Arden Arcade has an identity problem. Our blog has pointed out that there are signs telling freeway drivers how to get to Carmichael but not Arden Arcade. We have also shown how other unincorporated communities have taken steps to get their county and Caltrans to bring awareness to their local areas. Alas, because it has been historically convenient for the Post Office’s operations to use “Sacramento” instead of “Arden Arcade”, many people do not realize that Arden Arcade is not part of the City of Sacramento. Count Apple (and also its programmers) among the “many people”. The graphic below is a screen shot from Apple Maps. You won’t find the nearly 100,000-population Census Designated Place of unincorporated Arden Arcade on the map. But you will see unincorporated areas like Rio Linda, Elverta, Antelope, North Highlands, Orangevale, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, and even Wilton (which has 5,000 people). That old saying about the squeeky wheel getting the grease doesn’t apply if nobody is aware you are a wheel in the first place. As long as our community remains invisible we will continue to be forgotten nobodies at the far end of the food chain. Think about that the next time you have to replace your car’s shocks because our roads are so poorly maintained. Ponder it if you can’t find where to vote. Remember it when our neighborhoods are gerrymandered by the 2020 redistricting the way they were in the 2010 redistricting.