Local Business

Idea Fair hosts local architects' vision for a future downtown

2009-12-17T04:35:14Z

On Tuesday night The Capitol Creative Collective in partnership with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership hosted their first Idea Fair.

The event, which was hosted at The Mix at 16th and L streets, provided a forum for local architects to showcase their vision for future downtown development.

Several dozen architects and interested individuals attended the intimate event which was held on The Mix's second-floor patio.

“We wanted to give people an opportunity to get excited about their city,” said Lisa Martinez of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. “The projects are more of a show and tell. This forum is a great place for people to learn and get inspired.”

Projects ranging from the creation of observational towers along the the downtown riverfront to the development of an architecture-themed charter school in Sacramento were discussed at the fair.

Sacramento-based architects Jeff Walker and Requel Apodaca presented their vision for an urban transformation of Discovery Park.

Modeled after Central Park in Manhattan, the project would directly integrate the new urban park to both the rail-yards project and future urban development north of the American River.

“The park would connect the city to the river as it grows,” Walker said.

According to Jake Favour, founder of the the Capitol Creative Collective, the Idea Fair was also designed to provide a cross-pollination of ideas before the Downtown Sacramento Partnership's annual State of Downtown breakfast on Jan. 19, 2010.

“We've been working [at the Capitol Creative Collective] to incubate and showcase a few new designers and designs,” Favour said.

The State of Downtown breakfast will provide forum to present many of the ideas showcased at the Idea Fair to major decision-makers, Favour said.

Although the economic downturn has limited sources of financing, it also has presented opportunities for the local architects of the Capitol Creative Collective.

“When the city is hard up for ideas, they cannot hire an architect for $50,000,” Favour said. “They can turn to up and coming architects [of the Capitol Creative Collective] who pitch their ideas for free.”

Historical center offers unique holiday gifts

2009-12-12T19:03:09Z

The story of Sacramento's rapid development from remote frontier city to hub of the modern Central Valley is rich and storied. It's easy to forget that 65 years ago trolley cars criss-crossed Sacramento's bustling streets. Not too long before that, areas such as East Sacramento and Land Park were unincorporated farmland.

Since 1953, the Center for Sacramento History, the city and county's official archive, has collected and preserved artifacts that tell Sacramento's colorful story. But it's not just a repository. The center allows researchers to duplicate its vast collection of video, photographs and documents for a modest fee.

Recently it partnered with Zazzle, an Internet company, to allow the public to create high-quality reproductions of the center's most sought after material.

"We got interested with Zazzle because the California State Library and the Bancroft Library at Berkeley have partnered with them," said Dylan McDonald, center archivist. "We just scan [the artifact] one time so it preserves the original copy."

Those interested in historical holiday cards, calendars, maps or other collectible objects can order them on the Center for Sacramento History's website.

The items make unique holiday gifts and help the center maintain basic services during a period of economic instability.

McDonald said the percentage of each sale that goes to the center has helped offset declines in city and county funding.

Comedy Spot brings laughter to midtown

2009-11-08T03:33:31Z

The Anti-Cooperation League christened the Sacramento Comedy Spot's new location with a long-from improvisational performance on Friday night.

A compelling blend between dry wit, slapstick and quick thinking enthralled the crowd of over 100.

During the performance, the comedians welcomed audience volunteers to the stage to share details about their lives. Adeptly transitioning between scenes portraying gambling-obsessed women, lustful elderly men and hypochondriac middle school children, the performers created a series of hilarious scenes inspired by the volunteers' lives.

One audience volunteer mentioned that he works at the UC Davis Medical Center and has an affinity for stealing pens. In a scene inspired by his life, visiting L.A. comedian Betsy Sodaro entered a room with two pen-obsessed doctors and said, "I have a pretty bad case of cancer, but I have a big box of colored Sharpies — the whole rainbow."

"Everyone supports each other and works off each other," said Brian Crall, performer and Comedy Spot co-owner. "It's about playing smart on stage, taking a creative idea and making it work."

Located in 20th Street's MARRS building, between Lounge on 20 and Azul, the Comedy Spot is bringing affordable improvisational and stand-up comedy to Midtown on Thursday through Sunday nights.

"We are an alternative comedy place," Crall said. "We are not going to charge you a two-drink minimum. You'll have a good time watching quality comedy at a good price."

The new location represents a significant expansion for the Comedy Spot, which had occupied a smaller location on Broadway. The current location is three times larger, Crall said.

"It's like the movie Trading Places,'" Sodaro said. "Broadway was Eddie Murphy and this place is Dan Aykroyd."

Monday through Thursday the Comedy Spot also offers classes on improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy. The Comedy Spot is planning on brining in nationally recognized comedians to help teach some classes, Crall said.

"It's almost like a gravitational pull," said aspiring long-form comedian and Comedy Spot intern Kelsea Williams. Williams hopes that after taking classes, she'll be able to join the Anti-Cooperation League. "They are so good at what they do, it makes you want to be a part of it," she said.

Ticket prices for the Comedy Spot range from $5 to $8. Headlining shows begin at 8 or 9 p.m, while the more experimental performances begin later in the evening. Information about upcoming shows and classes is available at their website.

Photo credit: anthonybento.com

Weathering summer storm, Green Sacramento grows again

2009-10-10T01:23:05Z

Josh Daniels spent his summer trying to survive. Green Sacramento, his business that specializes in environmentally-sustainable home improvement products, was teetering on the brink of collapse.

"It was a crazy summer," he said.

The precipitous decline in the regional housing market and the collapse of the global financial system formed a noxious combination that was difficult to overcome.

With community support, however, Daniels persevered and Green Sacramento survived its near-death experience.

"I got a lot of local support," he said. "People realized that they didn't want to lose [Green Sacramento]."

Daniels moved his business from H Street to a new location on 20th Street, between I and J streets, and created a 'Green Living Center' that would act as a one-stop shop for those seeking sustainable home improvements. He brought in a team of independent businesspeople -- an interior designer, a landscape architect and an energy consultant, all of whom specialize in green construction.

The independent green construction team has been given offices facing a showroom filled with Green Sacramento products.

Standing in the new showroom, surrounded by paint cans, flooring displays and many unboxed items, Daniels explained that the more central location of his days-old Green Living Center already has provided dividends. "Things definitely have picked up," he said.

The interests of both the curious passer-by and the committed green renovator are served by the center.

"I'd love it if people just call and ask questions," said Tommy Young of E3 NorCal, who provides home energy consulting for the center. Laughing, he explained that he often moves customers toward less-expensive but more effective products. "I've unsold so much stuff," he said.

Although increased efficiency always has been a goal in green technology, in this economic environment more customers are focusing on it to reduce their energy usage.

According to Young, many Sacramentans spend over $1 per square foot to power their homes each year. "I'm trying to get someone down to 25¢ per square foot [of energy usage]," he said. For a 2,000-square-foot house, that would represent a savings of $1,500 in annual energy costs. And savings multiply, Young said, as "energy costs [on average] increase 6 percent per year."

The improvements that the Green Living Center offers, such as solar heating and thermal insulation, do not simply increase efficiency. "It's just as much about comfort," explained Young.

Conventional heating methods involve 'forced air systems', where machines manufacture hot or cold air and push it into a living space. "Forced air systems are just not comfortable," Young said.

Forced air heating and cooling oscillates between activity and inactivity, which creates an environment that is often too hot or too cold. The radiant systems offered by the Green Living Center, however, employ sunlight and other natural environmental features to provide comfortable home temperatures.

These sustainable renovations often involve a combination of cutting-edge green technology and traditional building techniques.

"Older homes [in Sacramento] were designed with the delta breeze in mind," said Matthew Piner, the center's architect.

Piner's business, Piner Works Architecture and Building Group, provides renovation and other construction that best take advantage of Sacramento's unique environment. Additionally, his company installs radiant heating and cooling systems. Together, these techniques provide "the best of the old and the best of the new," he said.

Piner and his colleagues at Green Living Center say they hope that concerns about energy prices and sustainability will combine with increased state and federal subsidies to fuel a green construction boom, propelling the center and the region to prosperity.

"That's where the growth in the economy is going to come from, growing into sustainability," Piner said.