Elaine Andersen was appointed Folsom city manager in July 2018 after 13 years working for the local municipality in other positions . She moved to Folsom 30 years ago , when the city had a population of nearly 30,000 ; now about 80,000 people live there . The Folsom Plan Area , which is now under development , will add housing , schools , parks , and commercial and office buildings , and bring in an estimated 25,000 new residents . Comstock ’ s spoke to Andersen about changes underway .
What are some of the major ways you ’ ve seen your community change during your time living and working in Folsom ? We got a little apartment 30 years ago , and that was our start here . We bought our first home in 1996 ( in ) Folsom , and now we ’ re in our second home where we ’ ve raised our children . … When we first got here , we would leave Folsom for really serious shopping … ( and ) go down to Sacramento . If we wanted high-level entertainment or dining , we would leave Folsom . Fast forward to today , thanks to some really wise planning by some great leaders over the years , we can ’ t find a whole lot of reasons to leave . We now have a worldclass performing arts center called the Harris Center that ’ s part of Folsom ( Lake ) College . We have amazing employers , like Intel . We have … high-tech and health care hub ( s ) here . We have amazing restaurants . We have the Palladio , which is full of great and interesting shops , and our Broadstone Marketplace , our central business district , ( and ) the historic district . So what has changed is there ’ s even more to offer , and yet it ’ s all still contained within a wonderful small-town feel .
What , if anything , does Folsom need to do to attract new residents ? We ’ ve done a great job of attracting people here . … We have 48 parks . We have miles of trails . We have beautiful natural amenities . We are now developing south of ( Highway ) 50 … and we ’ re trying to make sure we continue to offer what we call the “ 95630 experience .” … What we need to do more of is what brought us to that point , and that was careful , wise land-use planning that makes sure we have the perfect and right blend of natural amenities , accessing them through trails and parks , homes , shops and businesses , high-level employers that keep people here .
The events of 2020 have definitely created a cultural shift in how people work and live . … The highly talented workforce in the Bay Area is at a critical juncture in terms of the high cost of living in the Bay Area in conjunction with now people have a choice in terms of their workplace flexibility . This creates an opportunity for places like Folsom to showcase what we have here in terms of our quality of life paired with a dynamic business culture , so that ’ s kind of an interesting angle for us for the future .
We work as the city in very close partnership with the Greater Folsom Partnership , which encompasses our Folsom Chamber of Commerce , and ( we ) are working with them to spearhead two campaigns . One is a campaign called : Folsom , the Best Kept Secret in Northern California . It ’ s a multimedia campaign that basically highlights the pillars of the Folsom brand message , which is the abundant recreational amenities , outstanding educational system — we ’ re a full-service city : We have our own fire department , our own police department and a high concentration of tech jobs . We ( launched ) # WeSupportFolsom , a campaign to encourage shopping and dining locally and why it ’ s more important than ever to do that for local businesses . We want to be sure people know that when you shop local , it pays off for all of us in terms of the amenities we can provide .
Has sales tax revenue in Folsom taken a hit with the pandemic , and what does that mean for city services ? Cities depend primarily on three sources of revenue to provide the services . … Those are property tax revenue , which is doing fine for us , because this is still ( a place where ) people very much want to live , and home values are holding strong and increasing . ( Another source is ) programming revenues , which is the money that comes from people using our services like signing up their kids
We ( launched ) # WeSupportFolsom , a campaign to encourage shopping and dining locally and why it ’ s more important than ever to do that . … We want to be sure people know that when you shop local , it pays off for all of us in terms of the amenities we can provide .
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