The Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association (NBNA) is honoring Mike McKeever, Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), with the organization’s 2011 Growing Together Award for his role earlier this year as the volunteer mediator in a neighborhood development controversy. The NBNA represents the Poverty Ridge, Newton Booth, and Alhambra Triangle neighborhoods in Sacramento’s District 4. The award will be presented to McKeever Thursday, November 10th, at Newton’s Night Out, a neighborhood event to be held at Revolution Wines, 2831 S Street, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.  McKeever will be in attendance. The Growing Together Award, established in August 2011, is gi

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

(Click on above photos for larger view.) May is Bike Month officially opened today with a ceremony along the riverfront promenade. Organizers handed out t-shirts and bike safety information to the 100 people who attended. A bike ride through downtown Sacramento followed the kick-off event. The co-chairs of the Bike Month campaign are West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon and Mercy San Juan Medical Center Safe Kids Coordinator Sonja Atkins. Cabaldon opened the event by announcing the May mileage challenge has been doubled to two million miles for the Sacramento region. He said the previous one million mile challenge had been met the last three years. Cabaldon said 43% of commutes and

SECAT (Sacramento Emergency Clean Air & Transportation Grant Program) had a banner year in 2010, closing out the application process early due to “overwhelming response” and ending its first decade with over $75 million already allocated to help replace on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles in the Sacramento area with lower emission vehicles. Created by California Assembly Bill 2511 to help the Sacramento region meet its air quality attainment commitments under the State Implementation Plan (SIP), SECAT is a partnership between Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) that provides grant funds to replace on-road h

Sacramento area residents voiced their opinion on the region’s Metropolitan Transportation Plan at a workshop on Wednesday, and they largely agreed to support a plan that includes greater emphasis on the environment and public transit. This plan, or MTP2035 (Metropolitan Transportation Plan for 2035), is based on assumptions regarding population growth, the economy, transportation, housing, employment, and how infrastructure will need to adjust for the inevitable changes that will occur over the next 25 years. “We’re not shy to give you a lot of information to work with,” said SACOG Executive Director Mike McKeever. Updating the plan, which is a federal requirement, has involved the Sac

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has earmarked $1.5 million to help fund sustainable planning for the Sacramento region, HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims said Friday. The money is being awarded to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and its planning partners through HUD's new Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program. A day earlier, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced Sacramento was among 45 regions to win a portion of nearly $100 million in grants created under President Barack Obama's Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The grant program is designed to boost regional economies through coordinated planning for housing, transportation, the env

A study to map out a streetcar route linking Sacramento to West Sacramento is expected to start this fall, according to city Transportation Department spokeswoman Linda Tucker. More than $400,000 in funding has been set aside for the study -- $310,000 from federal grant funds obtained earlier this year and $90,000 from local transportation funds, said Azadeh Doherty, a principal planner in the department. The current plan for the streetcar includes a path in West Sacramento, but does not lay out a route in Sacramento. Under the most recent plan, the streetcar would run from West Sacramento City Hall, across Tower Bridge and stop in Old Sacramento at the foot of the bridge. The city will

The Sacramento region's "Blueprint" for a sustainable, thriving future must include communities connected through economic equality, mass transit investment and smart growth, experts said Friday. The area already is already helping to nudge the country away from an autocentric culture that's promoted sprawl for decades through its Blueprint Transportation and Land Use project. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments board adopted the Blueprint in December 2004 to help plan more compact growth, protect natural resources, and reduce traffic congestion and pollution over the next 50 years. Now, research shows that sprawl is caused in part by social distance and inequality. While intellec

 VSP® Vision Care has been honored by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) through the SACOG Salutes! Regional Awards Program which recognizes significant contributions to the region in transportation, air quality and smart-growth planning. “VSP is pleased to accept SACOG’s distinguished Business of the Year award in recognition of our efforts to continue to reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environmental health of our region,” said Steve Hibbs, Director of VSP Corporate Services. “We are committed to leading the way for other companies to implement sustainable business practices and being recognized by an association such as SACOG is a great asset in working towar

Helping to save $20 million in local federal stimulus money, the state of California on Thursday ponied up $31 million in Prop. 1B funding for projects connected to Sacramento's future regional transportation center. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the city of Sacramento told the California Transportation Commission this week that the city would lose the federal stimulus funds unless the agency paid out the Prop. 1B money as promised, said Erik Johnson, SACOG spokesman. The bulk of the $31 million will be used for a $60 million railroad track relocation, the first phase of the train station and public transit center being built in the 244-acre historic railyards adjacent t

In a lively neighborhood-wide gathering rivaled only by the annual flea market, Curtis Park residents on Oct. 6 encouraged and criticized plans to develop Curtis Park Village in the adjacent, long-contaminated Union Pacific Railyard. Local developer Paul Petrovich, president of the Petrovich Development Company, hosted the community meeting at his Stone Pointe complex on Freeport and Sutterville to explain plans for the development and let residents voice concerns. The atmosphere grew tense as attendees questioned him about everything from toxic-cleanup safety regulations to his taste in public art. Petrovich's proposal is to create a sustainable community with residential and retail z

Sacramento is a city with limited transit options and lots of freeways, a city at the absolute downstream end of freeway rivers flooded with vehicles. Light rail only serves some portions of the city, and farther out along the light rail lines, many neighborhoods are not connected to stations, forcing residents to drive downtown.   Buses are few and far between. There aren’t enough bicycle routes. Pedestrians take their lives in their hands when they cross the street, even if crossing on a green light with a walk sign. Freeways and streets grow more congested every year and, at least in the Central City, parking grows ever more expensive and difficult to find.   Air pollution is getting