"Scope and vision" is an interesting way to put it--its scope includes far more land than the city owns, and its vision includes an estimated $100 million in city subsidies. There are a lot of flashy trinkets attached to the proposal, like museums, educational facilities and this "Bogueria" public market, typically just the sort of thing that gets ejected when later concerns about expense result in "value engineering" of a project. And that's assuming that the housing and lending environment bounce back enormously--the city of Sacramento can already see the results of high-risk glamor projects in the failed Capitol Towers block, or the rocky road still being traversed in the Railyards. Focusing on the part of the project with the most "curb appeal," the farmer's market, instead of the expensive and unfashionable portion, highly subsidized luxury lofts, this sort of forum is a distraction from the real issues--and the real projects.

Want a full-time farmer's market? Let's have one--we can very easily put it into an existing building, or, if we wanted, just set up tents on K Street full-time instead of once in a while. This is the shiny distraction, the foot in the door for a high-risk investment that will demolish city landmarks and cost enormous amounts of public subsidy. There are better, more affordable, more sustainable options that work with the existing historic fabric of K Street. Don't be fooled.

I think this is a great idea for K Street and it certainly offers something more that will draw lots of people to the area.

I'll be at the forum next week. Of the four proposals for K Street, this was the only one that got me excited about something that might actually improve downtown and that run down stretch of road. These are the same guys that remodeled the Citizen hotel that is now a class act the cities proud of.

It's a lobbying effort for a project that asks for a whole heap of public money. It is unrealist and undoable. Don't be fooled by a glossy cover - it is style over substance. Ask hard questions - you won't get a straigth answer. Don't be a shill for developers who want want want and take take take at the taxpayers expense.

Well, I'm torn until I hear more. The farmer's market aspect sounds very good. The revitalization of an empty lot in the central city sounds good. The destruction of city landmarks sounds like an incredibly bad idea. And the price tag for taxpayers? A major turnoff for me. I'll be following this issue closely. I noticed that if you look at the plan on their website, the color-coded phases don't include the blue shade--which is the Boqueria. Does that mean it would actually be the last piece built or is an optional part of the plan? Very confusing.

Also, please stop capping Words you Think are Important, Mr. Paino. It's annoying.

I have been thinking about that list of questions...

• This is So Sacramento!

Yes, it is. Sacramento has a long tradition of demolishing its landmarks and neighborhoods, with the assumption that shiny new buildings would solve the city's problems. Generally, it has not worked.

• What is a boqueria?

It's a fancy word for "farmer's market." We already have farmer's markets, and Sacramento has had several permanent farmer's market buildings in the past, but by slapping a fancier name on it, we can pretend it is something new. I'm not sure why they're leading with this name, other than perhaps "Boqueria" tested well in focus groups. The plan used to be called "AuthentiCity", until perhaps people realized how little about the plan was authentic, or original, or even feasible. So instead of talking about the portions of the plan that resemble projects like the Bob Leach/Mo Mohanna project for the hole in the ground (a hotel tower) or the portions that resemble Capitol Towers hole in the ground (housing based around luxury condos instead of workforce housing) or the total amount of subsidy that would be required for the project, they lead with an incomplete portion of the project (including waiver of city planning fees, part of the scandal that made a hole in the city budget that puts 3rd and Capitol to shame), they are leading with the friendliest-sounding part--the "Boqueria." So, in many ways, "Boqueria" also means "bogus."

• Finally something to take my parents to when they visit town.

Technically that's not a question, but generally I have had little hesitance to take my parents to places like the Crocker, the Governor's Manison, Sutter's Fort, the Railroad Museum, California Museum, Stanford Mansion, Old Sacramento, plays at the Community Center, Music Circus or other local theaters, or any of the plethora of restaurants and cafes in Downtown or Midtown Sacramento. Or, perhaps, one of Sacramento's currently existing farmer's markets. Is this a question that fulfills a real need, or an incidental and ancillary use?

• Is it the Ferry Building?

No. The Ferry Building is a restored historic building, using as much of its original historic fabric as possible. In many ways, the Ferry Building still serves its original purpose: in addition to the farmer's market function, it is still a transit center and connection between San Francisco's downtown and its waterfront. The "Bogueria" plan leaves a couple of walls and destroys the rest of the buildings. What is left is not a restored building, but the gravestone of a destroyed building.

• Love the Architecture!

Really? The renderings I have seen are rough sketches, and even the skyscraper enthusiasts I know didn't seem very enthusiastic about them. The other plans are mostly diagrams of the building envelope rather than detailed renderings of what the buildings would actually look like. But if you have more detailed schematics, please provide a link. I do love the architecture of many of the existing buildings on the site--and would hate to lose that, as well as the embodied energy that those buildings represent. Rehabbing old buildings is a far "greener" solution than building new ones--and if K Street should represent sustainability, that must be part of the project.

• Can we afford this?

No. Not in terms of money, in terms of the loss of irreplaceable historic fabric, or the risk this project represents to Sacramento's other ongoing projects, like the Railyards or the Docks or Township 9. Now, some may complain that those projects aren't even built yet, and some appear to be stalled, but that is exactly the point. This project represents yet another distraction that will take resources, energy and funds away from those other projects, risking them all. This project is still at the stage where those projects were five years ago--back before the end of the housing bubble. It's just starting on the drawing board, before all the hairy details and complex problems have even appeared. At this stage, it's an easier sell, because it's hard to argue with slick salesmanship and a lovely 3-D rendering or sketch of happy shoppers in a farmer's market. But this project would be no less subject to delay, distraction or economic problems than the other projects already underway--at least one of which already has a big public farmer's market in its plan.