CITY OF WOODLAND
Let ’ s Go Downtown
With its mix of beautiful historic buildings and exciting new construction , Downtown Woodland is drawing businesses and residents in droves on the heels of the pandemic .
Mayor Tom Stallard says Woodland survived the pandemic with only minor setbacks due to community support for local businesses during the lockdown . “ COVID treated us well in some respects ,” he says , noting that Downtown restaurants were able to adapt and thrive thanks to the introduction of innovative parklets , outdoor dining areas set up in parking lots . “ We found that people love dining outdoors — it ’ s likely ( the parklets ) will remain .”
Special events are also coming back , like the newly reinstated First Fridays that feature live music and later business hours so locals and visitors can enjoy all that Downtown Woodland has to offer .
Downtown ’ s Main Street provides diverse shopping and sipping experiences , like the newly established Embellish Decor & Gifts and soon-to-open Gallery Coffee Roasters . The shared shop at 535 Main Street is a fun place to visit — half of the space features Jami Ray women ’ s boutique and the other half is home to Little Chances baby , toddler and kids boutique .
Little Chances owner Kimberley Casazza-Cutts and Jami Ray owner Julia Jamison love providing customers with double the options in their “ light , bright and welcoming space .” Little Chances offers toys , books and gifts that Casazza-Cutts says provide fun and relief during the ups and downs of growing up . Jami Ray offers clothing and accessories that encourage women to feel confident . Born and raised in Woodland , Jamison says it ’ s special helping customers pick out a dress for a friend ’ s wedding or graduation .
Downtown Woodland is also becoming an ideal place to live , especially as businesses reopen and events start back up . Loft apartments are available in five newly renovated buildings , like the Pearson ’ s building on Main Street . Mayor Stallard says that six of the seven Pearson ’ s apartments were leased within the first month .
Spencer Bowen , the City of Woodland ’ s communications manager and policy analyst , credits the community for encouraging growth Downtown . “ They are the reason there is a bright future ahead ,” Bowen says . “ As we continue forward , we want to encourage people to shop small and eat locally .”
– Jessica Hice
Valley floor . An 1862 flood in the town of Washington ( now West Sacramento ) secured Woodland ’ s place as the seat of Yolo County . By 1865 , the town included a post office , a college , a newspaper and other amenities .
In 1869 , the railroad came to Woodland , giving it the means to transport crops to distant markets and develop innovations to increase crop production . The centrifugal pump , a mainstay of farms today , was invented in Woodland , giving growers the opportunity to expand their acreage farther away from water sources . The roots of the Caterpillar tractor company are buried in Woodland dirt . Wilkinson and others cite the popular ( but difficult to document ) statistic that between 1885 and 1890 , the town of about 6,000 people had more millionaires per capita due to farm wealth than any other place in the country .
Formally incorporated in 1871 , Woodland celebrated its 150th anniversary in February and , more than a century and a half later , still benefits from its location as a driving force of agricultural innovation . “ We ’ re close to an international airport , at the intersection of major highways and close to UC Davis ,” notes Woodland City Councilmember Rich Lansburgh .
As Woodland looks beyond the sesquicentennial celebration to the decades ahead , the city intends to leverage those advantages to expand its economy through land-use plans that preserve acreage for innovative ag industries , in addition to education initiatives and infrastructure investment . In the last five years , Woodland has invested $ 200 million in water treatment , aquifer storage and solar generation to provide crops with nutrition . Flood-endangered land unsuitable for housing in the north and premium acreage west of town is preserved for agriculture .
“ We rely on our ag business and we protect ag land ,” Lansburgh says .
Food For The Future
Like the pump and tractor inventors of the 1800s , the foundation for Woodland ’ s ag future also relies on innovation in the development of seeds and more robust crops . The Lab @ AgStart , a seed and crop development lab , fittingly sits on Main Street . Created by a consortium of nine seed companies and 44 food processors , the $ 1.4 million facility is intended to develop sustainable methods to produce more food for the future , as some predict population growth will demand a 70 % increase in food availability in the coming decades .
The facility , which opened in May , houses Raley ’ s Food Lab , the only certified lab of its kind in Northern California where food entrepreneurs can test new products . It also includes the Yocha Dehe Lab , one of only four wet labs in the region focused on supporting startup companies . “ The continued strength of food and agriculture is important to our future ,” says policy analyst Bowen . “ We intend to make sure our region continues to lead in innovation .”
That future also lies to the south , where Woodland has mapped out the Woodland Research and Technical Park , a 350- acre planned development that envisions building biotech and badly needed wet lab space for scientists who are creating new generations of seeds and crops . Infrastructure construction has
16 comstocksmag . com | 2021