents, and will include industrial, office and retail uses to accommodate more than 25,000 employees at full build out.

The university campus, initially a satellite of Sacramento State, may accommodate up to 25,000 students when complete. It will provide a unique opportunity for the regions' residents to take advantage of the educational, cultural, and creative opportunities an institution of higher learning offers. In addition to providing area businesses with an educated workforce, it will foster public/private collaboration opportunities between Sacramento State and local industry, a formula that has proven to be immensely successful with many universities throughout the country.

Placer Ranch is designed to maximize the community benefits of two key elements: the University and business core. Walkable residential districts, higher density urban areas with convenient commercial, work force housing and live-work space, and “pedestrian-first” transportation are essential assets.

The community is designed around multiple distinct districts, each with its own focus. These include the University, business centers and residential neighborhoods. A district may include retail or industrial uses, live-work space, single-family or multi-family housing, commercial or professional space and parks or open space.

Miles of bike and walking paths lace Placer Ranch, linking the districts and making it easy to travel throughout the community. The districts are designed so more than 80 percent of the business and residential units will be within a five to 10 minute walk to goods and services that community residents, students or employees seek on a regular basis.

The Importance of Healthy Communities

What makes a healthy community? What makes a community a nice place to live, somewhere you’re proud to call home? It may be difficult to come to a consensus but most people will agree that a complete community, one that meets the majority of their needs, is most desirable.

Complete communities offer jobs, housing, recreation, education and culture in close proximity. They foster interaction among neighbors and create ways for people to get to know each other. One of those ways is by ensuring a community is pedestrian friendly, making it possible for people to walk to work, shopping, school, parks and home. A variety of jobs are available and different housing options make it possible to live near work, reducing the need to drive everywhere. People feel safe and comfortable raising their children.

Our parents or grandparents might have grown up in a community like that – a place where neighbors knew each other beyond saying hello and held neighborhood barbecues and fireworks shows on the 4th of July. People were healthy physically because they were able to walk to work or school, and the community was healthy because people watched out for each other.

One of the challenges we face is designing a community that brings together the best of the past with our expectations for the future. Placer Ranch’s design and layout must be innovative yet familiar, combining traditionally good elements (like walkable work and neighborhood districts with common gathering places) with current and future technologies (like a University equipped for the 21st century). It needs to fit with the surrounding area but have a unique feel all its own.