Today we are all Rosevillians.

Yeah, I know that sounds goofy –  and it's said half in jest. But only half.

Surely, the day after the horrific arson fire that shuttered the Roseville Galleria – on the eve of the holiday shopping season – even the most dismissive Midtown hipster can feel for our suburban neighbors.

During the last decade, we've come to think about each other as something other than neighbors or fellow citizens – we've become competitors. And the divide has come to have a cultural flavor.

Suburbanites dismiss the central city for its liberalism, for its "attitude," for our homeless, for the need to walk a couple of blocks from parking spot to destination, or for being what one poster on Sacbee.com called "ghetto town."

But meanwhile, central city occupants deride people from beyond the rivers as SUV-driving dye jobs, monoculture "bridge-and-tunnel" philistines who take all the parking, don't understand how to drive on a one-way street, and have ruined the Second Saturday Art Walk, among other things.

And the resentment of even our local leaders over the unbalanced investment by Westfield in the Downtown Plaza versus the Roseville Galleria has led to some bad feelings. Why does Roseville get all the improvements? It's not FAIR!

As someone raised in the Arcade suburbs who has long lived in the central city, I am clear which "side" I'm on. I couldn't wait to get out of there, and I can't imagine what would possess someone to live "out there." The schools, I suppose. Or the hills.

But despite my biker's resentment at having been nearly run off the road by soccer moms with two tons of steel in their hands, today I want to recognize this fact:

The greater Sacramento area is one place, one economy, and we rise and fall together. Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom and other increasingly tony suburbs are important parts of our greater economy, and seeing their gains as our losses, or vice versa, is short-sighted.

The more people live and thrive in those small suburban towns, the more people there will be who can come downtown and see shows, support local bands and artists, admire our century-old architecture, learn about our history, participate in our heterogeneous culture and yes, shop in our stores.

And when a town like Roseville suffers an economic hit like yesterday's – the loss of jobs, and of sales tax income has yet to be absorbed – it strikes me as the perfect time to reaffirm that we are all part of one community.

For as Roseville has risen on a tide of Bay Area immigration, central Sacramento has not fallen – we have gotten busier and more interesting; and as Roseville suffers the results of this crazy crime, the central city does not rise – there will be fewer people with disposable income to spend at Mix or Old Ironsides or yes, Downtown Plaza.

This arson was a mad strike at our whole region, and our whole region will suffer for it.

So today, at least, let's put aside our petty differences and one-upmanship and recognize that, while we may not all be Rosevillians, we should all acknowledge the damage and pain that this crime is causing, and will continue to cause for many months ahead.

Whether we live in Roseville or Carmichael or Rancho Cordova or the central city, today, and every day, we are all Sacramentans.

And that is no joke.