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Turn on a tap anywhere in rural Elk Grove and you are drinking from a well. Not a city main. Not a treatment plant across town. A hole in the ground on your property or your neighbor's, pulling from the aquifer that sits under all of us. That is the rural formula, as this series described it back in April: two acre minimum parcels, private wells, septic systems. For all the ground this series has covered this year, nobody has written the deep cut on the first item in that lis

Rural Roots Sunday - What We Leave Behind? "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 October 11, 2026 | Connie Conley, a Rural Area Resident Every generation makes decisions that shape the community the next generation

Rural Roots Sunday: What happens in Elk Grove's rural area affects the entire city The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 For the last several months, I have enjoyed reading the weekly Rural Roots Sunday. As a 35-plu

Rural Roots Sunday: Why Our Rural Roads Look Different The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Have you wondered why Rural Elk Grove roads often lack the curbs, gutters, sidewalks and streetlights found elsewhere in t

Rural Roots Sunday - What Mornings Look Like Out Here The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Most mornings start the same way. Feed buckets, water troughs, and ninety plus animals that do not care if you slept well o

Rural Roots Sunday - My Rural Elk Grove Story The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan 2025 As a young child, some of my fondest memories were visiting my grandfather, my Papa, on his property in rural Elk Grove. I remember the open

Rural Roots Sunday - Beyond Rural Elk Grove: Preservation Matters to Us All The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan 2025 Growing up in rural Redding shaped who I am and gave me a lasting appreciation for open land, quiet roads, and

Rural Roots Sunday - The Pastoral Side of Elk Grove The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan 2025 I am a proud rural Elk Grove resident. Like my neighbors, I cherish the extra room my acreage affords me. If you drive a mere two miles

My Rural Elk Grove Neighbors The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents. - Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Living in rural Elk Grove means more than simply having open land around us. It means being part of a community where neighbors still look out for o

Rural Roots Sunday - What do I like best about life in Rural Elk Grove? In a word… Everything! "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Thanks to our wide-open view, we start the day with breathtaking sunrises. Always

Rural Roots Sunday: In the City But Not In the City …The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 We moved out here 5 years ago. Before that we were in the Bay Area, house next to house next to house. And I want to be clear

Rural Roots Sunday: Just a Hop Field "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan 2025 If you drive Jackson Road out past Sloughhouse, you are driving through what used to be hop country. Not a little of it either. In 1910 California gr

Rural Roots Sunday: Still Working "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 People talk about the rural area like it is a view. Something pretty you pass on the way somewhere else. Open ground, a few fences, maybe some

Rural Roots Sunday - What Slows Down in July "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Out here, July has a rhythm to it. The mornings start early, before the heat sets in, because that is the only window where the wor

Rural Roots Sunday - Last Call for Legends: The Three Bars That Built Old Elk Grove "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Before the subdivisions, before the big box stores, before Elk Grove became one of the faste

Rural Root Sunday - The Value of Rural Elk Grove, More Than Open Space "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Like many others, I look forward to reading and enjoying each new installment of Rural Roots Sunday (RRS)

Rural Roots Sunday - Maintaining our sacred rural area of East Elk Grove To Whom in Concerns: From: Neighboring advocates from Quail Ranch Estates supporting the "Rural Area" of East Elk Grove Located along the western edge of Rural Elk Grove, Quail Ranch Estates occupies a unique place in the community. While we enjoy the benefits of living in a residential neighborhood, we are also fortunate to share a border with one of the most cherished rural communities in the city of E

Rural Roots Sunday - Coming Full Circle: Why Rural Elk Grove Feels Like Home "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 Growing up in a rural community in Northern California taught me the value of open space, close-kni

Rural Roots Sunday - Growing More Than Crops "...The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents..." Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025 I grew up on a small family farm just 63 miles south of Elk Grove, where I learned firsthand the discipline, patience, and deep

Rural Roots Sunday - A Tribute to My Dad and the Legacy He Built "…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2025, Page 2-4 Photo: "40 years rooted in tradition, bearing sweet figs year after year." My Dad's story began on th