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  #81  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 2:50 PM
doriankage doriankage is offline
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I have a friend who still lives down the street from Einstein on Mirandy and family friends who live on Snowbird by the park.
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  #82  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 3:12 PM
doriankage doriankage is offline
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Back-seat driver: Caltrans, city share a bumpy road

By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer

The city of Sacramento and Caltrans, the state highway department, are like bickering bunkmates:

Squabble. Make up. Go at it again.

The friction is over an increasingly vexing issue: How are people supposed to get in and out of downtown?

Daily, tens of thousands pour in, many on clogged freeways. Caltrans' job is to keep freeways moving. More and more of those freeways, like overwhelmed students, are getting F's during rush hour. Caltrans is proposing adding carpool lanes on Highway 50 from Sunrise Boulevard to Watt Avenue.

The project, for now, stops just short of enemy territory: Sacramento city limits.

Nevertheless, city officials recently sent Caltrans a 13-page letter -- a potential set-up for a lawsuit -- arguing the new lanes amount to a car dump on city streets.

"That project is not consistent with the city's goals," says Assistant City Manager Marty Hanneman.

What are the city's goals? That's complicated. City officials obviously are not anti-car. Most drive their own cars to work downtown.

But, City Hall has been struggling for years to do something about growing street traffic and a parking crunch. They could build more garages, but they say that only encourages more cars downtown.

Yet, at the same time, city leaders are eager to expand downtown to maintain its status as the vibrant economic and entertainment hub of the region.

The city is pushing plans to build whole new city blocks in the 200-plus-acre downtown railyard. And last week, officials enthusiastically gave developers the thumbs up to build another office tower on Capitol Mall for about 1,000 workers.

Caltrans was not so enthusiastic.

It filed a formal protest of the Capitol Mall project -- and by extension, other upcoming downtown projects, especially the railyard -- arguing the freeways are going to get socked with more commuters. State law requires the city to "mitigate" the impacts, Caltrans contended.

That led to some intense negotiations. Even Caltrans head Will Kempton got involved.

The state ultimately agreed last week to drop its challenge of the Capitol Mall project, but only after City Manager Ray Kerridge crafted a carefully worded statement acknowledging the city's responsibility "to address potential significant impacts to traffic including on the state highway system."

City and Caltrans officials shook hands and vowed to engage in more friendly discussions about how exactly to "address" downtown growth and its effect on traffic.

One possibility: Charging developers fees for transportation improvements.

Yet, the philosophical chasm between the two sides remains big.

The city has not dropped its opposition to Caltrans' planned Highway 50 carpool project.

You don't solve the traffic problem just by making more room for more cars, city leaders say.

Their approach: Build more housing downtown. Get more people on light rail and buses. Encourage carpooling. Discourage downtown and midtown drivers by making streets slower for cars and safer for pedestrians. They are even talking about a Sacramento-West Sacramento trolley line.

"That," says the city's Hanneman, "is what we see as a comprehensive system."

Agreed, says Caltrans' Wayne Lewis. But freeways will continue to be the biggest part of that system, he argues.

"Not everybody is going to be able to live around the corner from their job," he said.

At least they are talking. It's an important conversation.
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  #83  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 4:07 PM
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goldcntry goldcntry is offline
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Originally Posted by neuhickman79 View Post
Caribou Ct here...my mom still lives there.
Wow... lotta Rosemonties here! I'm in the "New-New" Rosemont.

aka The Beazers from Hell. As far as crime goes, we had a real bad spate of break-ins in the development... right up until we organized the entire development into a very successfull Neighborhood Watch. Where I see the most crime taking place (and see and hear the sherriff's copters flying around) is around the large, older lower-income apartment complexes fronting Keifer. Otherwise, it seems as if the over-all crime is about what it is everywhere else in the area.
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  #84  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 5:29 PM
fatchocolatecow fatchocolatecow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doriankage View Post
By Tony Bizjak - Bee Staff Writer

The city of Sacramento and Caltrans, the state highway department, are like bickering bunkmates:

Squabble. Make up. Go at it again.

The friction is over an increasingly vexing issue: How are people supposed to get in and out of downtown?

Daily, tens of thousands pour in, many on clogged freeways. Caltrans' job is to keep freeways moving. More and more of those freeways, like overwhelmed students, are getting F's during rush hour. Caltrans is proposing adding carpool lanes on Highway 50 from Sunrise Boulevard to Watt Avenue.

The project, for now, stops just short of enemy territory: Sacramento city limits.

Nevertheless, city officials recently sent Caltrans a 13-page letter -- a potential set-up for a lawsuit -- arguing the new lanes amount to a car dump on city streets.

"That project is not consistent with the city's goals," says Assistant City Manager Marty Hanneman.

What are the city's goals? That's complicated. City officials obviously are not anti-car. Most drive their own cars to work downtown.

But, City Hall has been struggling for years to do something about growing street traffic and a parking crunch. They could build more garages, but they say that only encourages more cars downtown.

Yet, at the same time, city leaders are eager to expand downtown to maintain its status as the vibrant economic and entertainment hub of the region.

The city is pushing plans to build whole new city blocks in the 200-plus-acre downtown railyard. And last week, officials enthusiastically gave developers the thumbs up to build another office tower on Capitol Mall for about 1,000 workers.

Caltrans was not so enthusiastic.

It filed a formal protest of the Capitol Mall project -- and by extension, other upcoming downtown projects, especially the railyard -- arguing the freeways are going to get socked with more commuters. State law requires the city to "mitigate" the impacts, Caltrans contended.

That led to some intense negotiations. Even Caltrans head Will Kempton got involved.

The state ultimately agreed last week to drop its challenge of the Capitol Mall project, but only after City Manager Ray Kerridge crafted a carefully worded statement acknowledging the city's responsibility "to address potential significant impacts to traffic including on the state highway system."

City and Caltrans officials shook hands and vowed to engage in more friendly discussions about how exactly to "address" downtown growth and its effect on traffic.

One possibility: Charging developers fees for transportation improvements.

Yet, the philosophical chasm between the two sides remains big.

The city has not dropped its opposition to Caltrans' planned Highway 50 carpool project.

You don't solve the traffic problem just by making more room for more cars, city leaders say.

Their approach: Build more housing downtown. Get more people on light rail and buses. Encourage carpooling. Discourage downtown and midtown drivers by making streets slower for cars and safer for pedestrians. They are even talking about a Sacramento-West Sacramento trolley line.

"That," says the city's Hanneman, "is what we see as a comprehensive system."

Agreed, says Caltrans' Wayne Lewis. But freeways will continue to be the biggest part of that system, he argues.

"Not everybody is going to be able to live around the corner from their job," he said.

At least they are talking. It's an important conversation.

It is certainly true that not everyone can live around the corner from their job, but if you don't make freeways the easiest and most convenient way to get around, more people just might move closer to work or find a different mode of transportation. Until traffic and commute times get bad enough, the majority of people will continue to choose the convenience of driving. If Caltrans just keeps building more and more freeway lanes (even if they are carpool), the population will have no reason to choose moving closer to where they work or taking mass transit.

Unfortunately, Caltrans is probably only interested in serving their own purposes and maintaining the status quo. Even though they are a state entity, make no mistake, they are still a business that is trying to protect their interests.
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  #85  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 6:14 PM
doriankage doriankage is offline
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Yeah, I grew up in old Rosemont. I remember when Manlove connected to Folsom and there was no S. Watt. When they were building it in the80's, my friends and I would ride our bikes in there.

I would have to agree with you about the low rent apartments facing Kiefer. Again, they weren't that bad bak in the 80's.
Did you all go to Einstein and then Johnson or Sac? I went to Johnson graduating in '90 BEFORE it slid downhill....bad!
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  #86  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2007, 11:15 PM
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Allies at the Bee...

Looks like we have some like-minded folks manning the editorial column of the Bee!
Quote:
Editorial: Caltrans vs. downtown
Does battle loom over busy Interstate 5?Published 12:00 am PST Monday, March 5, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B4


Interstate 5 is the primary artery of the West as it connects San Diego with Seattle. Its crushing truck traffic is partially the result of free trade with China, which sends its goods in cargo containers to California ports.

Everyone on the interstate has a different reason for being there. Some are on long hauls from San Diego to Seattle, some on daily commutes to cities along the route or even to the Bay area via connector highways.

So it's a little peculiar that the state transportation agency, Caltrans, seems to have gotten disproportionately interested in the redevelopment under way in downtown Sacramento, worried about its impact on the interstate. Hmm. Should we stop redevelopment down in Los Angeles as well?

The local project is known as 500 Capitol Mall. The careful reader may remember this office project as the one that proposed to put a miniature Greek Parthenon structure at the top of the tower. The Parthenon got nixed in the approval process. What the Sacramento City Council approved the other day was a more standard 24-story office building.

The approval process was slowed, however, by late concerns by Caltrans. "Interstate 5 is already at capacity," official Jody Jones explained. The agency wants to coordinate with the city on plans to add more high-rises downtown and to redevelop the dormant railyards.

Coordination is fine. And frankly, so is Caltrans' commenting on large new development projects that have real impacts on the regional roadway system that the local government is trying its darndest to overlook. But this office project is within walking distance of light rail, the train depot, numerous bus lines and a growing stock of downtown housing. Nonetheless, the developer of 500 Capitol Mall, Tsakopoulos Investments, agreed to pay $75,000 to Caltrans to help install metering lights on the interstate from I Street.

But if Caltrans somehow thinks it is doing the region's transportation system a favor by worrying about rejuvenation downtown, it should think again. Nothing could be worse for traffic and air quality than delaying downtown redevelopment.

The more this region builds homes closer to jobs, the less commuters will rely on freeways. Adding thousands of residences and new office space in the downtown will do more to help I-5 than to hurt it.

If the alternative is to build the housing in Yuba and Placer counties, and have all those folks drive to downtown, will Caltrans be worried about that, too? Where is Caltrans in that debate up in Yolo County about building a brand new commuter city in Dunnigan (on I-5 as well)? Or the debate about Elk Grove's look at expanding southward? And don't forget about Stockton.

Given the challenges of the real estate marketplace, limited redevelopment funds and a quirky set of landowners, rejuvenating downtown Sacramento will be tricky as it is. If downtown doesn't live up to its full potential, I-5 will be far more of a long-distance commuting nightmare than if downtown succeeds. Caltrans should be challenging large office and housing projects that are too dependent on the automobile and instead championing growth within urban, high-transit areas.
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  #87  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 12:49 AM
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Nawlijispower Nawlijispower is offline
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South Sac

I went to Johnson C/O '99. Sorry, not trying to make you feel old or anything
Quote:
Originally Posted by doriankage View Post
Yeah, I grew up in old Rosemont. I remember when Manlove connected to Folsom and there was no S. Watt. When they were building it in the80's, my friends and I would ride our bikes in there.

I would have to agree with you about the low rent apartments facing Kiefer. Again, they weren't that bad bak in the 80's.
Did you all go to Einstein and then Johnson or Sac? I went to Johnson graduating in '90 BEFORE it slid downhill....bad!
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  #88  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 12:50 AM
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creamcityleo79 creamcityleo79 is offline
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Capital Christian High School c/o '96 here. But, I graduated at 16. So, I'm not as old as my graduating year would imply. I'm 27!
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  #89  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 1:39 AM
doriankage doriankage is offline
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No worries about making me feel old!!!
At least we graduated from the same school!!! Otherwise, I would've had to drive up on the crowded 5 freeway to kick your ass!

I almost went to Capitol Christian. My girlfiend at the time went there.
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  #90  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 2:10 AM
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lol, wow this has been a slow week for construction news when were dragging out what high schools we went too, but what the hell, I went to Laguna Creek High school in sprawltacular laguna creek/elk grove. I was part of the first 4 year graduating class there in 98, and now next year is the 10 yr reunion oy I feel old now.
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  #91  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 3:11 AM
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Man, this is all too weird. I grew up in Rosemont as well, attended both Capitol Christian (until 4th grade) and Golden Empire Elementary (across Kiefer Blvd. from Sequoia, go Eagles!!!). Then I moved to Vintage Park and attended Joseph Kerr in Elk Grove. And Bennywah, I was a freshman when the very first graduating class attended Florin High School, which was brand new at the time (I ended up moving to Portland, so I didn't graduate from there).

I too remember that area pre-South Watt. Manlove was a straight shot to Folsom, and Watt kind of just ended at Folsom, if I remember right. My dad still lives in the same house just east of S. Watt. You guys are bringing back the memories...
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  #92  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 3:18 AM
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creamcityleo79 creamcityleo79 is offline
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I had no idea about the whole Manlove/S. Watt thing. That's crazy! We moved into Rosemont in 1991 from South Sac. So, all the road stuff must've happened before we moved in.
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  #93  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 3:22 AM
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Originally Posted by colemonkee View Post
Man, this is all too weird. I grew up in Rosemont as well, attended both Capitol Christian (until 4th grade) and Golden Empire Elementary (across Kiefer Blvd. from Sequoia, go Eagles!!!). Then I moved to Vintage Park and attended Joseph Kerr in Elk Grove. And Bennywah, I was a freshman when the very first graduating class attended Florin High School, which was brand new at the time (I ended up moving to Portland, so I didn't graduate from there).

I too remember that area pre-South Watt. Manlove was a straight shot to Folsom, and Watt kind of just ended at Folsom, if I remember right. My dad still lives in the same house just east of S. Watt. You guys are bringing back the memories...
What years did you go to Capital Christian?
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  #94  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 3:26 AM
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Oh, man that was a long, long time ago. Let's see, I think '82-86? I graduated high school class of '95, so that sounds about right.
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  #95  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 4:17 AM
greenmidtown greenmidtown is offline
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Originally Posted by neuhickman79 View Post
Looks like we have some like-minded folks manning the editorial column of the Bee!
Good editorial. I'm glad Caltrans backed down for the most part. I'm not implying we made any difference but it certainly helped the City's position that Caltrans was bombarded with angry emails when they tried to blackmail.
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  #96  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 5:10 AM
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howdy y'all.

okay so it was such a nice day today i went bike riding, and i brought my camera with me, and well i thought i'd update you guys on certain003 projects around town, so here ya go:

here's the 8th & K site


621CM looking sexy.




globe mills making progress


that building getting renovated at 12th & F


some project at 14th & C st.


is there any word on the status of this proposed building?


MAARS project, lookin' cute.


tower bridge.


the FACES soon to be swimming pool/dance floor.


you could walk on the sidewalk in front of the Marriot now!


ew this building on 12th between D and C street could be nicely rennovated.


and of course..



alright i'm done
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  #97  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 5:23 AM
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Thanks for the update!
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  #98  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 5:52 AM
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i went by the calSTRS site on cap corridor this morning and noticed that they have the base of the crane put in. anyone know the schedule for when we'll see that building start rising out of the ground?
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  #99  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 6:21 AM
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OK, I am back in the country and the Towers news did not come while I was gone. However, we did get the Library Lofts news.
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  #100  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2007, 6:42 AM
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Here's a good look at one of those buried storefronts from when downtown was raised (Thanks, Serg)-
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