[sugit]

Good point. I'm sure it's all laid out in the mounds of legal paperwork, who knows. Either way, like you said even 5M a year over 20 years, that's enough to help a lot of kids each year.

[ozone]

That's great news for UOP. Both my father and uncle attended UOP and my grandmother taught business law there in the 1950's.

Just so some knee-jerks don't come down on me...I'm not saying that they are not entitled do anything they wish with their money. Stuff their caskets with cash I don't care. It's amazing how many real-estate developers when they get rich feel the need to social climb by giving to these institutions. Personally if I had that kind of money I'd want to leave a lasting legacy by giving back to the community which helped build my fortune. If education was my thing then I'd start a private college here in Sacramento and not give so much to an already well-endowed university in another town, where I never attended, nor any children of mine will attend. But that's just what I'd do.

[brandon12]

why do you always sound so bitter? The guy is giving a local university $100M. Why don't you just accept it for what it is? You have no idea what his reasons for donating to UOP are.

But I'll promise you this: I'll never criticize your philanthropic efforts, whatever they may be...

[ozone]

why do you always sound so bitter? The guy is giving a local university $100M. Why don't you just accept it for what it is? You have no idea what his reasons for donating to UOP are.

But I'll promise you this: I'll never criticize your philanthropic efforts, whatever they may be...

Because I am bitter brandon. :yuck: I knew there would be a knee jerk. I don't think you should try to judge my personality from my social commentary on a skyscraper 'chit chat' forum. I accept it for what it is and expressed my opinion on it -be it "philanthropic" or not. Sure it's great for UOP, my niece starts there next fall and in all likehood one of my nephews will benefit from this considering Mr and Mrs Powell's ages. I just see a lot of worthy local institutions that are struggling to make ends and I'm also a little tired of not having cultural amenities supported here in Sacramento. I'm entitled to mine as you are to yours. I personally don't see why so-called 'philanthropic efforts' are above critique. It's not a big deal and doesn't change anything.

[urban_encounter]

I'm also a little tired of not having cultural amenities supported here in Sacramento.

I have to agree with you here.

When I saw that a Sacramento developer had given $100 million to UOP my heart sank..

I just kept thinking of Robert and Margaret Modavi's gift to build the Modavi Center in Davis or the Gallo family, building the Gallo Center for the Performing Arts for Modesto..

For once a Sacramento developer has a load of cash to hand out, and he and his wife intend to gift the entire $100 million to Stockton. :(

That's not to criticize the generosity of their gift. In fat what a wonderful thing to do. It's unfortunate that more people don't do the same in the Sacramento area.

But what a missed opportunity for Sacramento..

$100 million would have established quite an endowment for the Arts in Sacramento; or better yet, built a perfroming Arts Center on par with Modavi or Gallo Centers..

[brandon12]

I don't begrudge the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for giving so much to Africa wen there is so much the money could buy in the US, because Africa is a worthy cause. UOP is a worthy cause. Sacramento arts are a worthy cause too. To each his own. If everyone did their part, there would be more than enough money to go around.

I know nobody here complained when Spanos (from Stockton) gives money to Sac State. I think we were all very greatful. It goes both ways.

[otnemarcaS]

But before Spanos donated here he helped UOP build the Spanos Center where the basketball/volleyball team plays and other events are held.

Sure would have been nice to have the Powell Center at Sac State. Would have cost only about $30 - $40 million or so for a nice 8,000 seat venue. * Sigh *

[ozone]

In hindsight I probablly should not have made any comment about Mr and Mrs Powell's generous gift. It's just that since I have a long family history with the university I thought I've give my two cents. I won't even go into the ecomony & psychology of such donations nor am I really opposed to any such gifting. As to equating aid to Africa to aiding a privileged university...nah I'd better stop :) I'm sure it's all good.

[ozone]

In hindsight I probablly should not have made any comment about Mr and Mrs Powell's generous gift. It's just that since I have a long family history with the university I thought I've give my two cents. I won't even go into the ecomony & psychology of such donations nor am I really opposed to any such gifting. As to equating aid to Africa to aiding a privileged university...nah I'd better stop :) I'm sure it's all good. I don't want to sound too bitter.

Now for some reason I'm repeating myself...geesh. This is boring.

[BrianSac]

Ok, I had to pipe in because we are talking about 100 F*%$@ING Million dollars! :)

My knee jerk reaction was nil on first glance. I consider UOP a Sacramento area school.

Perhaps, Mr. and Mrs. Powell knew how difficult it would be to start a new private school in Sacramento.

Maybe it never occured to them, but if it did..........it would be next to impossible to start a new private college in Sacramento because of Nimbys. Where on Gods earth would the people accept a brand new private college in Sacramento? (hmm, maybe Cal Expo)

Remember, this is the city that takes 10 years to build a sidewalk on the Tower Bridge.

[ozone]

Remember, this is the city that takes 10 years to build a sidewalk on the Tower Bridge.

True that BrianSac. I'm just pissed they didn't give the money to uni me.

[greenmidtown]

LOL! Greenmidtown, my band sells out all those clubs you mentioned! He also asked for under 21, which all the clubs you mentioned are over 21. The music scene downtown is isolated, no bands that play downtown get good exposure. The kids (under 18) buy the CD's, and go to the shows, not to just drink beer and sit around like at Blue Lamp and Old I's and Marylins, but to rock out, mosh and watch and support the act. The bands that are getting signed, play in front of more than 200+ people, not a crappy crowd of 80 or less like in all the clubs you mentioned, all play at the Boardwalk and The Underground. This is what I do for a living now, I think I know what I am talking about. You seem to be just another "Gridder" that likes to talk smack about the burbs, when you have probably never ever seen a show out there. Better bands, better crowds, real venues. Guess what, the music scene in DT sac is not that great at all, its kind of a joke to everyone outside of downtown, especially in major cities. Only exception would be concert at the park. I have been playing all these clubs since I was 14 playing at the Cattle Club in my highschool metal band, you have no idea or have a clue of what you are talking about.

wow, you're an expert scientist who knows the truth about global warming, a rock star who knows everything about the music scene, and a graduate in economics I assume :haha: . I'll keep this simple. the local scene in Sac isn't anything to write home about but it's definitely more mature than the saturation of high school emo rock stars in Roseville you worship. Sac has a growing indie-music scene with several bands well known in the SF, Portland, Austin circuit. and if I want to see a great indie band from the Bay Area or my hometown of Portland I find them downtown or in Davis. who the hell plays the underground in roseville or club retro (a church) in Orangevale???:haha: :haha: give me a break, nobody in the music scene knows or cares about any city in this area but Sacramento and Davis.

[urban_encounter]

Remember, this is the city that takes 10 years to build a sidewalk on the Tower Bridge.


:haha:

[urban_encounter]

If everyone did their part, there would be more than enough money to go around.

I know nobody here complained when Spanos (from Stockton) gives money to Sac State. I think we were all very greatful. It goes both ways.

The problem is "everyone" in Sacramento doesn't do "their part" and Sacramento has traditionally had to rely on people like Spanos, (who also has ties to Sacramento).. Philanthropy isn't something that happens on a big scale in Sacramento. Realizing that, I believe that some people (inlcuding myself) are just thinking how that money may have helped estabilshed a sizeable endowment for the arts, or helped to build a perfroming arts center..

Call it day dreaming.......

This is wonderful and gernous gift for UOP.

But (in Sacramento's case) it represents a missed opportunity to give back to the community were they made most of their money....

[TowerDistrict]

Maybe I missed it in the article, or maybe I don't understand the way these things work, but I didn't see any mention of where the money would go, or how it would be spent... So I suppose it wouldn't immediately imply that Sacramento couldn't receive some benefit from this endowment, considering UOP operates the McGeorge School of Law in Oak Park.

[Phillip]

Sac has a growing indie-music scene with several bands well known in the SF, Portland, Austin circuit. and if I want to see a great indie band from the Bay Area or my hometown of Portland I find them downtown or in Davis. Plus it's kind of a long bike ride from Midtown to Roseville.

[brandon12]

^ I got the impression that a large portion of it would go to fund scholarships. I bet 100's or 1000's of Sacramento kids will benefit from those scholarships over the next 20 years.

Look, obviously it's a missed opportunity for Sacramento, but that's not Powel's problem or obligation. I suggest to you that nobody in the Sacramento community convinced him that theirs was the most worthy cause.

[TowerDistrict]

^ I got the impression that a large portion of it would go to fund scholarships. I bet 100's or 1000's of Sacramento kids will benefit from those scholarships over the next 20 years.

Look, obviously it's a missed opportunity for Sacramento, but that's not Powel's problem or obligation. I suggest to you that nobody in the Sacramento community convinced him that theirs was the most worthy cause.


I wasn't looking the gift horse in the mouth, i was just sayin that UOP does have a significant Sacramento presence as well. I actually don't think it's a loss for Sacramento - just a gain for this private university. Hell if I had $100 million, i would keep it all for fun, legal fees, and rehab - so i'm not about to criticize these folks.

[brandon12]

"Hell if I had $100 million, i would keep it all for fun, legal fees, and rehab - so i'm not about to criticize these folks."

Probably one of the funniest things I've ever read. You never cease to amaze me...

[Schmoe]

Hilarious, TD!

[econgrad]

wow, you're an expert scientist who knows the truth about global warming, a rock star who knows everything about the music scene, and a graduate in economics I assume :haha: . I'll keep this simple. the local scene in Sac isn't anything to write home about but it's definitely more mature than the saturation of high school emo rock stars in Roseville you worship. Sac has a growing indie-music scene with several bands well known in the SF, Portland, Austin circuit. and if I want to see a great indie band from the Bay Area or my hometown of Portland I find them downtown or in Davis. who the hell plays the underground in roseville or club retro (a church) in Orangevale???:haha: :haha: give me a break, nobody in the music scene knows or cares about any city in this area but Sacramento and Davis.

Nice one! Kudos to reading my previous posts. First off, you are completely full of it. You have no idea what you are talking about, and obviously do not know anything about The Underground or The Boardwalk. Fact: almost no signed bands play at any of the venues downtown, excluding Jackie Greene, who also plays in Roseville. The signed bands that play at The Boardwalk, and The underground, do not play downtown because there are only over 21 bars, with maybe 10 to 40 people at most, drinking beer and watching your band play (boring...). Bands might be lucky to score $200.00 Whoopie! Thats crap. The Distillery, Old I's, Maryilins, Blue Lamp etc are all puny and tiny venues with small or no stage, garnted the Old I sound guy is really really good, but the tiny stage and small room sucks. Tuesday nights Lipstick is the coolest thing Old I has ever had, the live band sene is suffering. Signed bands and national acts you see play at The Underground every weekend, as well as the Boardwalk. Both venues hold about 200 to 400 people and are packed with kids moshing and having fun, not a bunch of old people drinking beer and gawking at the few girls around. Empire is your only good venue in DT Sac. Indie music? What the hell is that? LOL.. Your old dude. SF, Portland and Austin circuit?!?! You totally made that up, you have no idea what a circuit is! LOL! None are related, Austin's scene, mostly college kids, is great, and I have played there many times. No one in Austin cares about Sac, it is a joke there. Portland?! A growing scene but not that great sorry. SF? An amazing scene with great venues, but also completely disconected from Sacramento. So some bands from Sac play at Hotel Utah (another tiny venue that is easy to book, so Sac bands get to play in "The City" in front of 20 or so people), WOW! I am impressed...Not. Dude, you make up stuff, there is no circuit. No touring company that has national acts has these venues or indie bands you so worship on their list. How many bands signed by Hollywood records play downtown? None! No one outside the grid cares what Alive and Kicking has to say about music. About Davis, sure G street pub is a great venue and pays well. Also, no connection with DT Sac, how many bands complain about never being called for a show there, so many I have heard complain they wont even get a shot. Mostly because they want a fun, dancible enviroment at G Street, not the "Indie" no talent hacks that play DT. BTW, the highschool emo rock stars you seem to be bitter about (most older people dont get new music, so I understand) are the bands with the large crowds, national tour like the Vans Warp tour and others, and are making all the money. Sorry dude, your kind of clueless about the music scene.

[fflint]

^The insults are uncalled for, both of you.

[urban_encounter]

I wasn't looking the gift horse in the mouth, i was just sayin that UOP does have a significant Sacramento presence as well. I actually don't think it's a loss for Sacramento - just a gain for this private university. Hell if I had $100 million, i would keep it all for fun, legal fees, and rehab - so i'm not about to criticize these folks.

I found it curious that neither of the Powels had any connection to UOP...

[greenmidtown]

^The insults are uncalled for, both of you.

First off, you are completely full of it. You have no idea what you are talking about, Indie music? What the hell is that? LOL.. Your old dude. SF, Portland and Austin circuit?!?! You totally made that up, you have no idea what a circuit is! LOL! Sac bands get to play in "The City" in front of 20 or so people), WOW! I am impressed...Not. Dude, you make up stuff, there is no circuit. No touring company that has national acts has these venues or indie bands you so worship on their list. How many bands signed by Hollywood records play downtown? None! No one outside the grid cares what Alive and Kicking has to say about music. Mostly because they want a fun, dancible enviroment at G Street, not the "Indie" no talent hacks that play DT. (most older people dont get new music, so I understand) Sorry dude, your kind of clueless about the music scene.

I may have questioned Econgrad's taste but I didn't personally attack him. he can apologize if he likes. and for the record Econgrad I'm 23 years old (might be old at an emo concert) and the indie bands I listen to release new music often.

[econgrad]

:previous:

:uhh:
ummm
Wasn't my integrity questioned? :shrug: Its cool...I feel strongly about the music scene issue in Sac (if you couldn't tell). We can continue in a more forum accepted dialogue if you like, maybe others are interested on both our points of view. How about this:

Do you think we need more all ages venues in the area including Downtown?

My 2 Cents: :2cents:
I think we do, and the loss of Junta (an all ages venue) hurts the scene and local musicians who would like to play in front of larger audiences. I see great talent in other bands and musicians here in town, rivaling other cities, it just seems the infrastructure (Venues, people, money for musicians, local support, etc) isn't there to support a great music scene. This has bothered me very much, I can name a lot of bands that should have made it big, but fizzled out in the lack of a scene. Musicians and fans of music should embrace any area of town that supports large crowds and local unsigned acts. Concert at the Park is great, The Boardwalk is very LA like club for bands, and The Underground is big, packed with people and has a pro sound system (you can't really tell it is a Church during the day). We could so rival Austin if we had the right venues and support, the talent is here...

[Phillip]

We could so rival Austin if we had the right venues and support, the talent is here...Part of why Austin's music scene thrives is they've got a concentrated club district stretching for blocks. You can park once and walk from club to club.

Midtown seems like the natural area for a Sac club district, but there's not really a blank area big enough to hold a half dozen adjacent clubs without disturbing nearby neighbors.

The Railyards seems like it could accomodate a club district, built where the music wouldn't bother anyone. Maybe under I-5.

[econgrad]

:previous:

I agree. I was hoping Old Sacramento would eventually turn into a walkable live music corridor with dance clubs, not just bars. The Distillery had some trouble with the new condos across the street for awhile, but all seems to have been settled. Maybe with good planning, more venues can pop up on K street. Another thing Austin has is the University. The streets get crazy post football, and so many students fill all those clubs. I hope University of Sacramento locates as close to Downtown as possible, they offer some classes DT, but I believe their main campus is still in the planning stages. We could use more younger people in the DT area to make it more lively like it is in Austin...eh..but this is all just hypothetical for now. :cool:

[downtownserg89]

does tunel 21 still exist?

[econgrad]

Speaking of Sotiris
SN&R chats with hot-shot developer Kolokotronis about the future of Sacramento’s central city

By James Cameron
more stories by this author

Kolokotronis’ local mixed-use projects have included the innovative Fremont Building, located east of 16th Street (seen here), and Capitol Park Homes.
SN&R PHOTO BY ANNE STOKES
Kolokotronis' company received the Sacramento Area Council of Governments' 2005 Regional Business of the Year Award. That same year, he was selected by Comstock's Business Magazine as one of Sacramento's "outstanding corporate citizens."

In February of 2001, Sotiris Kolokotronis was selected by SN&R as part of the “Sacramento 100,” the “area’s most intriguing, accomplished, forward-thinking people” in the region. He’s been referred to as the “darling of the smart-growthers”--his efforts have included the innovative Fremont Building and Capitol Park Homes. Meanwhile, though, Kolokotronis has been criticized for using public funds devoted to affordable housing in an inadequate manner.

So who is Kolokotronis? Depends who you ask. But there’s no question that the man has figured mightily in the growth and sophistication of the city’s downtown area. Currently, he is involved in the planning and development of a whopping 4,300 acres in the Sacramento region, including numerous projects in the central city.

Here’s an edited transcript of an interview with the developer.

Sacramento is changing fast. What new challenges do infill developers face in the central city?

I don’t agree that the city is changing very fast. In relation to the region and the growth that has occurred over the last 20 years, our core has not grown to accommodate the growth of the rest of the place. Let’s talk about the office market. Twenty-five years ago, the downtown office market was the biggest in the region and all the growth was taking place downtown. That’s no longer true. And in the last 15 years, the region added 200,000 housing units, while the downtown core added 1,500 and in the first seven, eight or nine of those years, everything was affordable-housing units. There have been only two projects downtown you could describe as major projects with more than 40 units. In the context of the region, growth downtown is only a small piece. Frankly, disappointingly so.

As far as challenges are concerned, it’s true that not only in Sacramento, but all over the United States the urban core faces many challenges, and they are much more difficult than those of the broader area, more expensive, time consuming and tougher to solve.

What do you think of the city’s inclusionary housing rule?

A very interesting question. Inclusionary housing is an issue associated with affordability and I feel we must be aware that affordability is a matter of supply and demand for a particular market. It is very important that as we grow, we must be sure that our communities are well-integrated communities. We cannot expect people to live here and work somewhere else. So we must create communities that are well balanced. But since it’s a matter of supply, we must make sure that when it comes to supply, we provide enough to satisfy the demands of the situation and that it’s for everybody.

I don’t have the answers. But my basic question is: Why do we expect the [housing] industry to provide affordable housing when we don’t have the same standards for cars and department stores and supermarkets? And why does affordable housing have to be provided as new units which are more expensive than existing ones? Existing inventory can function to provide affordable housing. ... We have an obligation to ourselves and to society to do a better job. But when you have growth, you have the ability to attack problems. The pie is getting bigger and will allow us to solve those problems.

You embrace infill development in the central city. Why?

We have substantial holdings in this region but we made a decision to allocate a substantial portion of our resources to infill, mixed-use developments. It’s something we feel has potential. It was a market-driven decision. However, I feel we underestimated the challenges associated with it. I thought that by now we would have delivered a lot more units than what we’ve delivered. And I say that knowing that if you look over the last seven to eight years we’ve developed more than 50 percent of the units in the central district. It is very, very difficult, but we feel it’s something we want to do for the region, a need that must be accommodated.

Some of your properties are high-rise residences. How can the resulting density problems of traffic flow and parking be resolved?

Let me tell you what I think about those problems. Traffic is really a secondary thing. We have to accommodate the growth. In the last 25 years, this region has doubled in population. Over the next 25, the number may double again. These are significant numbers and we have to find ways to accommodate that growth. If we don’t accommodate growth through high density projects, how do we do it?

Traffic and parking problems are good problems. All of the great cities of the world have those problems. Mass transit and more intelligent traffic patterns are the answer to the traffic problem. Good management is the answer to parking. It’s true that we have a long way to go in solving the parking problem.

Your philosophy seems to embrace mixed-use residential properties. Why?

Bringing people together makes great things happen that don’t happen when they’re not together. It’s happening all over the world. Mixed-use places are places we define as places with energy, creativity happenings. Mixed-use offers us the ability to bring people together so they can interact together. It’s not for everybody and not necessarily for people all their lives but it’s for a particular point in time when people want to work and live in a different context than what we’ve experienced these last 30 or 40 years. At different stages of our lives, we need different environments. Mixed-use does not mean that we’ll necessarily spend our lives in the same neighborhood or be there from the day we’re born until we die.

What are the “hottest” development areas in downtown Sacramento?

I assume you mean the central district, the core. There are happenings in the business district and Midtown, but the hottest area is the one from 15th Street to 21st and I streets to Capitol [Avenue]. Maybe down as far as 28th [Street], where some things are happening. There are some new housing and business developments, some we’ve been part of. A lot of new restaurants, galleries, boutiques--a lot of good stuff happening, a lot of energy. That’s the part of the city with the most energy, in my assessment, at this point.

One last question: Are we past the “cow town” stage here and, if so, how do you envision Sacramento’s future growth?

Well, I moved here 22 years ago. My wife came here from Chicago the following year and Sacramento was a different place than what it is today. Now, when you travel around the world, you feel that there are a lot of things missing here--the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. That’s the one side. But at the end of the day, I mean, this place has been the place for me and my family. Our friends are here and in other places, too. When we talk to them in other places, we learn that to them the grass is greener here! So, we have a lot more things to accomplish, but we have the businesses, the restaurants, the theaters, the arts, the growth in population. No, we’re not a cow town anymore!

[ozone]

Thanks for posting this econgrad. I ment to but forgot. I think Sotiris Kolokotronis is very smart. I liked what he had to say.

[innov8]

From the pages of The Bee
Monday, May 21, 2007

May 21, 1975: The state Assembly Ways and Means Committee clears the way for a full floor vote on a $42 million appropriation to restore the state Capitol. The bill is expected to move through the Assembly, Senate and Governor's Office easily. Still to be decided is where the Legislature will meet during the restoration.

• Sacramento County Supervisor Ted Sheedy proposes that when salary increases are negotiated this year for county workers, no raises should be given to those who make more than $25,000 annually. Given the large deficit expected in the county budget, he urges that pay hikes be apportioned to those most affected by inflation.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/187881.html

[TowerDistrict]

Word on the street, well at least on 10th & I, is that there will be an international design competition held by the AIA (http://www.aia.org/) for a street/landscape design of the Capitol Mall stretch. No date has been set yet, but I thought some good news today, is better than none...

[ozone]

Word on the street, well at least on 10th & I, is that there will be an international design competition held by the AIA (http://www.aia.org/) for a street/landscape design of the Capitol Mall stretch. No date has been set yet, but I thought some good news today, is better than none...

Thanks for the news TD. I'm going to work.

[innov8]

CHP gets OK to move headquarters
By Daniel Macht of Capitol Weekly

May 30th, 2007

A bill to make it easier for the California Highway Patrol to relocate its headquarters to West Sacramento cleared the State Senate by unanimous consent, Tuesday, and is headed to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for signature.

The bill, AB 443, is authored by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Yolo, at the behest of the CHP. If signed, it will allow the CHP to relocate its Broadway headquarters and four administrative offices under one roof within 20 miles from Sacramento proper, at an undetermined site. In a 2002 study, the Department of General Services Real Estate Division identified four out of six proposed locations in West Sacramento as relocation alternatives for CHP's headquarters.

Fran Clader, a spokeswoman for CHP, said the next step is for the Department of General Services to prepare a request for a formal proposal. "We haven't gotten down to negotiation, lease … or building yet," Clader said.

Current law restricts the CHP, which absorbed the role of California State Police in 1995, from moving out of Sacramento. The law was written in 1959, to stop the CHP's commissioner at the time from taking flight to Los Angeles.

But Wolk said the agency hasn't been able to find a suitable location these days within Sacramento city limits. "West Sacramento is actually closer to downtown than many of the suburbs," Wolk said. She added that the CHP already has their academy located on the other side of the Tower Bridge, and that she consulted with Senator Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, on the legislation.

The California State Teachers Retirement System is set to move into its new West Sacramento facility soon, said Val Toppenberg, redevelopment director for West Sacramento. The new CalSTRS building is the latest example -- since the 400,000 square foot Ziggurat building that houses the Department of General Services' offices, and the CHP's academy -- of large state agencies moving to West Sacramento. Toppenberg said that he is working with developers to support them in bringing more state offices to West Sacramento.

Clader said moving to a new headquarters will affect 900 employees, some of whom have had to make due working in small conference and storage rooms.
The protective services division of CHP -- which provides protection for the governor, state buildings and some constitutional officers -- will remain on 9th Street, Clader said. But she said the state stands to benefit by having the CHP's administrative officers, enforcement services, information services, and the office of air operations all in one building.

"The consolidation will help with communication," Clader said. "It will enhance efficiency, save money, and improve coordination and response during emergencies."

http://www.capitolweekly.net/news/article.html?article_id=1491

[greenmidtown]

Tesla is playing concerts in the park tonight as most of you already know by now. but another hometown favorite, Cake, is playing a secret show at the Blue Lamp tonight at 8 for just $10! might want to show up early though...:rock:

[sugit]

Oh shit, I'd love to see Cake. Too bad there is not a chance I'll be able to make it..damn!!!

[urban_encounter]

Planning panel OKs retail project
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, June 2, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B2



ELK GROVE -- The Planning Commission voted early Friday to approve plans for Elk Grove Promenade, a 1.1 million-square-foot retail project.

The 3-1 vote capped a meeting that lasted nearly seven hours.

Commissioners Richard Greene, Frank Maita and Tim Murphy voted for the project, while Chairman Paul Lindsay cast the dissenting vote. Commissioner George Murphey was absent.

The Chicago-based General Growth Properties project -- the city's first regional shopping center -- now goes to the City Council.

Last month, General Growth announced lease deals with Macy's, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Cinemark Theatres. Also being considered are Target Corp. and JCPenney.

During the commission's meeting, some speakers expressed concern about the selection of anchors and the center's open-air design. Others welcomed the open-air concept and the convenience for area residents.

Developers say they hope to open Elk Grove Promenade before the 2008 holiday shopping season.

-- Sandy Louey

[ltsmotorsport]

Well, this is what's going on this weekend.

http://californiacapitolairshow.com/

I wish I could be up there this weekend too, as the show will have about double the demonstrations as last year's, even an F-22. And it should be easier to get there and get in with better bus service from the Mather/Mills LRT station and more gates being opened to the airfield.

Here's a link to an aviation photography forum, and the thread about this years show. There's also a link on the first page of the thread to last years thread with some excellent pictures by the forum members. Hopefully we can get some of our own photographers up to Mather this weekend. ;)

2007 Thread (http://www.fencecheck.com/forums/index.php?topic=7513.0)

[neuhickman79]

Effective July 1st Sacramento's 95814 zip code will be split into two zip codes...obviously 95814...and 95811.

[goldcntry]

Effective July 1st Sacramento's 95814 zip code will be split into two zip codes...obviously 95814...and 95811.

Any word on zip code maps?

[Grimnebulin]

Any word on zip code maps?

I got a new map in the mail from the USPS a few weeks back as I'm in the new 95811.

Basically, 95814 will now consist of the core downtown area. Though I threw away the mailer, the new 95814 is roughly a square centered on the bridge/river on the west, and 17th street or so on the east. It is probably 15 blocks wide north to south. Everything outside that new rectangle will become 95811. Hope that made sense.

Found a map!
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/306059

[TWAK]

Effective July 1st Sacramento's 95814 zip code will be split into two zip codes...obviously 95814...and 95811.
lame. more crap to remember for ups

[ozone]

I stole this post from the SFBA Area Forum. I thought is was an interesting. Do you think something like this could work here in Sacramento?

Newsom fond of New York court
San Francisco mayor wants to model Midtown Community Court to address quality-of-life issues, starting in Tenderloin district

Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Midtown Community Court Judge Richard M. Weinberg poses i...

(04-29) 04:00 PDT New York - -- He jokingly refers to himself as Manhattan's King of Prostitution. Might as well be the King of Illegal Street Vending, Public Urination, Graffiti, Disorderly Conduct, Subway Fare-beating and Aggressive Panhandling, too.

These are the cases New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Weinberg presides over every weekday at the Midtown Community Court.

At the court -- established in 1993 and credited with helping to transform nearby Times Square from a pit of despair to a neon-bathed tourist playground -- it's the little things that matter.

Weinberg believes New York is the best city in the country -- and nobody better use its streets as a toilet, leap over its subway gates or hawk fake designer handbags to its residents.

"He wants them to know that it's his city not just as a judge, but as a person," said Terry Brostowin, a defense lawyer at the court. "He'll say, 'If you're going to ply your trade, ply it somewhere else. Not in my city.' "

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is known for having the same adoration for his city and believes the Midtown Community Court's first-of-its-kind focus on quality-of-life misdemeanors and infractions could work for San Francisco, too. In late summer or early fall, he plans to open a similar courthouse in the notoriously blighted Tenderloin.

Opponents already are lining up to fight what they call the Poverty Court. They say it will criminalize poor people simply for being poor -- and sleeping on the city's sidewalks, camping in parks and urinating in public.

But Newsom is determined.

"We're fighting against the status quo, and they're fighting for the status quo," he said of his opponents. "I'm not interested in fighting for failure."

A social laboratory

The Midtown Community Court sits on 54th Street, just blocks from the stretch of Broadway where David Letterman tapes the "Late Show" and Oprah Winfrey's production of "The Color Purple" plays to sell-out crowds.

The courthouse runs like a riveting drama itself, and Weinberg -- a large, wisecracking man with a shock of salt-and-pepper hair, an easy laugh and a mischievous twinkle in his eye -- is its star.

Weinberg's court hears about 17,000 cases a year. After passing through metal detectors, defendants -- who must be at least 16 years old -- wait their turn on long, wooden benches. Beforehand, a defense attorney, most often provided by the Legal Aid Society, whisks them upstairs to discuss the evidence and their options.

The judge, defense attorneys, prosecutors and a group of social workers and counselors who work in the courtroom all have access to the defendant's criminal history.

The database also shows whether the defendant struggles with alcohol or drugs, is homeless, unemployed or has some other condition that might contribute to criminal behavior.

To continue, the defendants must plead guilty. If they decline, their case moves to the traditional downtown court. If they do plead guilty, they're most often assigned community service to repay the neighborhood for their offenses -- and social services to address underlying problems. Fines are never part of the sentence, but jail time can be.

In 2005, 72 percent of defendants were sentenced to perform community service or receive assistance -- or both. Eighty-five percent followed through, considered a high figure in criminal justice circles. Eight percent went to jail. Often, the sentences come with a special Weinberg lecture.

A woman arrested for prostitution is sent to health education class. Weinberg tells her the charge will be erased if she stays out of trouble for six months. If she's arrested again, the misdemeanor follows her for life.

"You can't be a doctor, you can't be a lawyer, you can't be a teacher, you can't be a real estate agent," he says. "For a young person, that's a real break -- to get that benefit."

Weinberg says he believes in second chances, but not third, fourth and fifth ones. "I'm a law-and-order judge," he said. "I'm not a bleeding-heart liberal. I don't believe in giving away the store."

After cases are heard, defendants sentenced to community service or social services head upstairs, where they might be assigned to sweep the streets wearing bright blue vests with the Midtown name on the back or stuff envelopes for nonprofit groups.

It is there that defendants are connected to some type of class or counseling -- which, by the way, can be accessed by anybody at Midtown Community Court, even if they weren't arrested for a crime.

The entire process -- from the time of arrest to leaving the courthouse -- often happens within one or two days.

"This place is a social laboratory," Weinberg says. "You get immediate results, and you see the outcome right in front of your face."

No concrete plan

It's unclear how closely Newsom's planned court will mirror the Midtown Community Court. The mayor, who toured the Manhattan court this spring, is still planning and will host a representative from the Manhattan court this week to explain the idea to members of the city's criminal justice system.

He has picked the new court's jurisdiction: 80 square blocks bounded by Van Ness Avenue and Sutter, Second, Harrison and 12th streets. About 80,000 people live in the area. He is eyeing the old Hibernia Bank building on Jones and McAllister, but doubts the city can afford it.

The San Francisco Superior Court must sign off on the plan, which it hasn't. Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn said there's nothing to agree to yet because there's no concrete plan. "We are always ready, willing and able to listen to good ideas about improving criminal justice," he said.

Currently, people cited for quality-of-life infractions in San Francisco are told to show up at the traffic court in 45 days. The citations almost always are thrown out. People charged with misdemeanor offenses are directed to the Hall of Justice, which is clogged with such cases. Newsom calls the system "an abject failure."

In the late 1990s, the District Attorney's Office set up the city's own brand of community courts to deal with quality-of-life crimes. There are now a dozen around the city, including in the Tenderloin and South of Market. But they differ in important ways from New York City's version -- and they have been withering on the vine.

A major difference is they are not run through the Superior Court, and there is no judge. Perhaps as a result, the District Attorney's Office directs almost no cases to the community courts. District Attorney Kamala Harris didn't respond to repeated requests for an interview for this story.

Last month, dozens of panel members of San Francisco's community courts sent a letter to Harris asking for more cases to be sent their way. They haven't received a response, they say.

Jeoflin Roh, a panelist for the South of Market community court, said he doesn't understand why Newsom wants to open a new community court rather than strengthen existing ones. "It sounds like the mayor is trying to move in on community courts and maybe even kill them," he said.

"This is a completely different model," Newsom countered. "This is much more enriched, much more comprehensive and will have more of an impact."

Jeff Adachi , San Francisco's elected public defender, whose office represents defendants who can't afford private lawyers, said he has concerns about protecting the constitutional rights of people arrested and brought before a New York-style community court.

"There comes a point," he said, "where efficiency runs afoul of due process."

The New York experience

The building on 54th Street in New York that houses the Midtown Community Court also holds three off-Broadway theaters. Fittingly for a court that deals with public urination, one of the theaters premiered the Tony-award winning musical "Urinetown."

The three police precincts encompassed by the court cover 350 square blocks that stretch from 14th Street north to 59th Street and the Hudson River east to Lexington Avenue. About 200,000 people live there in neighborhoods that include Times Square, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the area accounted for 43 percent of Manhattan's misdemeanor arrests -- a figure that's dropped to about 30 percent since the court's inception.

In Times Square, prostitutes and hustlers roamed the streets, vandalism was rampant, and drug sales were widespread. "Squeegee men" ripped off drivers by dumping dirty water on their car windows and charging them to clean it up. Litter, graffiti and the stench of urine were everywhere.

Adam Gopnik wrote in The New Yorker, "Hell wafted up through the manhole covers."

Businesses suffered, and theaters began shutting down due to poor ticket sales. Those theaters that did survive often converted to adult movie houses.

"The theater district -- like the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street -- is a symbol of this city," Weinberg said. "Our great fear was if you lost the theater district, you'd lose the city. People wouldn't live here, they wouldn't work here, they wouldn't raise their children here."

In response, former Mayor David Dinkins added thousands of police officers to the streets, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani focused on community policing in which officers pursue perpetrators of less-serious crimes as a way to curb more serious ones.

But as the misdemeanor arrests began piling up, the taxed court system relied on a triage approach. Those who were arrested sometimes received a summons to appear in court 30 days later, during which they could continue perpetrating their crimes. Or, they were sent to jail and soon released with sentences of time served.

The New York State Unified Court System, the city of New York and the Fund for the City of New York, a private nonprofit group, collaborated to open the Midtown Community Court in response.

It costs the city and state $1.7 million, a figure supplemented with private donations from companies including Ford and Merck.

Now, 30 cities around the United States have replicated the court -- including liberal enclaves such as Austin, Texas, and conservative ones, such as Lynchburg, Va.

Greg Berman, director of the Center for Court Innovation, a nonprofit think tank that works closely with the court, said such programs are popular because they provide politically middle-of-the-road, pragmatic solutions.

"There's a third path," he said. "It says that all crimes should have consequences. ... It's a two-fisted approach: the punishment and the help."

Political opposition builds

Consensus is a long way off in San Francisco.

Newsom said it's frustrating and embarrassing that so much squalor exists so close to the steps of City Hall -- and that people openly flout the laws with no fear of punishment.

"Where's the compassion in allowing someone to slip through the system 50 times and then become a statistic?" he asked.

But homeless advocates see it differently. The Coalition on Homelessness, Supervisor Chris Daly, the city's poet laureate Jack Hirschman, and some sex workers marched through downtown recently to protest the court. "Mayor Newsom, change your mind! Homelessness is not a crime!" about 40 of them chanted. "We want solutions, not prosecutions!"

Daly, whose supervisorial district includes the Tenderloin, spoke at a rally preceding the march and vowed the mayor's court won't move forward.

While the Newsom administration contends it needs only the approval of Superior Court, Daly noted it will need money to operate -- and budget appropriations require the approval of the Board of Supervisors.

"The last time I checked, I was the chair of the budget committee," he said. "In other words, this proposal is dead on arrival."

Daly dismissed the court idea as an election-year ploy to appear tough on homelessness. He isn't pleased he learned about the court through the media, either. "This year, I'm going to teach him the meaning of respect," Daly said.

Opponents of the court have philosophical problems with it, too. They say police should be pursuing the perpetrators of homicides, assaults and robberies -- not arresting people for quality-of-life crimes. Creating more shelter beds and public-housing slots would make a bigger difference, they add.

Juan Prada, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, moved from Manhattan in 2002. He said Times Square is now a veritable Disneyland, filled with chain stores and corporate interests -- and lacking all the poor people who were squeezed out by Giuliani's crackdown.

"It's troublesome and disturbing that a city like San Francisco would choose a hard-core Republican as a model for how to deal with social problems," Prada said.

'Come a long way'

Back in New York, John Wimberly, 63, is homeless and spends each night at a shelter. He spends each day at the Midtown Community Court's job-training program.

It teaches people telephone etiquette, how to create a resume, interviewing skills, how to cope with office politics and how to operate a variety of computer programs. After four weeks, the program aims to get its participants a job. Wimberly hopes to work as a homeless advocate.

"I've come a long way," he said. "You should have seen me when I came here."

He sits up proudly in his seat, points to his attire and says, "Look!" He's wearing a lavender business shirt and a blue tie. A row of pens peeks out of his chest pocket. The court collects business attire from nearby law firms and financial institutions and gives the clothing to class participants.

Wimberly said he recently served 13 months in prison for a "nontheft, nonviolent crime." He's learned to use the phrase in job interviews and leave it at that. In prison, he lost his apartment because he wasn't paying rent, but did work to get his associate's degree in business administration.

He saw a flyer at the homeless shelter about the Midtown Community Court and its job-training program and came to the court on his own to check it out.

"I have a new concept about myself -- I can see a lot clearer now," he said. "My age has no bearing on me getting a job, my incarceration shouldn't have a bearing on me getting a job, and my homelessness shouldn't have a bearing on me getting a job. It's my enthusiasm."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...9/NUISANCE.TMP

[wburg]

If the approach really is two-fisted--both stepped-up enforcement by police and support services/housing solutions--then it might be interesting to see how it turns out. The traditional method in San Francisco, preferred by Willie Brown, was simply to push homeless people from one neighborhood to another without providing services that might be of use to help them actually get off the streets.

Sacramento does have a program underway, the dramatically-titled "Ten-Year Plan To End Chronic Homelessneess," which aims to provide both housing and case management services to around 1000 chronic homeless individuals within the next decade.

The folks targeted are the ones who have been on the street the longest, with the most serious problems: those homeless a year or more, with serious mental illness and/or substance abuse problems. These are also the ones that tend to consume the lion's share of police resources, emergency room services, shelter beds, and other services. The idea is that once you get someone off the street, and provide them with support rather than just dumping them somewhere, they can begin addressing other issues in their life.

Using the "housing first" model used in other cities (including New York, Portland and others) to remove the worst-off from the streets (by offering them housing and support) allows the majority of the homeless population, who tend to be on the street for a shorter time and use fewer services, to better utilize available resources to get off the street. Think of it like unclogging a clogged drain: take care of the worst part of the system first, and the rest works that much more smoothly.

Jailing people for criminal offenses is just fine in my book--I'm a law and order guy in that respect. But a jail is a lousy substitute for homeless shelters, or permanent housing for homeless individuals--it's a hell of a lot more expensive, and unlike housing/case management, doesn't do anything to solve the problem.

[travis bickle]

The problem is "everyone" in Sacramento doesn't do "their part" and Sacramento has traditionally had to rely on people like Spanos, (who also has ties to Sacramento).. Philanthropy isn't something that happens on a big scale in Sacramento. Realizing that, I believe that some people (inlcuding myself) are just thinking how that money may have helped estabilshed a sizeable endowment for the arts, or helped to build a perfroming arts center..

Call it day dreaming.......

This is wonderful and gernous gift for UOP.

But (in Sacramento's case) it represents a missed opportunity to give back to the community were they made most of their money....


These things tend to feed on each another. Once someone starts the ball rolling, contributions usually start flowing at increased rates. I certainly think we've seen giving greatly increase in the Sacramento area even in just last 10 years. So what’s UOP's gain today will be the entire regions gain tomorrow. It's just another sign of the Sacramento area's growing maturity.

[jsf8278]

These things tend to feed on each another. Once someone starts the ball rolling, contributions usually start flowing at increased rates. I certainly think we've seen giving greatly increase in the Sacramento area even in just last 10 years. So what’s UOP's gain today will be the entire regions gain tomorrow. It's just another sign of the Sacramento area's growing maturity.

As a McGeorge student I would like to add that some of that donation will probably flow to the law school...which Im very happy about. So in a way its already helping Sac and not just Stockton.

[TowerDistrict]

Projects not rising - but city still is
By Marcos Bretón - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

Is Sacramento "The City that Can't?"

A city that can't shed its "Cowtown" image? One that can't build anything beyond the functional office space or single-family homes that appear like specks on the horizon -- a depressed city skyline when viewed from the Yolo Causeway or from a more sophisticated world at large?

That is certainly a widely held -- and unfair -- view of Sacramento. That it can't rise beyond its limited view of itself. That it has plenty of big-city problems but not enough big-city amenities. We already have the random homicides, the traffic, the bad air. Your sleepy old town is gone. So why can't we build 53-story skyscrapers at Third Street and Capitol Mall? Where is that downtown arena to house the Kings and big-name concerts?

Taken together, those are two colossal civic setbacks in less than a year, a losing streak that could give Sacramento a complex. The City That Can't? Is that us?

Certainly, in the two boldest, most controversial projects considered in Sacramento, the city was linked with Mr. Wrong and the Wrong Brothers -- developer John Saca and Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof. Saca, bless his heart, had never built a skyscraper before and then suddenly he was going to erect one of the biggest residential projects in the West?

It sounds nutty, but Saca's vision of monstrous buildings tapped into a vein of civic longing for a grander cityscape, tempting us to suspend disbelief. Tell me you didn't drive by the big hole at Capitol Mall and dream of something big? I did.

"He really hit on what people wanted," said Tony Giannoni, himself one of downtown's premier developers. "This particular project was an attempt to break out of that inferiority complex."

But wait a minute? Was this really Sacramento's failure? It was a private project, ruled by market forces, increased construction costs, a depressed housing market, all conspiring at once. All the city could do was mass behind Saca, which it did to the tune of $11 million and a project approved on a fast track. That's hardly a city failure.

And last year, the city -- and the county -- picked up a stick of dynamite called a sales tax increase, lit it and told the Maloofs they would carry it for them. They would wage an election campaign to try to pass the tax increase to erect that arena. All at no construction cost to the Maloofs. Yet they walked away before the campaign even started, dooming a $500 million arena project at the polls.

Strip away all the words and study the actions behind these two failed projects -- analyze who showed a commitment to Sacramento and who simply mouthed the words -- and a clear picture emerges. Saca appears like a man who desperately wanted to build something big in Sacramento but couldn't. The Maloofs appear like men who could have built something big in Sacramento but wouldn't.

Is that a failure of Sacramento? No.

Meantime, if you look around town, you'll see a city of burgeoning restaurants, theaters, condo towers, wine bars, lofts, museums in the offing, energy being created and distributed.

"There is a deliberate plan that is in the works here," said John Dangberg, assistant city manager. "It's part of the evolution of the city."

And what now? Something else will go in Saca's big hole and he gets a mulligan for trying. But as for getting a new arena? Here's a prediction:

This city can -- and it will -- but not with the Maloofs.

[greenmidtown]

I think everyone might get a laugh out of this. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/shitty_neighborhood_rallies

[wburg]

Amusing...although I found this one equivalent in wackiness potential:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51852

[greenmidtown]

Amusing...although I found this one equivalent in wackiness potential:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51852

:haha: even funnier! kind of a jab at some of the users of this site!

[brandon12]

I had some guests in from San Diego tonight. Went to dinner, then walked over to the river to watch the fireworks over the Tower Bridge. Except there were none this year. There was easily 1,000 people sitting in lawn chairs on the west side, in boats, or standing on the bridge or docks. I didn't know they weren't doing them this year, and apparently neither did anyone else. How many years in a row have they done the show there, only to secretly stop this year? Did anyone here hear about this ahead of time? Anyway, it was hot and we had walked quite a ways and in the end, I had some pretty dissapointed out of town guests with a pretty poor impression of Sacramento. Not too good...

[foxmtbr]

No fireworks?!? That's ridiculous!

[Phillip]

That's too bad, Brandon.

I had a similar thing with visitors over Memorial Day weekend. I wanted to take them on the River Otter, that little 24 seat boat that shuttles between the Garden Highway restaurants and Old Sac.

I did the Otter once before with company and it was a big hit. I enjoyed it too, seeing things like the levees and I-5, Discovery Park and the Tower Bridge from a river perspective. The boatride took about an hour and only cost six bucks.

We picked Virgin Sturgeon to eat because the Otter stops at their dock. But the boat never came! I didn't know the company had been sold and the new owner was having problems and River Otter didn't start up this summer. :(

A couple weeks later the Bee wrote that the River Otter was going to try and start up in July. I haven't heard if they did but their old website is still up.

http://www.riverotter.com/

Anyone, sorry no fireworks for your visitors. Hope the food and company were good at least.

[downtownserg89]

well, i was there tonight. i guess they weren't having fireworks this year because they performed such an intense firework show last night for the river cats game, they thought doing it again was rather ridiculous. that's what i was told.

[innov8]

Old Sacramento fireworks have been a disappointment in years past too.
Last year I was down there to enjoy the show and the show it lasted
maybe 10 minutes, what a disappointment, but not as disappointing
as what you encountered Brandon. I think it was three years before that a
Rivercats game played the same night and went into extra innings causing
the fireworks show to be delayed till the game ended at 11pm, a lot of
people were pissed that night.

IMO, Davis has the best fireworks show in the area. I find myself there every
few years and I’m always impressed.

[wburg]

Wasn't the big July 4 fireworks show at Cal Expo?

[slaiguy]

I saw the fireworks at CalExpo...ehh...it was alright. I kept on reading how it was going to be the biggest on in the Sac Area that has ever been done. I didn't seem any bigger than last year. Also, ya, why wasn't there any at tower bridge. Me and my gf thought it would be fun to go there an see them but when I tired finding info about it, there was nothing. I saw the ones from the Rivercats game last night. Watched it from the fountain in front of the Capitol. Kinda cool to see it looking down capitol mall.

[jsf8278]

Anybody have an info on the free WiFi thats supposed to be up and running in September? Does anyone have a strong opinion about this either way?
Im excited...but Im also assuming it will work.

[innov8]

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6245/sactownhb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I got my newest issue the other day… damn it’s hot!!!

Well done SactownRob, each issue takes city pride to a new level :cheers:

[snfenoc]

Is there any way I can get that picture of Natalie Gulbis without all the writing in the center?? It's really distracting.

[Tenebrist]

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6245/sactownhb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I got my newest issue the other day… damn it’s hot!!!

Well done SactownRob, each issue takes city pride to a new level :cheers:


WOW! I need to buy a copy ASAP. Great cover!

[Tenebrist]

The people on Sacramento's YELP (http://www.yelp.com/topic/JiT9W6trBWzAhL1YvNDRIQ) forum are quite bullheaded and I find them to be endlessly entertaining when they dig their claws into a sizzling-HOT topic such as Rite Aids in Sacramento.

:lmao:

[foxmtbr]

^ Haha, great find. I particularly found this amusing:
I like midtown and I don't want it to turn into another downtown Portland.

Oh no, that would be a crime! :ack:

[wburg]

Of course, the person who posted that was someone who had moved from Portland to Sacramento, so maybe that tells you something.

I kinda like 'em. Maybe I'll start posting over there and bother you guys less with my "hey check out this cool adaptive reuse" stuff.

(awaiting resounding cries of "don't let the door hit you in the ass")

[TowerDistrict]

People like that are a dime a dozen. The interweb is littered with self-depricating, cynical Sacramentans. They talk down on everything and wax nostalgic about the way things used to be. They like it the way it was when they were younger and now that their saddled with the responsiblity for the city's future, it's all so hopeless... blah blah blah.

For the most part, they don't actually care about anything enough to make a difference. Just like to vent the same pathetic exasperation and shake their fists at the world as it turns around them.

[Tenebrist]

wburg: It looks like you've found a captive audience over there on YELP!

:tup:

[jsf8278]

wburg: It looks like you've found a captive audience over there on YELP!

:tup:

I would rather live in SAC, see the sun all the time, and talk about a Rite Aid than live in a city where it rains 150 days out of the year and is cloudy the rest...Portland's the type of town that provides people with suicidal tendencies an extra incentive.

[SactownRob]

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6245/sactownhb7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I got my newest issue the other day… damn it’s hot!!!

Well done SactownRob, each issue takes city pride to a new level :cheers:

Thanks, Mike! Sorry for the delayed response. The wife and I have been putting in crazy hours up here and I can't check in on the board nearly as often as I'd like. We'll have to get you back in our pages soon!

[Woodmere]

Ahh, hate the freeways in Portland. The left lane freeway signs (NB) always seem to indicate you're heading to Washington (no one's ever in that lane) which means the other two are constantly bottle-necked.

[TowerDistrict]

The "Grub Groupie" on the Midtown Grid blog (http://midtowngrid.com/blog/) is reporting that Mother India has closed. They also report that a mexican restaurant is rumored to be moving into that spot.

This is not particularly news worthy on its own, except that the parcel of the former Mother India restaurant is/was slated for demo in order to make room for Cathedral Square (http://livinginurbansac.blogspot.com/2006/04/cathedral-square-building.html). Last I had heard, Cathedral Square was in good shape and going through the design review process.

So either this future mexican joint is just a rumor and Cathedral Square will be proceeding as planned.... or it's postponed for quite some time and we get (another) mexican restaurant. Anyone have any clues?

[Nawlijispower]

The "Grub Groupie" on the Midtown Grid blog (http://midtowngrid.com/blog/) is reporting that Mother India has closed. They also report that a mexican restaurant is rumored to be moving into that spot.

This is not particularly news worthy on its own, except that the parcel of the former Mother India restaurant is/was slated for demo in order to make room for Cathedral Square (http://livinginurbansac.blogspot.com/2006/04/cathedral-square-building.html). Last I had heard, Cathedral Square was in good shape and going through the design review process.

So either this future mexican joint is just a rumor and Cathedral Square will be proceeding as planned.... or it's postponed for quite some time and we get (another) mexican restaurant. Anyone have any clues?

Itll be a while for Catherdal Square but I dont think time line would allow any kind of investment for a restaurant owner

[sugit]

The Mexican restaurant is owned by the same people who ran Mother of India (I know, weird). They just changed the type of food they are serving. They are on a very short term lease, or even manybe month to month. They are being allowed to stay around until the project receives the demo permit.

Speaking of Cathedral Square, it was to be on the city agenda next week...but it was pulled since all issues were resolved. No clue what the isses were. So things still look good.

[Sachornet]

So either this future mexican joint is just a rumor and Cathedral Square will be proceeding as planned.... or it's postponed for quite some time and we get (another) mexican restaurant. Anyone have any clues?

I walked by the the former mother india site about a week ago and they had a sign advertising that a mexican restaurant would be coming soon.

[TowerDistrict]

The Mexican restaurant is owned by the same people who ran Mother of India (I know, weird). They just changed the type of food they are serving. They are on a very short term lease, or even manybe month to month. They are being allowed to stay around until the project receives the demo permit.

Speaking of Cathedral Square, it was to be on the city agenda next week...but it was pulled since all issues were resolved. No clue what the isses were. So things still look good.

cool, thanks for the info.

maybe the owners of Mother India are trying something out before they make a larger investment somewhere else? That's the only logic i can come up with anyway... tandoori tacos anyone??

i just ran a permit search on it, and it looks like this answers the question about the resolved issue...

Special Permit-Other
Description: to allow an architectural embellishment that will exceed the height requirements in the Capitol View Protection area.
Decision: Withdrawn
Decision Date: 08/23/2007

[Web]

The mexican restaurant has been open for at least 2 weeks..Enchilada buffet or something.

I went the other day......The place is a hell hole.....ripped and duct-taped carpet, no air conditioning, an odd odor.....food was average at best. And at 12 noon the place had 5 or so people eating......I will not be back.

PS I never thought mother india was anything to write home about......

PPS the owner was out front hawking people on the street to come on in for good eats.....(most ignored him, which my group should have)

[TowerDistrict]

And at 12 noon the place had 5 or so people eating......I will not be back.

hopefully you won't even get the chance before the demolition begins.

[Tenebrist]

Portland City Storage: 175,000 sq.ft. of Solar Cells

This complex is a storage facility to be built by Portland City Storage on the east bank of the Willamette River in Portland. It will have a glass tower rising more than 22 stories and enclosing a giant mechanical arm capable of lifting 40,000 pounds (to conserve valuable riverfront land).

The building is designed to house boats, recreational vehicles and storage pods, and will hopefully get a Platinum LEED certification by the Green Building Council. The design includes 175,000 square feet of integrated solar panels, which will make it the largest solar facility in the Northwest, with the excess power being sold to Portland General Electric.

It will be built on just three acres, compared to the more than 30 acres that would be required for a conventional single-story storage facility of a similar capacity.

The building also will have a green roof that collects and recycles rainwater. It will also feature walkways and bike paths that will help connect Southeast Portland neighborhoods to the river and downtown.

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/08/portland_city_storage_building_solar.jpg http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/08/portlandstorage.png
images from http://www.gizmodo.com (http://gizmodo.com)

(Portland City Storage (http://portlandcitystorage.com/index.html) via METAEFFICIENT (http://www.metaefficient.com/archives/architecture-and-building/portland-city-storage-175000-sf-of-solar-cells.html))

[neuhickman79]

I thought this was interesting
SMUD HQ in1962:
http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2007/08/14/15/302-6L18BUILDING.embedded.prod_affiliate.4.JPG

[TowerDistrict]

Urban plan, but city keeps options open

By Mary Lynne Vellinga - Bee Staff Writer

Last Updated 12:17 am PDT Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1


The new general plan in the works for the city of Sacramento marks a big departure from growth as usual. Rather than embracing a future of strip malls and single-family homes, a draft map endorsed by the Sacramento City Council in June envisions a far more urban Sacramento than exists today.

Twenty-four-story buildings would punctuate the landscape in satellite downtowns near Arden Fair mall and Arco Arena. A university town would bustle at 65th Street. Tired-looking arteries now devoted mostly to shopping would be transformed with thousands of housing units. "We're looking at a different way to accommodate growth; it's not just going to be out, it's going to be in," said City Councilman Rob Fong.

Mayor Heather Fargo said the idea is to "correct some of the suburban, less functional parts of our previous communities and add enough density that there are things to walk to, and they're safer." Yet even as the city plans a facelift of its older neighborhoods, Fargo and other City Council members have directed their staff to study the pros and cons of annexing thousands more acres of farmland -- the key ingredient for suburban subdivisions.

The city also is considering whether to pursue annexation of large swaths of unincorporated urbanized territory, such as the Fruitridge area, Arden Arcade, Rosemont and the town of Freeport. That would give the city responsibility for additional aging neighborhoods that need redevelopment. If Sacramento annexed all the areas it is studying, the amount of land within city limits would increase 75 percent. City staff members working on the 2030 growth plan say all this land won't be needed for growth in the next quarter-century -- if the city sticks to the ambitious density goals under discussion. Those goals call for a 50-percent increase in population with just a 4 percent increase in land. "Do we need the acreage? No," said Tom Pace, director of the city's long-range planning effort. "But it's a question of what kinds of homes people want to live in." Bob Overstreet, strategic projects executive with the city, said Sacramento needs to offer large-lot housing for executives who might otherwise choose new homes in Placer County or elsewhere. "If we want new companies here, that's going to be really important," he said.

Sacramento's environmental community - which has advocated more focus on existing neighborhoods - is gearing up to oppose this expansionist vision, saying it undercuts the supposed thrust of the new general plan. "The city's got God knows how many acres of land that it's ignoring or only giving lip service to in terms of revitalization," said Graham Brownstein, executive director of the Environmental Council of Sacramento. If the city continues to focus on growing outward rather than on improving its existing neighborhoods, he said, "I see a potential future 50 years down the road where other than midtown and the central business district you just have this endless sea of Central Valley suburban mess."

Councilman Fong, however, said he thinks the city can have it both ways: rebuilding urban neighborhoods while continuing to build new ones on open ground. Fong said the city should stake out its future borders, particularly because cities such as Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove continue to jockey for position. New suburban growth, he said, can produce fees to offset the costs of redeveloping inner-city neighborhoods. Critics don't buy this argument. Jim Pachl, a lawyer for Friends of the Swainson's Hawk, noted that Bay Area cities with little or no room left for growth have focused on redeveloping existing communities with notable success. "Local governments there still seem to be in business," he said.

The genesis for Sacramento's new urban focus lies in the Blueprint, a regional growth plan adopted in 2004 by Sacramento and other members of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. This plan aims to improve walkability of communities and slow the region's suburban spread. The Blueprint is not binding on individual governments. Nonetheless, Sacramento is trying to stick to it, officials said. The city is working on the environmental review and written policies for the general plan, and plans to have it ready for adoption in fall 2008.

Other jurisdictions, such as Placer and Yuba counties, already have deviated from the Blueprint. City staff members says this puts pressure on them to provide more suburban housing options with larger lots. "Even if Sacramento stuck to our guns, it wouldn't matter because nobody else is," Overstreet said. All of the areas being studied by the city are included in the Blueprint for eventual growth, he pointed out. It's a question of when, not if, they will develop.

Even without the new areas added for study, the general plan anticipates building on several large chunks of open land, including the 577-acre Greenbriar property just outside the northwest edge of the city, the 1,430-acre panhandle in North Natomas and the nearly 1,000-acre Delta Shores property, which lies between Sacramento and Elk Grove along Interstate 5. Combined, these properties account for a 4 percent increase in the city's footprint.

In addition, the Sacramento City Council has designated as "special study areas" all of unincorporated North Natomas to the Sutter County line, a portion of the east county stretching to Excelsior Road, and land on its southeastern flank out to Elk Grove-Florin Road on the east and Calvine Road on the south. Some of these same areas are also being studied by Sacramento County and Rancho Cordova for potential growth. "They've got great interest in our interest," Overstreet said.


**************************************

freeway at 6:48 AM PST Tuesday, August 21, 2007 wrote:

No Future for You !!!!

Higher urban densities will equal increased congestion for all modes of transportation throught the region. This will work wonders for our local economy and mobility.

Given the plans for the region, I can see our future for the area. Generic, high density kennels for the workers, and large homes for "the executives." Ahh, nothing quite like the continued erosion of the land-owning Middle Class !!! It's happening globally, and also being planned locally. Sure is nice to see the so-called "social progressives" like Graham Brownstein pushing Sacramento's future into a New Calcutta, along with the elected officials.

If I lived in an area intended to be incorporated by the City of Sacramento, I'd move out as soon as I could. I wonder how many of our elected officials and "New Urnbanists" academia/ media/ advocates actually live in the high density communties they espouse. And would they live in such a development if they had the opportunity. Do they have kids to raise?

5 out of 15 people found this comment helpful.


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http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2007/08/20/23/79-sacplan.standalone.prod_affiliate.4.gif

[innov8]

NIMBY ALERT!!! NIMBY ALERT!!! :koko:

By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist
Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Home free: Mike Klein thought he was prepared for the response after we identified him as the go-to guy for Mercy General Hospital's home giveaway. He wasn't.

"We were bombarded," says the Sacramento developer, who is helping the hospital unload five homes that stand in the way of a proposed expansion project.

After the story ran Monday, Klein says he received more than 80 calls and e-mails in the first 24 hours. How many have the resources to actually relocate a home, a process that requires an empty lot and estimated costs in excess of $80,000? Maybe a dozen folks, he says.

Meanwhile, the giveaway is generating plenty of anger from a group of east Sacramentans who oppose the hospital's project. One of them, Larry Augusta, calls it a "PR ploy" to blunt opposition to Mercy's controversial expansion.

And, he warns, neighbors will take to the streets if the homes are moved before there's a final City Council ruling on Mercy's proposed new cardiac center.

"There will be bodies lying down (in front of the moving trucks). It will be worse than Tiananmen Square," he says. :rolleyes:

Fighting words. But unnecessary, says Wendy Hoyt, the urban planner working with Mercy.

The hospital expansion project goes before the Sacramento City Council on Nov. 27. None of the five homes will be moved before the council votes yea or nay, she says.

[aufbau]

wow, what a bad analogy. Don't they know the tiananmen protesters lost big time? They must get their news from the bee.

[brandon12]

NIMBY ALERT!!! NIMBY ALERT!!! :koko:


that made me laugh out loud. You're funny...

[ozone]

double post

[ozone]

Mr. Old Sacramento
Ed Astone is retiring after 40 years as the optimism-fueled catalyst of a source of civic pride
By Dixie Reid - Sacramento Bee August 27, 2007


Ed Astone, the ebullient town manager of a little piece of history called Old Sacramento, has written his obituary. He isn't ill, he just doesn't want a stranger writing about his life.

A stranger wouldn't know about his love of the Jiffy burger at Fanny Ann's Saloon, the shrimp bisque at Rio City Cafe, the Chinese chicken salad at Fat City or the coconut-shrimp Aruba Salad at Joe's Crab Shack, all found in Old Sacramento. Astone remembers them all in his self-scribed obit, as if they were beloved nephews.

Astone was one of three idealistic young men in place when Old Sacramento's transformation began in the mid-1960s. Old Sacramento was designated a historic district by the National Historic Landmarks program in 1965.

The late Bill Gentry, a civil engineer, planned the sidewalks and other improvements. Jim Henley was the project's historian and, Astone says, "its historical conscience."

"And Ed was the guy who was supposed to hawk the project to the public," says Henley, longtime Sacramento city historian. "He was the perfect person at the time to promote the issues and keep the parties talking. There were enormous obstacles to overcome. Redevelopment was a slash-and-burn mentality: old is bad, new is better, and level everything to the ground.

"He had a sense of salesmanship. He wears enthusiasm on his sleeve, and that's contagious."

Went for D.C. lunch, got funding

Astone often was crafty in getting what he wanted for Old Sacramento. For instance, he once took a White House acquaintance up on an offer of lunch in Washington, D.C. -- to ask for $200,000 in Housing and Urban Development funds. The lunch didn't work out, but Astone got the money for Old Sacramento projects.

There were Gold Rush-era buildings to be renovated or restored, and new buildings that mimicked old buildings to be built. The city got control of most of the distict's properties, which Astone and his crew consolidated into developable parcels and started selling off.

"That was my job. I spoke to every service club in town. The community thought it was a neat plan but that 'this guy is naive to believe he is going to do it.' It did seem overwhelming," Astone says. "I'm 27 years old and I'm way in over my head, and my bosses are telling me, 'You can make some mistakes, but don't do anything illegal.'

"I was having so much fun. I was passionate about what I was doing, totally committed to it, because it was the right thing to do. People said, 'No, no, no.' I said, 'Well, go away. Don't tell me that it isn't going to happen. Go away, and I will find someone who will make it happen,' which is exactly what we did."

Astone was director of planning and development in Old Sacramento for 13 years. Before being named manager of the district in 1994, he and wife Kris operated a planning-consulting firm that worked to improve Franklin Boulevard, and he was a consultant on San Diego's historic Gaslamp Quarter. He was a consultant to Old Sacramento, helping to establish the district's maintenance assessment district, the management board and the property owners council.

"Ed knew so many people, and he volunteered to help us," says Lina Fat, part of the Fat family restaurant dynasty that owns Fat City and California Fats in Old Sacramento. "As property owners, we had so much at stake. Ed is a great person. I always say, he is Mr. Old Sacramento."


Fresno beginnings

Astone grew up in Fresno, the younger son of Ethel Astone, who worked as a cook at St. Agnes Hospital. His father abandoned the family when Astone was 18 months old and his brother, Angelo, was nearly 7.

"I had a fabulous life," Astone says. "We never wanted for anything but never had the best of anything. My mother was a dynamo. Ninety percent of what I am, I owe to her."

He graduated from San Joaquin Memorial High School and Fresno State College, with a degree in business administration. He and Kris have been married 45 years and have four children (Laura Kilgore, Gail Drake, Amy Astone and Brian Astone) and six grandchildren.

He became Old Sacramento town manager 13 years ago, the job he gives up this week.

"His legacy is really Old Sacramento," says Steve Hammond, president and CEO of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau. "And when people look back on the growth of Old Sacramento, they can look to Ed as the catalyst for a lot of positive things that have happened there over the last 30 years. Ed has a passion for the district, he has a passion for its success, and he did it all within the realm of historic preservation."

Today, as he has done often over the years, the 70-year-old Astone is sitting in a window seat at Fat City, having his usual chicken salad and a root beer.

With his time in Old Sacramento winding down, he's in a reflective mood. He retires Friday, closing out four decades devoted to the revival, restoration, preservation and promotion of Sacramento's Gold Rush-era district.

"Most people don't know and don't care what we had to do to make this happen," he says, shrugging. "No one knows who I am. No one gives a damn who I am. I just walk around here, a fat, little peacock, watching the public enjoy Old Sacramento."

Sure enough, outside the restaurant's window, he sees tourists wandering along the wooden sidewalks, peering into shops. Horse-drawn carriages ply the streets for hire. A vintage train loaded with passengers is about to make its way alongside the Sacramento River. Modern liveliness melds nicely with the city's storied past.

When Astone went to work as project manager in Old Sacramento on May 1, 1964, the place was a dump. Historic buildings were mostly abandoned, neglected and left to decay, and by the time Sacramento's redevelopment agency started cleaning up the area in the mid-1960s, an estimated 4,500 bums and drunks populated what was then known as the West End.

Well-heeled Sacramentans had to get past the down-and-outers to reach the toney Firehouse Restaurant, which had opened in 1960. Old Sacramento, nee the West End, was not a popular destination for locals, much less for tourists.

"It was a slum, a skid row," Astone says. "It was flophouses, old saloons. There was nothing going on. Downtown had moved uptown. The center of town moved to 10th and K. There wasn't much interest in historic preservation at that time. It wasn't in vogue."

In the late 1950s, he says, the state's Department of Beaches and Parks (now Parks and Recreation) had an interest in old buildings, and its study of West End buildings confirmed that a significant number dated to the 1850s to 1870s.

The waterfront area was Sacramento's Gold Rush-era birthplace, where gambling tents, bordellos, banks and hardware stores catered to miners with gold dust to burn. Despite a spate of devastating floods and fires, early Sacramentans continually rebuilt their community.


Planners wanted to tear it down

In the early 1960s, redevelopment planners wanted to tear down everything between the Sacramento River and Seventh street, which would have destroyed Old Sacramento. Meanwhile, plans were under way to build Interstate 5 between downtown and Old Sacramento.

The Bee editorialized against building the freeway there, saying it would "bruise, scar and depress the city for generations." The newspaper pushed for the freeway to be built across the Sacramento River in Yolo County.

The lines were drawn, and Sacramento was a city divided.

"This is a volatile fight," Astone says, "a knock-down drag-out."

Long story short, the city wanted to lure Macy's downtown, and the department store's honchos insisted there be a freeway off-ramp nearby. So Sacramento got a big department store downtown and a freeway that split the old part of town from the new.

"You can't wish it away, so why dwell on it?" Astone says of the freeway. "So we began to make lemonade, putting parking under the freeway, building the (pedestrian) underpass, making do. And it provides us the opportunity to have this little island, where there are definite boundaries from other parts of downtown."

Hammond was among the friends, family and colleagues who attended last week's roast for Astone at the Embassy Suites. It was a fundraiser for the Old Sacramento Christmas Tree Fund, Astone's charity of choice.

"Last year, the first year we had a community Christmas tree, we did it on a shoestring. I thought it should be a tradition down here."

He promises that before he leaves, he will tell someone where he buried the Old Sacramento time capsule in 1977.

"It'll be in my book, the book I'm writing that will be published six months after I die. It exposes all. It tells the rest of the story."

He's kidding about writing a book. If he did, though, he might mention his proudest accomplishments: Helping to land the Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee (now Sacramento Jazz Jubilee) for Old Sacramento in 1974, and getting 180 tons of decomposed granite spread on Old Sacramento's streets for Gold Rush Days (it starts Friday and runs through Monday, Labor Day), giving Old Sacramento a more authentic 1850s look.

"I said, 'We gotta put dirt down.' And it was the same old roomful of skeptics. So I said, 'Stay out of my way and let me do it,'" Astone says.

He wishes Old Sacramento still had its annual Mardi Gras celebration, that there was a visitors' orientation center somewhere in the area, and that costumed docents were on the streets re-enacting historic events.


Packing up the memories

The time has come to clean out his office. He's taking the family photos with him, sending the old Winston cigarette machine to his son in Colorado and leaving behind the wild-eyed, stuffed coyote some movie studio props guy never came back to pick up.

He jokingly suggests draping a red velvet rope at his office door, as if it were a museum space. Maybe it's just too much to think about packing it all up.

"If I were to die today," he says, "as I was having my final breath, I would feel pretty good. I've been very lucky, blessed with wonderful friends and family, a job that was challenging, sometimes frustrating, but a lot of fun."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me first say I totally respect Ed and think Sacramento owes a lot to this man. However, I hate to say it but I also believe his retirement is maybe about 10 overdue. He has done a great job but the reality is that Old Sacramento has become rather stagnant and maintenance has not been kept up to the level it should be. Also the business plan, events, and promotions all seem outdated. Of course, it's not entirely his fault but hopefully some new 'blood' will address this problems.

The original idea of a "Williamsburg of the West", making people feel as if they have stepped back it time -with costumed docents is just impractical today especially with modern highrises rising across the river, parking meters (I know Ed didn't have anything to do with that) and the tons of cars.

We need a contemparary vision for Old Sacramento.

[TowerDistrict]

maybe Sacramento should be pursuing actions like this, instead of annexing more land and trying to compete with the/other counties? thoughts?

Sutter sues Placer
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:06 pm PDT Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Sutter County has gone to court to challenge neighboring Placer County's approval of more than 14,000 homes on the county line.

The lawsuit, filed last month, is one of three challenging Placer County's recent approval of the Placer Vineyards project. The Sutter lawsuit alleges that Placer failed to adequately consider the traffic impact on rural Riego Road in Sutter County from drivers in Placer Vineyards. Sutter County Administrator Larry Combs said residents of south Sutter County already have been affected by commute traffic from rapidly growing Placer cities such as Roseville.

"They ultimately will have six lanes that come to the county line, and they are assuming Sutter County will take it from there," Combs said.

Scott Finley, deputy counsel for Placer County, said the environmental review conducted by the board was "comprehensive." He said the Placer Vineyards development will fund new stoplights on Riego Road and contribute to the eventual building of an interchange at Highway 99 and Riego Road.

Placer Vineyards also faces two other lawsuits, one filed by The Motherlode Chapter of The Sierra Club and the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society, and another by a pair of concerned citizens, Finley said.

[TowerDistrict]

WTF?!

Two developers vying to lure hotel chain to Sacramento
By Jon Ortiz - Bee Staff Writer
Published 1:02 pm PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Two developers with a history of competition are in talks with InterContinental Hotels Inc. to partner with them on rival condo-hotel towers each wants to build in downtown Sacramento.

Denver-based developer Craig Nassi said that he is "close" to signing a deal with the luxury hotelier for Epic, a high-rise he envisions for 12th and I streets.

Local developer John Saca didn't return calls seeking comment about how InterContinental might fit into his 10th and J streets tower, The Metropolitan, but Sacramento business observers confirmed he has talked to the British firm about a deal.

"What we're hearing is that John has spoken with them," said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. Steve Hammond, president and CEO of the city's Convention & Visitors Bureau also said that Saca, who signed Intercontinental to his Towers condo project on Capitol Mall before it failed earlier this year, hopes to renew his partnership with the company.

John Lee, InterContinental's western region vice president, declined to comment about either project. "Sacramento is a target market for us," he said, "and we'd love to be in the city."

The InterContinental Hotels & Resorts chain is part of the larger InterContinental Hotels Group PLC based in Berkshire, England. It operates the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel in San Francisco and owns the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express chains, among others.

--

Oops! duplicate post... see construction thread.

[arod74]

WTF?!

Two developers vying to lure hotel chain to Sacramento
By Jon Ortiz - Bee Staff Writer
Published 1:02 pm PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Two developers with a history of competition are in talks with InterContinental Hotels Inc. to partner with them on rival condo-hotel towers each wants to build in downtown Sacramento.

Denver-based developer Craig Nassi said that he is "close" to signing a deal with the luxury hotelier for Epic, a high-rise he envisions for 12th and I streets.

Yeah really. Someone needs to let Nassi know that it would probably help out his situation to first get Aura out of coma before even thinking about Epic. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

[innov8]

By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

* * *

The winners are ... Publishing honors are pouring in for a couple of Sacramento magazines.

Both Prosper and Sactown won big at last weekend's annual "Ozzie" and "Eddie" awards event in New York, sponsored by Folio, a prominent trade publication for magazines.

Prosper, which was founded three years ago and revamped earlier this year, received a gold Ozzie for best redesign for a consumer publication. Sactown won top Ozzie design honors for a new consumer magazine and a bronze Eddie for best regional magazine.
Sactown's founders Rob Turner and Elyssa Lee, both veterans of New York's magazine scene, attended the awards event. "We're coming up on our (magazine's) one-year anniversary, and this was the perfect birthday present," Turner says.

Nobody from Prosper attended the awards show, but the staff was thrilled with the recognition, says marketing VP Scott Doniger.

The wins for both publications "show there's some real talent in this region," Doniger says, "and we're proud to be part of it."

[innov8]

This poor state office building has so many issues... last year the windows were
falling out and today it's mold.

Mold shuts portion of a state high-rise
Board of Equalization workers say building has made them ill.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga of The Sacramento Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The state Board of Equalization has moved employees from two floors of its downtown high-rise headquarters after finding "a variety of molds" growing in the walls.

A memo sent to BOE staff members Monday said the 22nd and 23rd floors of the 24-story building at 450 N St. are off-limits to everyone but construction workers.

Beth Mills, a spokeswoman for the state Department of General Services, said the mold found last week between two layers of gypsum wallboard includes Stachybotrys chartarum, the "black mold" that has been the subject of numerous legal claims and reports of illness nationwide.

BOE says they cleared the two floors because they discovered the mold during repainting. But an attorney pointed out that the move came less than two weeks after he filed claims on behalf of four BOE employees who say that they've been sickened by working in the building, and that BOE management has covered up problems stemming from extensive water leakage into the high-rise.

If the state denies the claims, the workers intend to file lawsuits against the state, said the lawyer, Anthony Perez.

Perez said he had been contacted by dozens of BOE employees, some of whom have taken leaves of absence or are telecommuting because of respiratory and other health problems that they blame on their workplace.

Board of Equalization spokeswoman Anita Gore, who was moving from her 23rd floor office Tuesday, said the building is safe for workers.

"We have had this building's air tested and tested for mold spores, and the air quality has tested normal," she said.

But Rebecca Landeros, one of the employees who filed a claim, said the environment in the building has been less than ideal for years. She has spent 14 years working on the top few floors of the BOE headquarters, most recently on the 23rd floor.

"Since the opening of the building (in 1993), we've always had water intrusion," said Landeros, an appeals analyst. "We've had waterfalls. We've actually named waterfalls for attorneys whose offices were nearby. I've had to experience ceiling tiles falling on my desk. That was in the '90s. When I was pregnant, there was mold growing on the pillar near my desk."

Landeros complains of headaches, mysterious rashes, fatigue and blisters on her head. She said other workers have suffered similar symptoms. About two weeks ago she was moved to the 20th floor.

Science has not established a direct link between mold and specific illnesses. But Sandy McNeel, a research scientist with state Department of Public Health, said researchers agree that molds produce indoor allergens that cause reactions in some people.

Mold isn't the only danger lurking in wet buildings, McNeel continued. Bacteria grow faster in damp environments, and so do dust mites.

"The scientific evidence is stronger at this point that chronically damp buildings are more a problem for people than specifically mold," she said. "Mold can be a canary in a coal mine that indicates there's something wrong with this building, or this room."

Opened in 1993, the BOE building is essentially a wall of more than 6,000 windows set in pre-cast concrete. Between 1999 and 2005, seven large panes of window glass failed, some sending shards of glass crashing to the street below. A state report blamed premature window gasket failure, which caused the windows to fail and water to leak into the building.

The state has since spent about $12 million to fix the windows. Temporary scaffolding that protected passers-by has been removed.

Gore said the state Department of General Services was just finishing repairs to the windows when the mold was discovered. It was growing between layers of gypsum wallboard near a balcony that had problems with leaking.

Crews had pushed back the modular furniture so they could repaint the walls, she said. That's when they spotted discoloration on the walls. Mold was found growing inside.

"As a precaution we've moved everyone in the affected area out of their workspace," she said.

Gore said between 100 and 120 people, including legal staff members and department executives, have been relocated from the 22nd and 23rd floors to other parts of the building. About 2,200 people work in the building.

The BOE headquarters was built by the California Public Employees' Retirement System as a profit-making investment for its portfolio. It debuted on the skyline at the same time as the similarly sized Wells Fargo Center nearby, but cost only about half as much -- $79.4 million.

At the time, Sacramento city officials complained about its design and bemoaned the fact that the state was exempt from the city's design standards.

CalPERS later sold the building to the state Department of General Services, which acts as the landlord for state departments. DGS spokeswoman Mills said it should take about four weeks to replace the moldy gypsum wallboard and bring the displaced workers back.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/411918.html

[arod74]

Isn't that perfect. Every once in a while the Bee gets it right, and you gotta love the how the article basically calls out the building as a big cheap concrete turd that is a public health menace to those working inside and to the people walking underneath it. The details about how the tower was built at the same time as the Wells Fargo center for half the cost and all the money being spent to keep this pile of junk inhabitable because of it, are gold. You get what you pay for. That's crap that the city gets no say on the state building standards. THe city dodged bullets with the EPA building and Fed court house.

[ltsmotorsport]

Fed buildings are legit most of the time, but this building is a prime example what the state gives Sacramento.

The state never seems to keep up with its own demand for space, and then has to build huge projects all at once, and somehow keep costs down. It doesn't work to skimp on large buildings; it hurts you in the long run, as were seeing here.

[TowerDistrict]

City's core a caldron of neglect
By Marcos Bretón - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 7, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

Spend just two hours watching Sacramento police officers work, and their
role in our city becomes abundantly clear:

We expect cops to clean up our failures. We expect them to control a
preposterous concentration of low- income hotels downtown, places where
people live in conditions that can't even be described as squalor.

If you have no clue that your teenager rides the light rail downtown to
loiter instead of going to school, the police will do your job for you.

Then, there's the political failures that become police problems. For
example, what do you think happens when buildings remain boarded up for
years? Or are populated with questionable tenants? Would you believe they
actually attract criminal elements? I know. I was shocked, too. But there it
was. One minute I'm talking to a cop in front of the Greyhound station on L
Street, and the next we had a felony arrest.

A young woman was picking up her girlfriend at Greyhound while blaring
the stereo in her yellow convertible. The music was so loud, West
Sacramento undoubtedly heard it. She was oblivious to several shouts to
turn it down, and got a ticket for her trouble. A simple background check
found an outstanding warrant on the young woman who had just gotten off
the bus. Off she went in handcuffs, while a resident of the Berry Hotel next
door invited us to see his room.

Up we went, traversing stairs that moved as you stepped on them. To call
it a tenement would be an insult to tenements. The smell of the hallways
made you dizzy. The ceiling panels were torn and frayed. People were
paying more than $400 a month for these places.

At the Marshall Hotel on Seventh Street, I met an amiable man who told
police he was a registered sex offender. Another man showed us his hovel
of a room, the floor water-damaged, walls with black mold -- and spoke of
mice infestations. There are proposals to turn the Marshall into a "boutique"
hotel. The Berry is supposed to be cleaned up. The Greyhound station is
supposed to be moved. Blah, blah, blah. They are what happens when bad
property owners meet bumbling city officials.

And it doesn't stop there.

A short walk away on the K Street Mall, we found a man who had fallen on
the street. Turns out he was well known by police, in a program for "serial
inebriates." That means he's been arrested at least 25 times for public
drunkenness.

The K Street Mall was most heartbreaking of all, where scores of teenagers
loitered with no purpose. Where were their parents? Why weren't they in
school? Why would we expect the cops to be their babysitters?

This quagmire is vividly illustrated in the ongoing battle between the city
and Moe Mohanna, who owns many of the threadbare storefronts on K
Street and has an option to buy the Berry Hotel. Mohanna hasn't made
anything of properties he's owned for 20 years; his idea of tenants seems
to be tattoo parlors and low-end clothing stores that attract vagrants.

The city, which has been incompetent in dealing with him, will sit down with
him again Wednesday. Fine. But we're way past demanding accountability
from both sides. The city core remains a sewer with police as garbagemen,
dealing with the refuse of civic failures.

[jsf8278]

For the longest time I couldn't figure out why reviving the K Street Mall was such a big deal. So yesterday my boyfriend and I walked from our apartment (L & 25th) to Old Sac. On the way back we decided to to walk up K Street Mall from where it begins to where it ends at the convention center.
I now realize why its so important; and unfortunately, what a dump it is. Seeing as it runs from the convention center all the way to the mall and to Old Sac, its the heart of the city.
That douche bag Mohanna has posters up saying something to the effect of "stop the city's imminent domain abuse." What a slumlord!

[wburg]

The more I read editorials by the one above the more suspicious I get of journalists. They tend to not bother getting their facts straight. Mo had an option to buy the Berry, but it is AF Evans, a far more reputable company, that is buying them: that's in process. It will take a while, everything does. As to the Marshall, the plans for its renovation were only made public about a week ago and he's already complaining about how long it's taking?

The "preposterous concentration" thing is kind of silly: we're really talking about maybe half a dozen buildings along the J/K/L corridor. They seem like a concentration because there is so little other housing in the vicinity, largely due to land-use decisions from the 1930s-1970s that assumed that people shouldn't live downtown. The solution? Let's build more housing in the central city! Somehow, there are hotels of this sort in downtown Los Angeles and San Francisco and it doesn't bring construction to a grinding halt there--why should it be so here? Perhaps because the SRO residents aren't the problem?

Reading Cosmo's article in the SN&R was generally dismaying, because it just seems like there aren't any good guys to root for here: the city, Mo, and Zeiden all come off as manipulative, liars, or just incompetent. The city's strong-arm tactics just remind me of similar strategies used during the 1950s redevelopment era. And the purported illustration of Mo's plan for the neighborhood looks nothing like the plan I saw him support in 2005, which was to knock down the buildings on the 700 block except for the facades and build a tower behind them.

I'm no fan of eminent domain. I'm surprised to see that people here, who tend to generally be big fans of individual property rights, supporting the use of eminent domain as a development tool. It doesn't have a particularly good track record.

[ozone]

Yeah I really disliked Bretón's paragraph:

"At the Marshall Hotel on Seventh Street, I met an amiable man who told police he was a registered sex offender. Another man showed us his hovel of a room, the floor water-damaged, walls with black mold -- and spoke of mice infestations. There are proposals to turn the Marshall into a "boutique" hotel. The Berry is supposed to be cleaned up. The Greyhound station is supposed to be moved. Blah, blah, blah. They are what happens when bad property owners meet bumbling city officials."

Bad property owners?? Yeah maybe the former owners of the Marshall but not the current owners. And the biggest sins the City has committed over the years has been being too easy on the property owners, too easy on the Downtown Partnership, too easy on the State, and too easy the Loaves and Fishes, too easy on the drunks, drug addicts, and sexual/social predators.

[Pistola916]

As a journalism student at SF State I praise Breton. He's an excellent columnist and I enjoy his stories. I may be bias because I have met him while working at the Bee.

[neuhickman79]

Found some cool pictures of Sacramento from years past from the California Archives.
1953:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf958008sb/hi-res

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf587005pr/hi-res

1870 map:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf900011kj/hi-res

5/11/1942 - 2 days before the Japanese were 'evacuated' from this area to iternment camps.
4th and Capitol:
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft1c6003mj/hi-res

Capitol "Street" (?):
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7h4nb4gs/hi-res

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4d5nb2xz/hi-res

[innov8]

Thanks neuhickman, I love seeing shots like those first two you posted :)

[TowerDistrict]

Everyone's favorite hindrance and historian, William Burg was on Insight (http://capradio.org/programs/insight/default.aspx)
just a few minutes ago. The show covered his recent book on Southside Park (http://avidreader.booksense.com/NASApp/store/Search;jsessionid=abc0i_93ZIAv79uMcswwr).

Good show, and the next book on Sacramento, then and now, sounds cool too.

[wburg]

What's eerie about the Japantown photos is that all the stores are vacant with "For Rent" and "Clearance Sale" signs on them.

The first Japantown photo shows the kind of Sacramento urbanity that was pretty much destroyed by redevelopment: not the 8-story Paris photos shown a while back (Sacramento's population and land prices didn't make such things necessary) but a good example of ground-floor retail with residential above. Still plenty of examples of such housing in San Francisco but it's a rarity here except on stretches of J Street and 12th Street. Notice the wide variety of goods and services available within that one block: a market, a hotel (probably residential, considering its location,) two appliance shops, two drugstores, a hardware store, and so on.

I didn't use these photos, but I have a few like them of the old Japantown, including the Buddhist church, the Japanese hospital, a fish market and a few others.