The Vibe Of It All: Turning Stockton Into 'An Oasis Of Joy'

Speaker 1: 00:00 Climate change was top of mind for many people in 2020 wildfires, torched California, and a record number of hurricanes slapped the East coast. The city of Stockton recently made headway in efforts to cope with warming temperatures, cap radios, as are a David Romero has more about a new city initiative meant to help the most vulnerable San Joaquin residents adapt Speaker 2: 00:24 A few blocks away from downtown Stockton. There's an urban forest of about 40 trees. Sammy Nunez, nonprofit fathers and families of San Joaquin planted it. He says an investment in the environment is an investment in people. Speaker 3: 00:38 The way we treat the land of disregard for the land is the way we treat families and children here in this community. And because of it, the land is hurting. The people are hurting. Speaker 2: 00:46 Nunez says urban force. Like this will be a big part of an $11 million state grant that Stockton received to combat climate change. He was part of a community process that helped map out the new initiative. He says this particular green space was created to remember victims of gun violence. Now it serves two purposes cooling this neighborhood's heat Island in pain, homage to fall on family members. Speaker 3: 01:09 This is about creating an opportunity for folks to heal and connect to the natural world and understand the value of these trees. Speaker 2: 01:16 The hope is that there will be many more green spaces like this. Under the new Stockton climate initiative, the money will be used to make the city more walkable, less reliant on fossil fuels and create more green space in vulnerable neighborhoods. Newness wants the initiative to have longterm impacts. Speaker 3: 01:34 We know that the design of a community in and of itself can actually be deterrent to crime and violence. We know that the more trees you have, the less crime you have in the neighborhood. We know that newness Speaker 2: 01:43 Walk me through downtown to show me how the grant may transform the city scale. Speaker 3: 01:47 So this is census track, 4.02 and one Speaker 2: 01:50 Dave streets here may soon have bike lanes and tree-lined sidewalks. The grant will also help create more green jobs and increase household solar energy schools will have urban farming classes Speaker 3: 02:02 Change. The social political climate has collided to create the perfect opportunity for us to really reimagine what it means to be a person of color in Stockton. Nowadays, Speaker 2: 02:10 Oakton mayor Michael Tubbs says the purpose of the grant is to ensure that all city residents benefit from the climate work. Even though his term ends in January, he wants to see the city becoming a racist while it's climbing out of bankruptcy and still grappling with gun violence. Speaker 4: 02:26 I want Stockton to be the community that shows what a green new deal looks like in terms of tangible benefits, Speaker 2: 02:33 Stockton based environmental advocate, Barbara Baragon Priya says planting trees and parts of the city where there are few will tangibly change residents' lives Speaker 4: 02:42 And heat waves. 10, 12 degrees warmer in South Stockton every year that in North Stockton, however, Speaker 2: 02:48 He says the grant is just the beginning and doesn't address all the threats of climate change here. Algae in the Delta can harm humans and animals. Sea level rise with threatened community members who live levees back in the healing garden. A block away from the freeway, the sound of cars and big rigs pervade the air. I'm wrapping up the interview with Nunez. Not because there's nothing left to talk about. It's just so hot. But before we go, newness has one more thing to say, Speaker 3: 03:19 But we represent every single demographic and market in the world here. If it works here, it could work anywhere. That's the good news. The bad news is the opposite. If it doesn't work here, it's not going to work. Anyway. Speaker 2: 03:29 Nunez could have left Stockton for a city with fewer problems, but he loves this place. When he looks at Stockton, he sees all the bad, but then what comes into view is hope in Stockton. I'm Sr David Ramirez.