Soul of the City is back! If you missed the kickoff event in February, then Wednesday April 25th is your next opportunity to participate in this engaging community dialogue series. This installment will follow the same interactive 'live-audience-questionnaire' format and will focus specifically on identifying special urban open spaces in our region. What do you think makes a good place to visit in our urban environment? Where are the most successful examples? Join us for this lively discussion that seeks to define where they are and what makes them great. This is the second of five planned dialogues this year which seek to bring designers and community members together to identify what qu

Please join us on Wednesday evening, August 24th beginning at 5:45pm for this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (4WDD). “Complete Streets” is the inspiring story of the planning, re-design and transfiguration of West Sacramento’s main street area: West Capitol Avenue. The project completely transformed a portion of old highway US 40 with a wide variety of improvements including new, widened sidewalks, re-structured roads, contiguous bicycle lanes, pocket plazas, landscape plantings and iconic bus shelters which celebrate the City’s unique identity. The re-development of this area has served to foster community spirit by addressing the needs of West Sacramento’s residents and employee

A local dance troupe hopes to help turn Sacramento's St. Patrick's Day Parade into a céilí – and for all you non-Gaelic speakers out there, that means one big party. While a little beer is known to flow on St. Patrick's Day, the kind of party we're talking about is more of a cultural celebration. The céilí – or céilidh in Scottish Gaelic – developed in Ireland and Scotland as an entertaining get-together where stories were told, poems recited and songs sung. Modern céilís (KAY lees) often include dancing. The céilí is what St. Patrick's Day is all about, said Helen Healy, one of the grand dames of the city's Irish-American community. "It's a Celtic word for a gathering of music, song a

Lately we have all been hearing about the dangers of cell phone texting while driving. People have been killed or seriously injured because of drivers’ distraction from the road. In fact a new law in California prohibits texting while driving because of such accidents. I for one have been guilty of this now criminal offense in the past, and must be very careful not to even think about doing it while I am behind the wheel. Recently, I have become aware of a new danger inherent to texting. That danger occurs when a person finds out that his or her significant other, husband, wife, partner, or fiancé, has been texting someone else secretly. Singer Chris Brown apparently had received a text