OK getting back to the topic. I'm very sorry I didn't have the time to go down and at least push the D&R and council to include steel arbors in the plan. As I have mentioned before I think one of the problems with K Street is that it's design does not take into account the Sacramento climate. We live in an age of central AC/heat from house-to-car-to-office/shopping/school and that has made us less tollerant of even slight temperature extremes. If we want pedestrians en masse on the K then we need to make people comfortable. The trees along K Street do not provide enough shade in the summer and nor any protection from the cold and rain in winter.
I think a number linear steel arbors along K would really help keep people on the street. If they are covered with dec. vines the arbor would shade the sidwalks in summer while still allowing light and air and leaves from the trees to pass through. In the winter although the vines would be mostly bare, the metal and vine structures would possibly deflect a little of the rain and retain a some warmth.
Another benefit to these arbors is that would be an de facto extension of the buildings -out to the edge of the sidewalks. This means that it's semi-private space and certain type of behavior would not have to be tolleranted.
This is an example of a metal arbor going up in San Francisco but there are mutitude of design posibilities.