Sylvan Old Auburn Road, Citrus Heights, CA

Sylvan Old Auburn Road is the most historically interesting corner of Citrus Heights, and the greenest of these neighborhoods. It wraps around Sylvan Corners, the old junction of Auburn Boulevard, Old Auburn Road, and Sylvan Road that once sat on the Lincoln Highway, the original transcontinental route. The Sylvan name traces back to a 19th-century schoolhouse named for the wooded land, and the canopy still lives up to it. The outdoor options inside the boundary are the real draw: Sylvan Community Park, and the Arcade Creek Park Preserve, a low-lying creek preserve laced with a boardwalk, a wetland overlook, and bridges spanning Arcade Creek. Sunrise Boulevard forms the eastern side and Greenback Lane the south, so shopping stays close without ever being underfoot. The tradeoffs are the busy Greenback and Sunrise frontages and the aging Sunrise Mall parked just off the southeast corner, its future bound up in the city's long-running redevelopment plans. Sylvan Cemetery, a local landmark, sits nearby along Auburn Boulevard. For a neighborhood this central to the city, it holds onto a surprising amount of green.