For those of us who actually live here (I am guessing the Rhys02 does not) - off street parking does matter, especially at night. Our Midtown Neighborhood Association, that represents the residential component of our mixed use midtown area, met with the owners and talked about their hours of operation and the importance of securing parking for their employees. Many homes in midtown do not have off street parking, so residents need to park on the street. When patrons come and use this parking, residents have to park further and further away which does affect the "livability" (and if it is late at night the safety) of the area. As a result of that meeting, and depending on what they come up with as far as their hours of operation and arrangements for employees, we are very supportive. We love our Cornerstone too! This is the dynamic that we have here -- and due to the process required -- and on a case by case basis -- we encourage those seeking waivers to locate underutilized existing lots and seek long term co-operative use agreements so that existing paved areas can be fully useful. Our neighborhoods in midtown differ block by block and street by street. In order to maintain balance in our mixed use environment (residential and commercial side by side and even on top of each other) -- very different than suburbia -- we need a process in place that requires working these issues out. I wish we could speed it up, but as mentioned below - you can't complain about not having approvals if you haven't even submitted the final plans (to be fair one would need to ask the owners the status on the plans...) !

Great Article and an important issue. Nutrient cycling is what nature does - nothing is wasted. This is taking a liability and turning it into an asset. This is an example of the new "Blue Economy" that is emerging - where technology allows us to mimic nature and create a sustainable world based on abundance vs. scarcity.

This is a really great opportunity to get out and celebrate what many of us take for granted, but what urban designers from across the country know who visit here: Sacramento has an amazing mix of historic and mixed use urbanity along with a mature urban forest that makes it truly unique and worthy of preservation and emulation. Anyone interested in making our city a great place needs to get out and walk it with these folks - knowledge and awareness increases enjoyment!

Curious as to no comments. Who went, any responses? What you like, what not? If we do this again, how to make it better? What themes to explore? Who to invite?

See www.solarroadways.com These folks will be here this week to meet and consider establishing a foothold here for R&D and manufacture. Their presentation will be at a local TED event, video likely available at TED.com .