Sacramento Jane’s Walk 2011: Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 Jane’s Walk USA is a series of free neighborhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves. Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America, and is growing internationally. Sacramento’s Jane’s Walk series incorporates elements of urban planning, neighborhood advocacy, urban history, and architectural history, to demonstrate how a neighborhood’s physical form promotes its walkability, sustainability and economic and social vitality. All tours are free o

Do you like history? How about ghosts? And puns? What about historically significant (and knowledgeable) pun-loving phantasms?  I, for one, am a glutton for punishment. In this case, incorporeal punishment. I received all that I wanted and more on Friday night at the Old Sacramento Ghost Tour. Put on by The Historic Old Sacramento Foundation, the Ghost Tour is an hour-long guided stroll around Old Sac that begins and ends at the Eagle Theater.  I arrived at the theater about 10 minutes before the tour was to begin and joined the crowd that was already milling about. Holding court on the theater steps with the rapt attention of a young family was a gentleman who looked eerily similar to

On Thursday, October 21st, the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) and California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) will unveil a new self-guided walking tour of Central Oak Park. The brochure highlights the community’s architectural and historical significance. The evening will include an address by the brochure’s author, Dr. Robin Datel, a professor in CSUS’ Geography Department. The lecture will be held at the historic Guild Theater in Oak Park (2828 35th Street at Broadway); doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The 32-page walking tour brochure includes historic photographs of nearly forty selected locations with

Yes, that really did happen here. The complaints and rumblings about music in Sacramento have been mounting for years: a perceived disconnect between the local music scene and the community, the glaring lack of consistent all-ages music venues in the downtown area and a debilitating middle child syndrome caused by big name touring acts that often pass the Capitol City over for gigs in the Bay Area. In the face of the retrospective on local music provided by Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s newest walking tour, it becomes hard to find anything to complain about. Entitled “Locally Grown, Internationally Known: The history of the Sacramento Music Scene,” this hour-long tour offers not onl

Even though autumn had its official start three weeks ago, I had my first foray into fall on Saturday's tree tour through my own neighborhood Arden Park, hosted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation. The tree tours were started over five years ago by longtime Sacramento Tree Foundation member Fran Clarke. It was Clarke's goal to make the community aware of the many spectacular trees found in Sacramento. Eighteen resident citizens, from 2 years age to retired, gathered at La Sierra Park for an informational walk-about with Sacramento Tree Foundation stewardship coordinator Luanne Leineke. "The trees are not only beautiful, they play important roles in our community," Leineke said. "They help