Editing Stockton, California (section)

==Economy==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2009}}
[[File:Commercial & Savings Bank - Stockton, CA.jpg|thumb|The historic Commercial & Savings Bank building, Stockton]]

Historically an agricultural community, Stockton's economy has since diversified into other industries, which include telecommunications and [[manufacturing]].

Stockton's central location, relative to San Francisco and [[Sacramento]], its proximity to the state and interstate freeway system, and its comparatively inexpensive land costs have prompted several companies to base their regional operations in the city.

===Shopping===
The city of Stockton has one [[shopping mall]], the [[Weberstown Mall]]. The city previously housed the [[Sherwood Mall]], adjacent to Weberstown, but in 2022, it was converted into a shopping center now named Sherwood Place. It has the only Dillard's in the Northern California region at the Weberstown Mall, as well as one of the three Sears stores still operating in the Northern California region.

===Construction and public spending===
[[File:Kluft-photo-Stockton-Metro-Airport-July-2009-Img 0085c.jpg|thumb|View across [[Stockton Metropolitan Airport]], 2009]]

Beginning in the late 1990s, Stockton had commenced some revitalization projects.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McGrath |first=M. |date=2016 |title=Stockton, California: A My Brother's Keeper Community |journal=National Civic Review |volume=105 |issue=1 |pages=36–43 |doi=10.1002/ncr.21261|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Real estate bubble===
[[File:StocktonCalifornia_2012.jpg|thumb|Stockton 2012 aerial view]]

The Stockton real estate market was disproportionately affected by the [[2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis]], and the city led the United States in [[foreclosure]]s for that year, with one of every 30 homes posted for foreclosure.<ref name="Christie">{{cite news|first=Les |last=Christie |url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/08/14/real_estate/California_cities_lead_foreclosure/index.htm |title=California cities fill top 10 foreclosure list |publisher=Money.cnn.com |date=August 14, 2007 |access-date=February 4, 2010}}</ref> From September 2006 to September 2007, the value of a median-priced house in Stockton declined by 44%.<ref name="money.cnn.com">{{cite news|first=Les |last=Christie |url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/12/02/real_estate/REOs_tough_on_sellers/index.htm |title=Home sellers suffer amid wave of foreclosures |publisher=Money.cnn.com |date=December 2, 2008 |access-date=February 26, 2010}}</ref>

Stockton's [[Weston Ranch]] neighborhood, a subdivision of modest tract homes built in the mid-1990s, had the worst foreclosure rate in the area according to [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now|ACORN]], a now-defunct national advocacy group for low and moderate-income families.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} Stockton found itself squarely at the center of the 2000s' speculative [[housing bubble]]. Real estate in Stockton more than tripled in value between 1998 and 2005, but when the bubble burst in 2007, the ensuing financial crisis made Stockton one of the hardest-hit cities in United States.<ref name="America's Most Dangerous Cities">{{Cite journal| url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/most-dangerous-cities-lifestyle-real-estate-dangerous-american-cities_slide_12.html| title=America's Most Dangerous Cities| journal=Forbes| date=April 23, 2009| access-date=February 4, 2010}}</ref>

Stockton housing prices fell 39% in the 2008 fiscal year, and the city had the country's highest [[foreclosure]] rate (9.5%) as well. Stockton also had an unemployment rate of 13.3% in 2008, one of the highest in the United States. Stockton was rated by ''[[Forbes]]'' in 2009 as America's fifth most dangerous city because of its [[crime rate]].<ref name="America's Most Dangerous Cities"/> In 2010, mainly due to the aforementioned factors, ''Forbes'' named it one of the three worst places to live in the United States.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589887,00.html |publisher=Fox News | title=Forbes Magazine Names Worst Places to Live in America | date=March 24, 2010 | access-date=June 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531224243/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589887,00.html | archive-date=May 31, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===City bankruptcy===
Following the 2008 financial crisis, in June 2012 Stockton became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. It was surpassed by [[Detroit bankruptcy|Detroit]] in July 2013. The city approved a plan to exit bankruptcy in October 2013,<ref name="Smith">{{cite web |url=http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131004/A_NEWS/310040326 |title=Council approves Chap. 9 exit plan |first=Scott |last=Smith |date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=November 6, 2013 |work=[[The Record (Stockton)|The Record]]}}</ref> and voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the exit.<ref name="Marcum">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-stockton-tax-measure-election-20131106,0,5437212.story#axzz2jt4QaQcs |title=Stockton voters approve of new tax measure for bankrupt city | first=Diana | last=Marcum |date=November 6, 2013 |access-date=November 6, 2013 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref>

The collapse in real estate valuations had a negative effect on the city's revenue base. On June 28, 2012, Stockton filed for [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9 bankruptcy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Stockton, California Chapter 9 Voluntary Petition|url=https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/7DR4LZQ/City_of_Stockton_California__caebke-12-32118__0001.0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810225126/https://www.pacermonitor.com/view/7DR4LZQ/City_of_Stockton_California__caebke-12-32118__0001.0.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |url-status=live|website=PacerMonitor|access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref> On April 1, 2013, the [[United States Bankruptcy Court]] Eastern District of California ruled that Stockton was eligible for bankruptcy protection.

The Stockton bankruptcy case lasted longer than two years and received nationwide attention. On October 4, 2013, Stockton City Council approved a bankruptcy exit plan by a 6–0 vote<ref name="Smith" /> to be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento. Voters approved a {{frac|3|4}}-cent sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the bankruptcy exit.<ref name="Marcum" />

On October 30, 2014, a [[federal bankruptcy judge]] approved the city's bankruptcy recovery plan, thus allowing the city to continue with the planned pension payments to retired workers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lifsher|first1=Marc|last2=Petersen|first2=Melody|title=Judge approves Stockton bankruptcy plan; worker pensions safe|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stockton-pension-court-ruling-cuts-20141029-story.html|access-date=October 30, 2014|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 30, 2014}}</ref> The city exited from Chapter 9 bankruptcy on February 25, 2015.

===Experiment in Guaranteed Basic Income===
As part of a privately funded experiment in [[Basic Income|Universal Basic Income]] in 2019, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (S.E.E.D.) conducted a pilot project that gave a $500 stipend to 125 randomly selected residents for an 24-month period with "no strings attached."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/ |title=SEED |publisher=Stocktondemonstration.org |date=March 3, 2021 |accessdate=March 8, 2022}}</ref> It was made possible by the Economic Security Project,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.economicsecurityproject.org/team/ |title=Who We Are |website=economicsecurityproject.org |access-date=March 29, 2021}}</ref> an advocacy group chaired by Facebook co-founder [[Chris Hughes]], which provided the first $1 million for the program, and a dozen other Silicon Valley organizations and private donors who funded the rest of its $3 million budget.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Can-500-a-month-change-a-city-Stockton-tests-14943872.php|title=Can $500 a month change a city? Stockton tests universal basic income|date=January 2, 2020|website=SFChronicle.com|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=California city fights poverty with guaranteed income |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-income/california-city-fights-poverty-with-guaranteed-income-idUSKCN1J015D |work=Reuters |access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> The positive benefits of the program during the first year were described in an interim report published in March 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/press-landing/guaranteed-income-increases-employment-improves-financial-and-physical-health |title=Guaranteed Income Increases Employment, Improves Financial and Physical Health |date=March 3, 2021 |website=stocktondemonstration.org |access-date=March 29, 2021}}</ref>