I'm surprised to see this coming from the architect of Swan's Market in Oakland. The Co-op needs to be more ambitious. No Elk Grove repeats.

When someone pinched my new drill- I couldn't mount my spice rack. When someone takes the paintbrush from the painter, their soul is diminished. The heartening thing is to see his colleagues are pulling for him. We have a strong and close-knit community of creatives, and Steve will keep working.

Now the board needs another member of the public in attendance! Any takers? The board meets regularly on the third Thursday of every month. Go to the city's Sac Heritage page to get an agenda: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/meetings/boards-and-committees/sacramento-heritage-board/

I will always have fond memories of the summer I spent interning at CADA. Not only are they practicing the vital smart growth measures necessary for the health of a great city, but they are doing it in my hometown! The lessons I learned working closely with Paul and Jackie convinced me that emerging professionals can make a huge difference (they both created CADA as grad students) and you don't have to sell out to be successful. This Joint Powers Authority is noble tutelage. Under Paul's leadership, the Capitol Area has become a modern mixed use, mixed income community where people enjoy living, working and playing. We all wish some shining example of free enterprise would take care of our growing downtown, but Paul and his associates are not unicorns.

The best part of the Giants/Padres game last week was the announcers' comments on the adaptive reuse of the brick warehouse at Petco Park. That's how you Think BIG.