Sad, isn’t it.
yes, stockton is a very sad case...and it COULD be a very nice city, too...especially since it does have both history and a number of attributes that could help it recover and even prosper (deep water port, airport, railroad, location good too, and developing transport connections with SF Bay Area, etc.)
it is a crying shame but it has very high crime (People all tell me they feel they HAVE to pack heat for self-defense there) and a lot of run-down neighborhoods (which were once quite decent) and high unemployment and dysfunctional sociological situation (you pick which of the above causes the others, I would pick the sociological problems)
nevertheless, I firmly believe it could recover someday.
its just too dumpy and dangerous for me, personally, to try to move there now.
a real shame for a city that even started to get better at one time, I can remember when it was doing that, but then it slid right downhill again
a real shame, as you say
there are new homes going in nearby...around Stockton, but those people are mostly afraid to visit the city itself, they stay outside