Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[wburg]

We are a city like Portland, but with palm trees!

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Originally Posted by wburg

We are a city like Portland, but with palm trees!

As someone who goes to school in Portland (and is fortunately home for Spring Break), I'd say we don't really have much in common with Portland. While I think Portland is the better city, I'd still take Sacramento over it any day because I think Sacramento is a better place (if that makes any sense).

[wburg]

I suppose--we didn't start an urban growth boundary to limit the sprawl of suburbs and direct residential development back into the urban core, and we're more than a decade behind in starting a downtown streetcar line to turn a former industrial area into the most densely populated part of the city. I mention it because a band from Portland I met last year described Sacramento as "basically Portland with palm trees" and I liked the comparison.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

At the very least, we aren't stuck with their terrible climate. When it was 68 and sunny this afternoon, it was 38 and raining up there. My allergies may have returned, but if they're the price to pay for not dealing with snow showers at the end of March, so be it.

[CAGeoNerd]

Wow, I haven't been to that part of town in a while, as I obviously had no idea all of that was being built up there along 12th. Looks really nice, right next to the light rail. Reminds me of some stuff I've seen in other places, glad to see stuff like this going up in Sac, and hopefully we'll see lots more start to go up soon with a new arena being the catalyst for developers in the area!

[CAGeoNerd]

Originally Posted by ThatDarnSacramentan

At the very least, we aren't stuck with their terrible climate. When it was 68 and sunny this afternoon, it was 38 and raining up there. My allergies may have returned, but if they're the price to pay for not dealing with snow showers at the end of March, so be it.

Yes, but I'm sure they say the same thing about us when it's 100+ and smoggy in the middle of August. I wouldn't trade it though. I lived up on the North Coast for a while and that was enough rain for me - I can't imagine living with even more rain and even less sunshine!

[ozone]

Originally Posted by ThatDarnSacramentan

As someone who goes to school in Portland (and is fortunately home for Spring Break), I'd say we don't really have much in common with Portland. While I think Portland is the better city, I'd still take Sacramento over it any day because I think Sacramento is a better place (if that makes any sense).

That doesn't really make any sense -to me. Unless you are talking about the weather. On a superficial level parts of Midtown/Downtown feel a bit Portlandia but as a whole the city does not. A lot of Sacramento looks like more Fresno, Modesto, San Jose and the San Fernando Valley. Even East Sac and Land Park, as nice as they are, could be in dozens of other California cities. The only place with any unique character is Midtown/Downtown. People's perception of Sacramento often depends on which area they are most familiar with.

[ozone]

@ downtownserg89 you're right it looks almost like the rendering (and it's not finished yet) but wburg is right too because it many cases the finished product doesn't. I really like the design. It's what is needed in the neighborhood which has the potential to become the trendiest neighborhood in the city - no joke.

[downtownserg89]

Originally Posted by ozone

I really like the design. It's what is needed in the neighborhood which has the potential to become the trendiest neighborhood in the city - no joke.

I totally agree. "The Flats" have severe potential to become a new hot-spot in downtown, if done correctly. These housing projects should open everyone's eyes and attract new attention to this neighborhood's new identity. There is a vacant lot directly across from the La Valentina Station project, and I have a feeling it will be next on the list. (it better be! that damn lot is a serious eyesore.) Once these housing projects are completed, and tenants start moving in, they'll need nearby places to eat, shop, and lurk. The NW corner of 12th and E could accomodate a small neighborhood grocery store, or another housing project with ground level restaurants. It would be cool if people would see the Alkali Flat Lightrail station as a destination to get off and hang out.

"Where are we going tonight? Should we hit up Midtown, K street, R street or The Flats?"

[downtownserg89]

Decided I'd put a little something together.

This corner sits unoccupied, and I have a feeling a trashy corner store will eventually open up. I think it could have a better use, and here is what I have in mind.



I think the area will soon be capable to have businesses like this, and it would drastically change the vibe, attracting more people. (the right people!) I mean, don't see why not...

[ozone]

I like it.

[Mr. Ozo]

I'm not sure the Alkali Flats/ Mansion Flats distinction really helps things. It's basically one neighborhood and in most people's mind's its Alkali Flats.

[ozone]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ozo

I'm not sure the Alkali Flats/ Mansion Flats distinction really helps things. It's basically one neighborhood and in most people's mind's its Alkali Flats.

And what a silly name it is. Being an historian, William B. will no doubt have the scoop on why it's called that. I'd be curious to know myself. But I'm all in favor of re-naming/re-branding the hood. How about the Old North End?

[wburg]

The neighborhood was named Alkali Flat because of the alkali dust found in that part of town, residue from when the American River used to wash over the neighborhood pretty regularly (until they moved the river farther north.) Traditionally I don't think it went much west of 12th Street, but I'm not sure where the name Mansion Flat came from. Probably due to its proximity to the Gallatin mansion (aka the governors mansion) and the other big manisons along H Street between 10th and 16th, sometimes called "Merchants' Row."

If Alkali Flat does become a popular neighborhood, expect the name to spread farther out. Nobody really called Midtown "Midtown" until about 20 years ago, and it was just roughly used to identify the eastern half of the central city to Business 80 and includes a number of neighborhoods with older names. Now businesses clearly outside that boundary are being marketed as Midtown properties, like the "Alexan Midtown" on the eastern side of Alhambra Boulevard!

[ozone]

Is there any evidence of this alkali residue today? And I am really surprised to read that they moved the American River.

I agree about Midtown. It's gotten of hand. To my ears a lot of those old neighborhood names are kind of lame so it's no surprise to me that people use a catch-all term. I think we could use breaking up Midtown and Downtown into smaller neighborhoods, creating boundaries, putting up signs - something like they've done in San Diego would be nice. I'd just come up with new names. Our historical neighborhood names are pathetic. I actually think doing such a thing would spur redevelopment. I've seen it happen elsewhere.

[wburg]

Pretty much every inch of Alkali Flat has been built on, so no, I don't think it's there anymore The mouth of the American River used to be just about where the I Street bridge is today, and the riverbank where John Sutter got off the boat to establish Sutter's Fort was just a bit north of the B Street Theater on 28th Street. Part of the big project to build levees, raise streets and otherwise protect the city from flooding included relocation of the American River. This was mostly done in the 1860s, but left us with a downtown swamp (China Slough aka Lake Sutter) until about 1910.

Neighborhood names tend to change over time--many came from nearby features, schools or parks (Southside Park, Winn Park, Marshall School, Richmond Grove) or were real estate developers' names for their projects (Boulevard Park, New Era Park.) Some names were acquired by tradition (like Alkali Flat and Poverty Ridge) and some attempts at "rebranding" failed miserably (efforts to rename Poverty Ridge "Sutter's Terrace" around a century ago, when it became a desirable spot for fancy homes, never stuck.) Adoption of the "Midtown" name didn't supersede any of the smaller neighborhood names, but served to provide a general identity for the eastern half of the central city and differentiate it from "downtown," and also adopted by the business community. But today, I hear plenty of people use "midtown" to describe the entire central city! It's not a replacement for those names but a catch-all; people used to call the central city "the old city," describing downtown as "the West End" (including Chinatown and Japantown) and what we'd now call Midtown as "the homes district." Before Southside Park was built, that area was sometimes called the "Arizona District."

Not sure if you have noticed them, but some central city neighborhoods do have signs like you describe (Boulevard Park, New Era Park) and think it would be a great idea to add more--it encourages neighborhood pride and tourism, and a neighborhood identity helps attract people to live in the neighborhood and be part of its community.

I'm not sure which neighborhood names you consider pathetic, but look at the bright side--we could be a city with cheesy suburban sounding neighborhood names like "Forest Hill" and "Sea Cliff," or lame country bumpkin sounding names like "Dogpatch" or "Cow Hollow"!

[ozone]

LOL you're right about those SF hood names. And I guess your'e right, some of our names are not so bad. Interesting stuff about the river.

I was San Francisco yesterday and heard that there's a new boom a'comin --there. What I do not understand is how Sacramento has so deftly managed not to capitalize on every modern SFBA boom cycle. I am not sure how we would do that- but it seems like we could.

[innov8]

10 Percent Cut for New Sacramento Courthouse

The Judicial Council has endorsed a cost-cutting direction for court construction
statewide, including the reassessment of 13 projects and further construction budget
trimming on 24 projects. The council approved recommendations from the Court
Facilities Working Group that are expected to yield significant, long-term savings
throughout the $5 billion program.

The New Sacramento Criminal Courthouse must reduce hard construction costs by a
minimum of 10 percent. Currently the proposed courthouse for Sacramento is estimated
to cost $437,516,000 million. A 10 percent cut will reduce costs by $43,751,600 million.
One recommendation made by the Judicial Council is that Sacramento reduces number
of courtrooms from 44 to 42 to reflect reduction of 2 new judgeships, pending fall 2012
Judicial Council action to adopt update to new judgeship requirements, in addition to
10% reduction. The new courthouse budget would now be $393,764,400 million with
a target to achieve low-cost construction methodologies.

Senate Bill 1407 was enacted in 2008 to authorize up to $5 billion in funding for new
and renovated courthouses using court fees, penalties, and assessments rather than
taxpayer revenues from the state’s General Fund. Since 2009, more than $1.1 billion in
funding originally designated for courthouse construction has been borrowed, swept to
the state’s General Fund, or redirected to court operations.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/j...0424-itemD.pdf

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/oc12-Apr_24.pdf

[ozone]

Just by cutting out the expensive imported wood and stone for the judges chambers should to the trick. But it's likely that public spaces/design features will be cheapened instead.

[BOYCOTT 90210]

Can anyone find a picture of the project being built here? I can't find it. This is great for the area. I went to Christian Brothers HS and this corner is just a big paved lot. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacrament...-sacramen.html