Newest articles and comments on The Sacramento Press written by William Burg

William Burg on "Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward "

2013-05-24T04:07:17Z

It's not a zero-sum game, but some people assume that if a sales tax dollar is spent in a neighboring municipality, it must be a sales tax dollar that their municipality is losing as a result. Limiting big-boxes doesn't necessarily drain sales tax dollars--it means stores that aren't big-box stores have more incentive to set up here--and less reason to set up in nearby cities. More local business has a more positive effect on local economies, because more of that money stays in the local economy instead of filtering out of the city to the corporate level.

William Burg on "Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward "

2013-05-23T15:13:01Z

That just leads to a race to the bottom--the mad scramble for sales tax revenue, reinforced by California's lopsided property tax system, causes all sorts of self-defeating behavior like this--cities sacrifice their well-being and citywide priorities in pursuit of sales tax in what they perceive as a zero-sum game, instead of focusing on the sort of planning decisions and land uses that will increase the size of the overall economy.

William Burg on "Plastic bag ban a step closer in Sacramento "

2013-05-23T15:08:12Z

You're already paying for those bags, they're just hidden in the purchase price. How did people deal with pet poop before the advent of the disposable plastic grocery bag?

William Burg on "Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward "

2013-05-23T03:44:30Z

Yes, but Mayor Johnson's wife's nonprofit got millions of dollars in donations from Wal-Mart, and they have to return the favor somehow.

William Burg on "Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward "

2013-05-23T03:43:57Z

This ordinance does not prevent grocery stores from opening in downtown Sacramento. It's a citywide ordinance specific to big-box superstores, not grocery stores or smaller businesses--or even fairly large ones, like non-superstore Target big-box stores.

William Burg on "Proposal to make it easier for big-box megastores to open in Sacramento takes a step forward "

2013-05-23T03:43:03Z

In what part of Downtown Sacramento are there no retail stores within a 5-10 minute walk?

William Burg on "Sacramento Old City Association forum on McKinley Village development"

2013-05-16T19:37:58Z

Event details: SOCA Presents the Sacramento Preservation Roundtable Saturday June 8, 2013 9:00 AM Midtown Village Cafe, 1827 I Street, Sacramento This event is free and open to the public. Full agenda will be posted closer to the event date.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-14T15:23:36Z

Considering the tone of the comments, maybe he meant "lucha libre"

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-13T21:43:44Z

"Keep Midtown Janky" started plenty of its own stir--that meme was spread by people who loved the neighborhood for what it *is*, in contrast to those who seemed to appreciate Sacramento only for "what it could be"--if it weren't for the buildings, the trees, the people and the heat. In some ways, it was an ironic statement taken entirely the wrong way by the irony-deficient--kind of like writing a love letter to Sacramento entitled "I Hate Sacramento."

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-13T21:20:34Z

So far as I can tell, the "$1 to fix up a house" program was local, not federal--the federal program was the one that demolished most of downtown Sacramento, but they ran out of funds before they demolished everything. By then, there was a reaction against destroying everything, and new city rules regarding old buildings, including incentives to take over dilapidated properties. It may have been modeled on programs in other cities. Not much chance of that program happening today--property values are too high!

William Burg on "Midtown streets getting lit up "

2013-05-13T04:54:36Z

Dial 311 and report it!

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-12T16:24:29Z

My hat's off to you, RV! I don't think Thomas' intent is to downplay the suburbs, but rather to elevate the city as a whole--it's not a question of the suburbs vs. the central city. If the city grows in positive ways, the suburbs benefit as much as downtown. The more we share that appreciation, rather than turning it into a "downtown vs. suburbs" shoving match, the more positive the image of the city as a whole.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-12T14:44:17Z

Welcome to my playground, Thomas. Let's build a fort!

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-12T14:43:29Z

I have my own theories about the origins of the "small-town mentality" thing--it comes from the old-school Sacramento gentry who wanted to pretend that Sacramento wasn't a racially diverse industrial city, and went to great lengths to hide the evidence.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-12T14:41:27Z

Midtown zombies are the best zombies.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-12T14:40:41Z

I don't know the whole details, but yes, about 30-40 years ago there was a short-lived program that sold people houses for $1 if they fixed them up--that came about largely because of people who were moving downtown and buying houses with credit cards, fixing them up at a time when the city planned to demolish the entire "grid" for office complexes. Apparently, you were considered kind of cracked if you wanted to live in what they called the "Old City" then.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-11T19:42:54Z

Technically speaking, the Grid existed for 60 years without the rest of the city around it...Y Street and 31st Street were the original city limits, and even then we had more people living in those limits than we do now. Admittedly, we didn't share the grid with three elevated freeways! We see your point, Tony, and yes, part of the city's overall appeal is our interconnected nature, but another part is the strong sense of neighborhood identity. Curtis Park and Land Park kind of have their own vibe, East Sacramento does, Oak Park does, the Pocket, West Sacramento, North Sac etecera--but the "Grid" has not just one vibe but several, even though we aren't that much denser in population. So it's easy to get the sense that you don't really NEED to leave the grid for anything. Once you do, of course, it's fun to remember the neat things outside our lovely little box--and visit them on occasion. And part of the fun of central city living is showing off the latest cool place to your friend who lives in the far-off reaches of, oh, two miles away.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-11T18:02:52Z

The issue isn't so much maximum parking distance but the effects of residential neighborhoods being used as ersatz business parking lots--it's not just about parking distance, but about the repercussions of business visitors in a residential neighborhood. Big cities tend to have very strict rules about parking in those circumstances--residential neighborhoods near popular club districts are often resident-only at night (meaning, if you don't have a parking permit or visitor pass, you CANNOT park there at night) and those visiting to go to clubs are encouraged to use commercial lots or take public transit (which, in those big cities, runs until 2 AM or later.) Now, this means that residences on the same blocks as the club districts still have to deal with late-night parking problems, but it takes pressure off the residential neighborhoods, and even gives the residents on those streets a nearby resident-parking option. Most downtown/midtown residences do not have parking spaces, which means street parking is the only option--or not owning a car. But even with a significant number of car-free households, whole neighborhoods can get parked up just with residents leaving their cars at home! Incidentally, if you have a residential parking permit, it is ONLY usable within 3 blocks of your residence.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-11T01:52:48Z

Last time I checked, loving something meant that it was worth fighting for. Senseless crimes like these happen--but that doesn't mean they should be ignored, or tolerated.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-11T00:07:13Z

The GenCon zombie incident in 2000 was gamers at a con making fun of the Vampire: the Masquerade players by pretending they were playing a zombie-themed LARP inside the convention building, not an organized march. The 2001 Zombie Parade, held here in Sacramento, was the first zombie walk (in the form of an outdoor march) in the nation.

William Burg on "I hate Sacramento"

2013-05-10T23:03:05Z

I hate to break it to you Thomas, but they were right about the zombies...among its other claims to fame, Sacramento is the originator of the "Zombie Walk," which opens the Trash Film Orgy at the Crest Theatre every July!

William Burg on "Midtown neighborhood reacts to release of McKinley Village project plans "

2013-05-08T15:26:49Z

Even the wealthy are subject to the laws of nature. A large chunk of our city has a federal building moratorium because a developer assumed that things like flood risk could be legislated around.

William Burg on "Lost art of Mora – 'Sojourner' sculpture vandalized"

2013-05-08T15:19:41Z

That's sad news--one thing that always struck me about the choice of sculptures along the path between 13th and 14th around the Convention Center is that they reflect Sacramento's cultural diversity. A bronze Buddha, the European Poseidon statue, another by a member of the Royal Chicano Air Force, and "Sojourner" at the end--there are one or two more that I can't remember, but they made a nice assemblage when walking in that transition space from the end of the pedestrian mall into Midtown. Sad that we're considering removing public art from a neighborhood because of efforts by the business community to add more of what they describe as "culture" to downtown (which seems to be strictly defined as "bars.") Perhaps if more of those vacant upper floors of office buildings were converted to residential, more people could live downtown. Residents of a neighborhood keep an eye on the street, discouraging vandalism and this sort of bad behavior.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where's the Teeth – as it happened"

2013-05-03T00:23:45Z

Sorry I missed it--I was in Anaheim, a region once famed for its enormous citrus industry. I'm writing this from Los Angeles, a city once best-known for its cattle ranches, and until 1950 the producer of more agricultural products than any other county in California--and, as such, former holder of the "Farm to Fork" title. Over time their orchards and grazing land were turned into suburbs. I haven't seen many farms, but they still have forks...how far do they reach?

William Burg on "Precedent, what precedent? The Kings are staying"

2013-05-02T00:04:34Z

We haven't "won" anything yet--the Kings have not been sold, and the money has not yet been borrowed..

William Burg on "Precedent, what precedent? The Kings are staying"

2013-05-01T04:16:17Z

I can live without those...but, because parking revenue almost certainly won't be enough, say "goodbye" to things like pools, parks and libraries once the cost of this project starts banging up against the general fund. It will be a real boon for private parking lots--but none of that revenue will go toward paying off the arena debt.

William Burg on "Should Sacramento loosen restrictions on big-box stores? [Poll] "

2013-04-26T19:45:05Z

The "old days," hmpfh. Those of us living in Midtown, as well as a lot of Sacramento's older neighborhoods, can still ride our bikes or walk to a little store on the corner, or even a locally owned supermarket (or a chain supermarket, if we want to, union or non-union), to pick up a couple things and head home. For a lot of people, the small extra expense of visiting a convenience store is an acceptable tradeoff because our time is worth money--saddling up the car, battling traffic and finding a parking space takes time, and uses gasoline, which is not free. If all I need is a quart of milk, why bother? This applies to singles, married couples, and also the families with kids who live in Midtown, like my neighbors, who bring their kids to the store on the back of one bike with extra seats, and carry the groceries in the front basket of a cargo trike (which can easily handle 100 or so pounds.) It saves time, saves gas and saves money--and it's also pleasant exercise. I like Costco too, but usually I only go there for book signings, as it's just too inconvenient to go there for groceries. The owner of Costco supports raising minimum wage to $11.50 an hour (that's the starting wage for Costco employees) and, as mentioned above, has both union and non-union stores.

William Burg on "Should Sacramento loosen restrictions on big-box stores? [Poll] "

2013-04-26T19:37:02Z

I catch the aroma of fertilizer from Cogmeyer's post. Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op's employees are unionized (Teamsters 150) and some Costco stores are union while others are not--although, as the Bee article mentions, this regulation doesn't apply to membership stores like Costco at all. The most popular market in the central city is the unionized Safeway, so I'd question the idea that consumers are somehow consciously choosing non-union grocers. And if these markets are becoming more popular in Sacramento, it seems like this ordinance doesn't hurt them at all, but even non-union grocery stores might have a problem with the introduction of more "category killer" big-box stores. Although, on the other other hand, there are already several Wal-Marts, Targets and other big-box stores already in Sacramento--so anyone suggesting that these rules make it impossible for big box stores to open here is clearly lying.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-26T03:29:53Z

Roads built in those areas don't have to follow state and federal laws regarding environmental review? That's news to me.

William Burg on "City residents are missing out on food trucks"

2013-04-26T03:26:17Z

I suppose I'd lay the blame at the feet of the restaurant interests writing the checks, rather than the government workers following the instructions of the council to write ordinances to meet the needs of restaurant owners, whose strategy to appear innovative is to put city-code restrictions on any idea more innovative than ones they thought of 30 years ago.

William Burg on "Voters want to vote (for a downtown arena)"

2013-04-26T02:33:50Z

KJ didn't even whisper the word "arena" during the campaign, because he knew it would galvanize opposition to his re-election, and the elections of his supporters on the council. But shortly after the second term began,, the annual "last ever chance to build a new arena" dance began.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-25T05:20:40Z

McKinley Village isn't infill, it is greenfield development. It was still farmland a decade ago. If you're saying that the Petrovich development in the old WP Shops site isn't going to happen, that's news to me--it's still happening. I'm not sure why the go-ahead for a river crossing study counts as obstruction either, and the Grocery Outlet wasn't infill, it was a new tenant for an existing market. The alley house you mention was built, so I don't see how that counts either. Yes, developers have to deal with the concerns of neighbors when building in existing neighborhoods. Some take the time to address neighborhood concerns before they get too far into the construction cycle, and they're the ones neighbors tend to support. Other developers don't, but most of the time their projects get built too, maybe sometimes a little later or in slightly modified form. But seldom does a development get stopped just because neighbors don't like it, if ever--sometimes projects get scrapped for other reasons, or because the city doesn't like it, or the developer goes broke.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-25T05:14:30Z

I guess I'm not seeing state government grow lately, so I'm not sure where you're projecting much more state employment in the near future. And as to where those people live, some will want homes with yards, but if the figures I've seen are to be believed, about a third like the suburbs, about a third like a more urban form, and the other third are pretty much okay with either one as long as they can get a place to live. The building industry, on the other hand, only wants to build new greenfield developments because rezoning farmland into housing and commercial magically makes them more money, and government likes it too because their tax rate goes up. I can't say I am too teared up about San Francisco Bay not being totally filled into a couple of narrow channels, where it was headed in the 1960s, or the scenic hills of Marin and the greater Bay Area actually remaining scenic instead of being paved over with suburbs. Local municipalities decided that things like the beautiful San Francisco Bay and the scenic world around it were a higher priority than suburban tracts--and, while they still have plenty of suburban tracts, freeways and shopping centers, they also focused on a better mass transit system to limit the need for more freeways, and a somewhat higher population density in areas that were developed in order to limit the need for more horizontal expansion. And my question is, if Sacramento has decided that farmland is important enough to base a marketing campaign around, is the continued existence of that farmland important enough to take the same sort of measures to protect--even if it means folks in, say, Land Park or Granite Bay might have to get used to higher residential densities, or paying for a transit system that works for a greater proportion of the population?

William Burg on "City residents are missing out on food trucks"

2013-04-25T00:24:49Z

Not familiar with those, but there were some pre-craze food trucks that may have been grandfathered in--or county property gets the same pass as state property.

William Burg on "City residents are missing out on food trucks"

2013-04-24T19:53:20Z

Food trucks can park on state property without time limit--something that doesn't get mentioned much, but state offices have encouraged it to give more lunchtime options around the O Street mall.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-24T19:38:17Z

And, while you're at it, Curmudgeon, can you tell us how state government generates suburban growth? And, finally, are you claiming that Napa doesn't have suburbs all over its hillsides solely because of market forces--nobody wants to live there, real estate developers aren't interested in putting suburbs there?

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-24T19:36:58Z

Curmudgeon: Can you please provide some examples of infill developers who were stymied and stifled by people who profess to be in favor of more infill development?

William Burg on "City residents are missing out on food trucks"

2013-04-24T19:35:36Z

How do other cities deal with food trucks? As I recall, Davis and Elk Grove's time limit on food trucks is even more strict--10 minute stops, not even half an hour.

William Burg on "City residents are missing out on food trucks"

2013-04-24T19:34:53Z

"Food deserts" don't need prepared-food trucks, they need grocery stores and access to fresh foods. The folks in the food deserts can't afford $10 for a gourmet food truck lunch.

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-24T01:03:47Z

Napa's a great little place--a tenth our size. When real estate developers propose turning Napa vineyards into new suburbs, how does the community respond?

William Burg on "Farm to Fork: Where’s the Teeth?"

2013-04-23T14:44:46Z

Sacramento was never a farm town--but we built our suburbs on farms. The question we must ask ourselves is, if we value the close proximity from our city's "forks" to nearby farms, should we continue building new suburbs on top of that valuable farmland?

William Burg on "From dreaming to doing – $125,000 award for next big business plan "

2013-04-18T19:55:44Z

Considering that some landlords are contemplating tripling their rent if an arena goes in, I imagine what they're "envisioning" has more to do with corporate chains than local business. But apparently even the new owners of Downtown Plaza have other ideas about what to do with their mall, as seen in today's Bee story. Hm. Bee website is down...

William Burg on "Live music, fashion show, art, tattoo and body piercing demos – Fly Fest aims to excite"

2013-04-12T04:06:51Z

A "teardrop" tattoo normally has prison connotations, so what you're really saying is that you don't know any ex-cons in executive leadership or management positions. It's actually pretty darn likely that many of the people in executive/leadership positions you know have tattoos or piercings somewhere under their business attire that they simply choose not to show you, because some people are unnecessarily judgmental about an art form they enjoy. Odds are this is a prejudice that we're just going to have to wait a generation or so to die out. Most of us from the "Generation X" and younger generations (younger than mid-40s) grew up with tattoos as a fact of life and a rite of passage for many people our age. Besides, the post-Millenial generation will no doubt come up with behaviors and modes of expression that will make tattoos and body piercing look quaint and old-fashioned.

William Burg on "How local parks have improved"

2013-04-11T03:32:55Z

Goethe in particular was a strong advocate of eugenics, but it was a popular theory in the early 20th century among many people, including folks like activist Margaret Sanger. California actually pioneered eugenics laws--the eugenics laws of the Third Reich were inspired by California's laws, some of which remained in place until the 1960s. Goethe also had a lovely home designed by architect Julia Morgan near 39th and T Street, now commonly referred to as the "Julia Morgan house" for much the same reason that Goethe Park, and the Goethe Arboretum (now University Arboretum) on the Sacramento State campus, had their names changed. The "John Sutter" who built Sutter's Fort and turned the Nisenan into his workforce was not the person who named Plaza Park. Sacramento's street design was the result of the actions of Sutter's son, John Sutter Jr., who arrived in Sacramento in 1848, after the gold discovery and the first wave of the Gold Rush had started. Despite the fact that Sutter Jr. was only 22 years old, didn't speak English and had only been in California 2 months, Sutter Sr. ran off to his "Hock Farm" near the Feather River (to pan for gold and/or drink a lot) and left Junior to settle his many, many debts. At the urging of merchant Sam Brannan, Sutter Jr. paid Captain William H. Warner, Lt. Willam Tecumseh Sherman and Lt. Edward Ord to survey a street plan and subdivide the property into lots. Brannan and sales agent Peter Burnett (later California's first elected governor) sold the lots so Junior could pay off Sutter Senior's creditors. The result was the central city "grid" we still use today, to what were then the city limits, 31st Street and Y Street (today, Alhambra Boulevard and Broadway.) Not long after the lots were sold off, Sutter Jr. left Sacramento City, the city he inadvertently helped to found, and spent much of his life in Mexico. Sutter Sr. was furious at having lost his empire, but there wasn't much he could do about it, so he left Sacramento a few years later. Neither Sutter gave Plaza Park its name. It was first known as the Public Square in 1849. When Sacramento first became California's state capital city in 1854, it was proposed as the site for a new capitol building, but the county courthouse at 7th and I was used instead. The name "City Plaza" was used until at least the late 1940s, and the name Plaza Park came after that. I don't think Sutter Jr. had anything to do with the naming of Sacramento's other parks, but I don't know the whole story of when each was named (Roosevelt Park wasn't named until much later--Teddy Roosevelt wasn't born until 1858!) And Sutter Sr. had nothing to do with it the park names at all--except for Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, obviously.

William Burg on "Two Rivers rides wave of cider popularity – seeking a spot on the grid "

2013-04-10T05:41:05Z

The issues would start with finding a vacant space in that area...it's pretty much the hottest retail market in the city right now, there are darn few street-level vacancies in that neighborhood unless he takes over the old Capitol Dawg location at 20th & Capitol. But if he isn't manufacturing cider in that location, no need for a conditional use permit--just the state-mandated ABC permit, which is just as required across the river as it is here.

William Burg on "Two Rivers rides wave of cider popularity – seeking a spot on the grid "

2013-04-10T05:37:49Z

I'm pretty sure there are already a lot of people in the neighborhood around 20th and J/K who are there to drink alcoholic beverages. How would adding another one make the area more diverse?

William Burg on "Two Rivers rides wave of cider popularity – seeking a spot on the grid "

2013-04-09T07:26:52Z

Is this supposed to be two different facilities, a production facility in an industrial area and a tasting room on K Street? The only industrial-zoned part of the central city is on the far north end of Mansion Flats along C Street--there aren't any industrial-zoned lots around 20th and J/K. Is the $13,000 mentioned for the state-regulated ABC permit? The city of Sacramento doesn't issue alcohol permits.

William Burg on "Midtown streets getting lit up "

2013-04-06T06:52:21Z

In the 50s, twice as many people lived in the central city as there are today. Being "near" the country is not the same as being in the country--and most (pretty much all) American cities had a lot more "country" and a lot fewer suburbs nearby. Heck, in 1950 the "farm to fork" capital of California was Los Angeles County--they produced the most agricultural output of any county in the state! Then they paved most of it over. We had gangsters, drug addicts, perverts and thieves back then too, and the violent crime rate in the 60s was higher than it is today. And there were streetlights in a lot of Midtown neighborhoods before the 1950s--many of which were ripped out later because the city didn't want to pay for the upkeep in neighborhoods they considered disposable. Violent crime was actually worse in the sixties and seventies than it is now.

William Burg on "Midtown streets getting lit up "

2013-04-05T19:33:27Z

The last time that midtown Sacramento was "the country" was about 1850.

William Burg on "Midtown streets getting lit up "

2013-04-05T03:24:11Z

A small solar panel does not generate enough power to run a streetlight--keep in mind that you also need a fairly sizable battery and power regulator for that to work. $15 a month for a SMUD light is pretty reasonable if it makes the corner less attractive to predators and others who prefer to work under the cover of darkness.

William Burg on "Insight Coffee Roasters to add second location"

2013-04-04T01:05:26Z

Not if there are more people in the neighborhood to be customers--and between this building and the two going up a block north, the neighborhood will have a couple hudred more people living nearby. And since Java City (3 blocks away) closed last year there is room for another quality coffee shop in their place. We'll see if Starbuck's can handle the competition!

William Burg on "Insight Coffee Roasters to add second location"

2013-04-03T19:55:36Z

There are only 2000 for-sale units in the central city--including both single-family homes and condos. There are 18,000 or so rental units. We're starting to see more infill construction, both for-sale and rental, but it will take a long time before we start to reach parity with pre-redevelopment era population.

William Burg on "Tapigami joins emerging art scene at Downtown Plaza"

2013-04-03T19:52:27Z

back in the 1990s they called it "Phantom Galleries" on Del Paso Boulevard, temporary installations of art and gallery spaces while awaiting full-time tenants that mostly never arrived. I assume this temporary use by Tapigami is intended as a placeholder until the demo for the arena starts. The 700 block of K Street does have artwork in its windows already--stop by there sometime and look around. The 1000 block of K gets occasional art installations (authorized or not) that spruce up a block mostly being squatted upon by speculator/developers. Public art is nice, but its best use is as decoration for an active, utilized space, not a disguise for an inactive, underutilized space or one awaiting the wrecking ball--the assumption becomes that arts and creative space are, at best, a temporary substitute for economic activity, rather than a viable economic activity in itself.

William Burg on "Insight Coffee Roasters to add second location"

2013-04-03T02:00:45Z

Kudos to Insight for opening up directly across the street from a Starbuck's! And kudos to D&S for a project that will add another couple dozen housing units to downtown Sacramento's supply (50 down, 10,000 or so to go!) Any hint as to other retailers planned for 16 Powerhouse?

William Burg on "Man pulled from downtown high-rise building declared dead"

2013-04-01T16:38:27Z

"not" /= "naught"

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T17:31:01Z

Actually, events like the All-Star Weekend often don't bring much net coin into the city--either because people who might have come downtown to spend money don't go to avoid the NBA crowds, or because the expenses of hosting the event cancel out any revenue to the city. The difference between "net profit" and "gross profit" is important here. Gross profit minus expenses equals net profit. If expenses are greater than gross profit, that means you lose money. http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/NBA-All-Star-Game-Falls-Short-of-Predictions-95467734.html

William Burg on "Shots fired into Midtown's Buckhorn Grill Friday morning "

2013-03-30T16:28:06Z

Apparently there were MORE shots fired into Buckhorn on Friday night/Saturday morning, according to CHP. Dissatisfied customer? Disgruntled ex-employee? Target practice?

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:41:07Z

I saw you palm that card, Sactownmax. $32 million gross revenue is not the same as net revenue. Currently, the city generates $9 million a year in net profit from their parking authority--under the arena plan, they have to generate $20 million or more just to maintain that $9 million figure. A fiscally sound arena plan could capture more revenue without jeopardizing the general fund. That's what I'm asking for,. because the current plan doesn't measure up. Maybe the next one will--it won't be long, as downtown Sacramento is already improving and there are plenty of folks who want to take advantage of it.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:36:17Z

We've heard plenty of vague promises about billions in investment with every big developer scheme in the past few decades--the Railyards (including the Roma, Millenia and Thomas Enterprises plans) for example. But all I hear are vague promises--no concrete dollar signs, nothing with a fiscal commitment attached to it. And who can blame them--why buy the loaf when they can get taxpayer-subsidized slices?

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:34:10Z

No, LMW has it right--a streetcar is not the same thing as light rail. The vehicles are smaller and lighter, operate at higher frequency and lower speeds, and require less infrastructure (and are less expensive.) The plans proposed in 2011 would use modern streetcars, not historic streetcars--they have low floors for easy boarding, bike and ADA access without station ramps, plus modern conveniences like air conditioning. Portland has both a light rail system (MAX) and a streetcar system, they are not the same system. And their streetcar line attracted $3.5 billion in private investment within a decade. It happened because they coordinated new city growth to happen in proximity to transit lines. Light rail doesn't work the same way because it is based around a park-and-ride model, and because the Sacramento region made no effort to prioritize new development areas around light rail stops. Should they have? Yes. But that's a correctable mistake, if we can get the Board of Supervisors and City Council to stop granting permits for greenfield development on sites nowhere near transit service. As we have discussed elsewhere, a central city resident can kind of use light rail as an ersatz "streetcar" to get around the neighborhood, but an actual streetcar would function more efficiently, and if coupled with development incentives, we'd see some of the growth Portland and other cities have already seen.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:27:25Z

I had a wonderful train set when I was a kid (thanks, Dad!) Does anyone wonder if the folks running this city see Sacramento as their own fantasy basketball league?

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:25:21Z

Phoenix has light rail--a bit newer than ours, but it's an LRV system rather than a streetcar system. They're the twelfth-busiest in the country--right behind ours.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:24:31Z

I'm using Land Park as the example because you know the neighborhood, but the same thing applies to all the neighborhoods you mentioned--the end of their streetcar lines were the turning point when all those neighborhoods started falling on hard times. Which suggests that maybe what they need isn't "redevelopment" but reconnection to our urban core.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-30T00:23:07Z

Despite what some folks seem to think, "mixed use" means more than just "bars." A neighborhood needs many types of businesses--retail, professional, restaurants, and sure, an occasional bar. Although some of those entertainment functions will hopefully be accessible to those under 21! If there are many types of businesses (along with residences) in a mixed-use neighborhood, entertainment uses can fit comfortably into the mix without sacrificing density. And it isn't necessary to turn every entertainment venue into a Cold War bunker to mitigate sound; the city of Austin has a fund specifically intended to provide soundproofing at its many live music venues.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:51:27Z

All of those streets were once served by streetcar lines, including your beloved Land Park (except for Meadowview, which was still farmland when the streetcars stopped.) American cities are discovering that strengthening its neighborhoods starts at the core, not via a spectacle that suburban residents drive to visit, but by turning our downtowns back into vital mixed-use neighborhoods, and rebuilding the transit connections that once drew our city together. By characterizing the proposed streetcar line as "between old sac and downtown" you miss the entire point of a streetcar's function. Running from West Sacramento to Midtown via Old Sacramento and Downtown, a streetcar line connects residents in adjacent urban neighborhoods to amenities, workplaces and commercial areas--even though those amenities, workplaces and commercial areas are also interspersed with residents. By "making our urban highways pedestrian and bike safe" I assume you're talking about Sacramento's business streets, not adding bike lanes and sidewalks to I-5 and Highway 50. The way to make those corridors better for pedestrians and bikes is by repeating the pattern that built Sacramento's best commercial streets--with streetcar lines. Land Park is a terrific example. Your neighborhood's historic streetcar line ended at what is now Temple B'nai Israel but was then the Riverside Baths, later known as the Land Park Plunge, a civic amenity at the end of a streetcar line that was later joined by William Land Park. Along Riverside a "streetcar suburb" neighborhood emerged, with retail uses dotting the main street interspersed with retail. At Y Street (later Broadway) was the old city cemetery, itself a streetcar destination since the 1870s, and our city's ballpark--not a "downtown" location but a facility built just outside the city limits. The streetcar continued up Tenth Street all the way downtown--connecting the suburb of Homeland (later Land Park) to downtown and the rest of the city. Streetcar-suburb business districts depend on street-fronting retail and mixed use, instead of street-facing parking lots, curb cuts, and high levels of automobile traffic. A "starter line" streetcar like this is designed for expansion. Running branch lines is much simpler once the starter line is established, but the most logical location for that starter line is the heart of downtown, connected to the most adjacent neighborhoods. From there, we can start connecting it outward to neighborhoods insufficiently served by rail transit, like Land Park, and coordinate it with other forms of transit like light rail, bus lines and Amtrak. That way, residents of Land Park will be able to ride a streetcar downtown or to go to a game, the way they used to. But if our arena plan is based solely on parking, there is no reason for our city to pursue alternatives to the automobile--it might threaten the arena's primary funding source! In fact, if you check the 2011 proposed streetcar plan, one of its expansion lines is planned for 3rd Street to serve Northwest Land Park, and then potentially back over the American river via a Broadway bridge, which will allow West Sacramento residents in the Southport area convenient transit access to Sacramento's downtown core--and a future arena.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:37:37Z

...except they keep getting short-circuited by the endless arena circus, always the last one we'll ever get until the next one comes around the bend.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:37:15Z

That's because you apparently can't imagine people living downtown. That's pretty short-sighted, in my opinion.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:35:48Z

I'm always impressed by your ability to come up with creative lies about what you want to believe I think, generally things that have no relation whatsoever with what I do or say. But making claims about my tastes in coffee is beyond the pale--my advice is, switch to decaf.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:34:25Z

"This is our last chance for an arena!" is what we heard in 2006 with Measure Q & R. It's what we heard in 2010 with the "Convergence" plan. It's what we heard last year with the Railyards Arena plan, and it's what we'll hear after this plan implodes too. There is a whole class of professional liars and highly-paid sycophants who seem to do nothing but tell Sacramentans how horrible, backwards and pathetic we are for not signing on to whatever dreadful idea they are being paid to shill. It's always our last chance to propel ourselves instantly from the dreary doldrums into world-class superstardom. That's what Arco Arena was supposed to do in the first place! How many times do we have to hear the same lie before they stop repeating it?

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T19:31:48Z

Yes, yes, we know that...it gets mentioned very, very, very frequently. It's also beside the point.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T15:29:05Z

The Central City has done plenty of "visioning." We've been non-stop "visioning" for decades right now, making up plans for Railyards neighborhoods, Docks neighborhoods, Central City design guidelines, JLK Corridor design charrettes, skyscraper proposals that get approved but never built and leave usable buildings vacant for decades, General Plan planning sessions and update sessions, Historic District infill design guidelines, streetcar lines (in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011) and plans to plans to make plans that maybe get posted on a website and forgotten about, but haven't DONE much because LOOK SHINY ARENA! "Visioning" we have plenty of. Maybe too much. We don't spend much time looking at what's there and what we could do with it, and too much time imagining what we could put there if money, time and reality weren't an obstacle.

William Burg on "Northwest Land Park Demonstrates Home of the Future "

2013-03-29T15:20:18Z

The "greenest" building is one that is already built--all of those systems can also be adapted into existing buildings. And half the contents of our landfills is construction waste--and the wreckage of old buildings we disposed of like used Starbuck's cups.

William Burg on "The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor"

2013-03-29T15:18:44Z

The 1000 block of K Street, for all practical purposes, is a multi-venue club like America Live, but remember that America Live flopped horribly. Pre-programmed "entertainment districts" generally don't work because they are still based on the single-use mindset that doesn't really work downtown. A functioning mixed-use neighborhood has entertainment venues within its boundaries mixed in with other uses, so the neighborhood is useful 24 hours a day--not an 8-hour shift and 16 hours when it's underutilized. Theme parks are swell, but they take up an awful lot of space--the best sites might be turning Cal Expo from an occasional theme park into a full-time one, or it's a nice potential use for the Natomas site if we can get the levees fixed enough to remove the flood moratorium. In either case, theme parks are something that the private sector is better suited to fund and build than the government.

William Burg on "Opinion: What else could $250M buy us?"

2013-03-29T06:37:33Z

Here's my response, by the way.... http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/81125/The_250_Million_Challenge_Downtown_Streetcar_Corridor

The $250 Million Challenge: Downtown Streetcar Corridor

2013-03-29T06:36:54Z

Yesterday, Sacramento Press contributor Tony Sheppard challenged fellow readers and contributors to share what they would do with a theoretical $250 million, in a way that might bring a greater return than a basketball arena. I started writing a comment but, as often happens, it ended up being an article in itself. So here it is.

Step 1: Build the Downtown/Riverfront Streetcar: $130 Million.

Streetcars are often called "development-oriented transit" because they promote growth of transit-oriented neighborhoods along their right-of-way. Portland is the canonical example of a new city streetcar line spurring growth in the "Pearl" District, a mostly vacant industrial district until installation of a streetcar line, and today Portland's most densely populated neighborhood. Their investment of $89 million prompted $2.5 billion in private development. Tampa, Florida's TECO line has spurred $600 million in additional public projects and $700 million in private investment.

The cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento cooperated on a draft streetcar plan in 2008, and revised that draft plan in 2011, approving a route from West Sacramento's city hall over the Tower Bridge, north to the Sacramento Valley Station and the edge of the Railyards, back down K Street through the heart of Downtown, and ending up at 19th and K Street in Midtown Sacramento. The project had an estimated cost of $125-135 million. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two cities was updated at the most recent Sacramento City Council meeting, but was kind of overshadowed by other items on the agenda. One of the funding mechanisms suggested for building a streetcar line, used in Portland and other cities, is a parking management plan. Parking revenue is used to repay construction costs for streetcar lines, and market-priced parking encourages streetcar use and "park-once" parking by providing a way for people to get around a neighborhood without a car. This plan is ready to go, the city of West Sacramento has collected extra sales tax revenue for years in anticipation of a streetcar line, but Sacramento has not backed up our neighbor city with construction funds. By funding the process locally, we don't have to wait for future rounds of federal funding that might never arrive. By partnering with the city of West Sacramento, the city of Sacramento won't have to come up with those funds alone.

Step 2: Add market-rate housing along the right-of-way: $70 Million.

We're not the only city with a troubled downtown mall. Providence, Rhode Island's "Providence Arcade" was in even worse shape than Downtown Plaza--it closed completely in 2008 due to a lack of tenants. Providence Arcade was originally built in 1824 (older than Sutter's Fort) and is a National Historic Landmark, so rather than knock it down for a new project, they decided on a different strategy. With an investment of $7 million, they built 48 small-scale urban lofts (between 300-500 square feet) and 14 small shops, aimed at local businesses instead of conventional mall chains. Before the mall reopened, they had a waiting list of tenants twice as long as the number of available spaces.

Assuming we want to think larger than Providence, but use the idea as a model, a fund of $70 million could be used to create 10 times as many market rate small apartments and shops in existing buildings along the streetcar alignment. So they have a National Historic Landmark? So do we--in Old Sacramento. Most of Old Sac's ground floor shops are full, but about half of the upstairs offices are vacant. Old Sacramento's residential buildings, however, are almost always at capacity, suggesting a greater unmet need for housing. Old Sacramento's restored historic buildings and reconstructed buildings can fill vacant spaces with residents, bringing economic activity to the district and "eyes on the street" A streetcar that lets Old Sacramento residents easily serve basic needs without a car would also address concerns about lack of parking access and permits in their neighborhood.

Outside of Old Sacramento, there are many other downtown buildings along the streetcar alignment that sit vacant, including city-owned properties like the Plaza Building, or privately owned upstairs rooms currently sitting vacant like those above Procida Florist on J and 12th or Hamburger Pattie's on J and 17th, that could be reactivated by adding residents interested in small, efficient places to live in the downtown core. Today's generation of professionals actively seek homes in the heart of downtown, and new high-tech companies choosing headquarters look for facilities in emergent downtowns. They prefer urban neighborhoods where their prospective employees can find the amenities they seek, including housing within walking distance of the office.

In addition to 480 apartments, this project would pay for 140 small stores, with priority for locally owned businesses, to open along the streetcar right-of-way. These stores could go into the ground floor of currently vacant buildings, especially long-vacant and blighted spaces like the ground floor retail space of the Renaissance Tower at 8th and K Street, vacant for over a decade.

Complete the 800 K Project: $30 Million.

Across K Street from the Renaissance Tower is a vacant quarter-block at 8th and K Street, and three buildings at 8th and L Street, including the Bel-Vue Building. A proposal for this block was cut short by the end of redevelopment, but a portion of the $250 million (along with existing funding sources like the $5 million MOPA fund held by the City of Sacramento) could reactivate the dormant 800 Block project, to construct a new mixed-use building at 8th and K and rehabilitate the Bel-Vue. This project included both larger market-rate housing and smaller mid-income housing on the site. A recent article in the Sacramento News & Review mentioned the hesitance of banks to fund urban infill projects that don't meet the standard suburban mold, but a city fund to create these projects could provided needed construction dollars in a way that meets contemporary market needs.

Each new downtown resident spends a much larger proportion of their disposable income within the downtown district than a commuter or suburban visitor--at an approximate ratio of 20:1. 500 downtown residents, spending money in their own neighborhood, have an economic effect equal to 10,000 visiting suburban residents. But, in addition to their own spending power, the presence of an additional 500 or more new downtown residents will draw visitors. The stores opened to serve the daily and occasional needs of downtown residents will also serve the needs of visitors and commuters. Friends and family visiting downtown residents will also become patrons of downtown businesses, and recreation/entertainment venues will draw both local and regional customers. And these downtown residents are far more likely to work downtown, meaning they won't add more cars to our highways at rush hour.

Some may have noticed I haven't mentioned the Downtown Plaza property in this plan. That's because, geographically, it is probably the best spot for a sports arena and entertainment complex of some type. But a more economically healthy downtown, one based on mixed use instead of solely focused on drawing suburban visitors, will be much better suited to draw increased private investment and make a downtown arena economically feasible with a smaller ratio of public investment to private expenditure.

Disclosure: William Burg is President of Sacramento Old City Association.

William Burg on "Opinion: What else could $250M buy us?"

2013-03-29T04:49:30Z

There are plenty of other ideas--but our mayor only knows one trick, the one he was elected to play. So it will be "all arena, all the time" until someone else sits in his chair.

William Burg on "Opinion: What else could $250M buy us?"

2013-03-29T04:48:25Z

Subsidizing downtown housing doesn't "distort the market" any more than building a new highway from Folsom to Elk Grove (facilitating suburban growth in Cordova Hills) or a new highway off-ramp on I-5 at the site of Delta Shores. But building housing downtown brings residents downtown, while the latter two items put residents on remote farmland, and tens of thousands more automobiles on our highways. Smokestack-chasing generally doesn't produce much in the way of net results--the incentives provided pretty much cancel out the economic benefit of the attracted businesses. Which is a better result than basketball-chasing, which tends to have a negative net result.

William Burg on "Arena plan puts the 'king' in parking"

2013-03-27T14:57:38Z

Well, if you want to get technical about it, "free" parking isn't free--the taxpayers pay for it, the city maintains it, but people aren't charged for its use. And the point of this plan is to generate more parking revenue during arena events--if the parking spaces in question don't charge money, that means zero increase in revenue.

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-27T05:24:15Z

I only watched about two minutes of the City Council meeting, but one of those minutes was Councilmember Ashby explaining that the arena would be an economic engine that provides all sorts of revenue for police, schools, parks etcetera. One of you is lying, Mr. Bruno. Any insight as to who?

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-27T04:51:32Z

If you want to irritate a Sacramentan really, really fast, tell him you used to live in Frisco and that makes you an authority on how to make Sacramento less of a boring cow town.

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-27T02:33:51Z

Thanks for explaining why you're better than us, Frank, but I'm still not impressed by your Lexus. Pointing out unjustified stereotypes about Sacramento doesn't score any points either--it's more mythology than history. It's a far nicer city because of the efforts of people living here (both natives and transplants) to create and re-create their own city, not beg for assistance from billionaire saviors.

William Burg on "Arena plan puts the 'king' in parking"

2013-03-27T02:27:42Z

Currently, on-street parking in downtown Sacramento is almost entirely free after 6 PM and all day Sundays. Many portions of downtown have 1-2 hour free parking, while others have meters. There are some limited exceptions: Old Sacramento charges until 8 PM for street parking every day, and the blocks around Wells Fargo Pavilion/Music Circus are either time-limited or metered until 10 PM. The meters run later because of evening events--metering hours downtown around an arena would have to change, for the same reasons.

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-27T01:05:30Z

In other words, it's a prestige purchase, like designer clothing or a luxury car. If you can afford designer clothing or a luxury car, they are fun but unnecessary things that you can show off, and maybe make a positive impression on people who are impressed by fancy material things. But if your job doesn't pay enough to make the payments and your other expenses, buying a Lexus isn't a good idea--if the payments are so high you can't afford rent and food, you won't impress the cool kids on the block sleeping in the back of your Lexus after you get evicted. Intangibles are, by definition, intangible. You can't eat them, you can't use them to keep the lights on in libraries, repair roads, or hire more police. And, last time I checked, the city of Sacramento was already cutting those other amenities--libraries, roads, trash pickup, parks, police, fire and so on. This project is being sold as a way to generate revenue, so judging it as a revenue generator is absolutely a fair comparison. And if it doesn't measure up, it doesn't deserve our support.

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-27T00:26:32Z

Maverick, it isn't the location that is the problem--it is the financing.

William Burg on "Arena plan puts the 'king' in parking"

2013-03-27T00:25:17Z

The two sources I used were posted with the story--the term sheet, and a 2006 parking study. How else do you explain a tripling of revenue with a reduced number of parking spaces? Right now, the revenue that comes from on-street parking after 6 PM is ZERO. The only way to make any more money from evening on-street parking is to extend parking hours to cover the hours of arena events...otherwise the city is giving away half of their parking supply for free. That would mean city lots, only about 5000 spots after we give almost 4000 to Burkle, have to generate five times as much revenue as they do now. And I'd rather jam a fork in my eyeball than run for public office.

William Burg on "Opinion: Let's unite and build an arena for the community"

2013-03-26T19:59:50Z

Councilmember Fong didn't hold a workshop on this issue because I'm sure he was just as in the dark as you on the process until the term sheet was revealed--on a Saturday night, before a city holiday, meaning nobody could even ask questions of city staff until today...and, in what I'm sure is an amazing coincidence, the city website went down yesterday, limiting public access to the term sheet.

William Burg on "Arena plan puts the 'king' in parking"

2013-03-26T19:56:46Z

Cities limit what can be done with private property all the time--it is the basic principle of zoning. Under the new city parking code passed last year, there are no parking requirements for any new property constructed in Sacramento's central business district--and uses like parking lots are identified by the general plan as less-than-optimal uses for downtown land. As to how we'll pay for a new arena in 25 years? I have no idea...that's one of the many things not addressed by this term sheet. Including, just for starters, where is JMA (the main property owner of Downtown Plaza) in all this? Are they giving the land away for free? Are other property owners on the arena footprint (like Macy's) equally amenable? Or are they partners in the deal--and if so, how much money are they demanding, or how much are they adding? We simply don't know, it was left out of the term sheet, and the questions have not even been asked, let alone answered.

Arena plan puts the 'king' in parking

2013-03-26T19:13:51Z

In order to build a downtown arena, Sacramentans will have to give up that which they hold dearest: free parking. The funding plan requires expansion of on-street metering downtown, and will increase parking rates at city lots. The arena’s presence dramatically changes the economics of private parking lots, in ways that threaten the main funding source for the arena.

By releasing the term sheet at the absolute last minute, on a Saturday night, followed by a Monday city holiday and a crashed City of Sacramento website, the opportunity for public review is so limited that it is effectively nonexistent. Three days is simply not enough time for a detailed look at the term sheet, but it was sufficient to find a major flaw in the funding plan.

Arena Construction Funded by Parking Plan

The city’s contribution to the arena plan includes $38 million in private land given to the arena developers, the $5 million in Sheraton MOPA Fund money, and $212.5 million in bonds to be repaid by future parking revenues.

What repays those future parking revenues? The city’s public-owned parking spaces downtown, both city-owned lots and street parking. Today, the city owns 5721 on-street parking spaces between F Street, P Street, Front Street and 17th Street, and 8580 spaces in city-owned lots and parking structures, for a total of 14786 city spaces. Of those 8580 lot/structure spaces, 3700 are inside Downtown Plaza and will be given to the developer. Some will be demolished, others will become a portion of a 1000 space “VIP” parking area inside the arena. 181 of the city-owned spaces are on Lot X, the city block between 3rd, Capitol, 2nd and N Street, and Lot Y, at 2nd and O Street near the Crocker Art Museum, with 85 parking spaces. This leaves 4,614 off-street spaces, or a total of 10,335 city-controlled parking spaces—30% fewer spaces than currently exist.

City Parking Supply Will Shrink—But Profits Expected To Triple?

The revenue generated by the city’s parking spaces (not just downtown, but citywide) creates a $9 million profit to the city. In order for the arena financing plan to work, it must generate enough money to pay off that $220 million debt in 35 years, and replace a portion of the $9 million in lost revenue that currently goes to the General Fund. A $220 million bond with a 35-year term and 5% interest requires payments of about $16 million per year. The “backfill revenue” chart on the Term Sheet assumes $3 million from increased parking revenue and $625,000 from parking revenue during ESC events. Thus, in order for the arena plan to break even, parking profits have to increase from $9 million per year to $20 million per year, with 70% as much downtown parking, effectively a tripling of parking revenue profits while losing one-third of the parking spaces that supply the revenue. The only way to accomplish that goal is to dramatically raise parking rates, and increase metered hours for the on-street parking spaces that represent more than half the downtown parking supply.

Metered Parking Hours Must Extend To Pay Debt

Currently, except in a few high-traffic areas like around Music Circus, street parking in downtown Sacramento is unmetered after 6 PM on weekends. This means that no revenue is generated at night or on weekends. In order to increase revenue and pay for those bonds, Sacramento’s street meters will have to run until midnight or later. Otherwise, arena visitors can park on the street without paying—at least, the first 5721 visitors to arrive downtown, minus spaces occupied by the cars of downtown residents. This practice is common in cities with high demand for parking spaces at night. Of course, visitors could always park farther from the arena, such as in Midtown, and walk downtown, if Midtown parking meters stop charging at 6 PM. If Midtown’s parking spaces get overly clogged at night, they might have to charge for late-night parking too, just to make space for Midtown visitors. And because there are more residents in Midtown than Downtown, most of whom do not have off-street parking, arena visitors will have to find spaces among Midtown residents’ cars and the cars of those visiting Midtown restaurants, clubs and theaters. There are only about 4500 street parking spaces in the Midtown business district, and a 2006 City of Sacramento parking study found that Midtown’s street parking at night is almost as crowded as Downtown’s street parking during the day.

Private Parking Competes with City Parking

Under the proposed arena plan, private parking lots will not have to pay any additional fees. At Thursday’s meeting at City Hall, City Manager John Shirey said that the term sheet will not include a tax on private parking lots. This means that, while an arena will bring much revenue to downtown Sacramento’s private parking lots, none of that revenue will go to pay off the new debt for the arena. Since public parking will become more expensive, private lots that charge less than city lots will draw customers. Because this plan makes parking lots much more profitable, property owners in the central city will have more incentive to convert their downtown properties into parking lots or parking structures, vs. new amenities like housing, retail or offices. Parking lots are a poor generator of city revenue, and a dreadfully poor use of premium downtown land, but if they bring the most immediate profit, parking will become the “highest and best use” for many downtown lots.

The term sheet also gives the new arena operators several downtown Sacramento properties for development, including 8th and K Street, the aforementioned Lot X, Lot Y at 2nd and O Street, and part of the 3700 Downtown Plaza spaces (presumably, about 1000 will not be demolished.) The instant profitability of downtown parking means that, rather than developing these lots, the ESC development team could create an instant, untaxed revenue stream by converting these areas into parking lots.

How Will Nighttime Metered Parking Affect Downtown and Midtown Businesses?

Few subjects in Sacramento are as delicate as the issue of parking. Businesses in downtown and midtown Sacramento generally do not have their own parking lots, and consider free street parking in the evenings essential to draw visitors downtown at night. Past plans to extend metered parking hours or restrict parking in residential areas near business districts inevitably meet enormous resistance from the business community, business associations, and downtown visitors used to parking on the street at night without charge. This would all change with an arena. Yes, there would be many more downtown visitors coming to the arena, but many who may have come to downtown or midtown events might choose to visit other neighborhoods if parking downtown (or midtown) at night means paying $20-30 in a parking lot, or even parking at a meter on the street.

How Can The City Limit Its Economic Risk?

The funding plan depends on people using city lots, rather than private lots, to generate revenue, but does nothing to ensure that those city lots will be used. It gives the developers large plots of downtown land but does nothing to ensure that these lots will not become new parking lots, as much a blight on the urban landscape as a vacant lot. There are three simple modifications of the term sheet that can increase city revenue, create a new funding stream, and help ensure that the lots given to the arena team have a higher and better use than parking.

First: Add an event surcharge to private lots within 1 mile of the arena, and place a moratorium on new parking lots. The arena will create massive new numbers of nighttime visitors and an enormous new income stream for private parking lot owners. In addition to the city’s spaces, there are about 30,000 spaces in privately owned lots and structures. Many sit vacant at night, but this new opportunity for evening business will open their doors. A 5% surcharge, like the surcharge proposed for arena events, means that parking operators that benefit from the arena’s presence will also contribute to its financing.

Second: Add a requirement that the ESC investors do not use properties given by the city for new parking lots. If these investors already plan on uses other than parking, adding the requirement that they not use them for parking is no loss to them. The lots closest to the arena site will become prime real estate for adaptive reuse or new construction, and a simple restriction on the site will help ensure that construction there goes vertical instead of remaining horizontal. The exception to this rule could be the three lots (Downtown Plaza lots, Lots X and Y) that are currently in use as parking structures. Charging the same 5% surcharge to the ESC operators mentioned in my first point will contribute to paying off arena debt—under the current agreement, the arena operators are not obligated to pay any new fees for use of these spaces.

Third: To protect Downtown and Midtown businesses and facilitate parking for their customers, create a citywide validation program for city lots and street spaces. This would work similarly to validation programs at Downtown Plaza: buy something at a Downtown or Midtown store or restaurant, and receive hours of validated parking at city lots. A citywide program will create uniformity and simplify a validation program. This will encourage people to use city lots or street parking, allow visitors to avoid some or all parking charges if they patronize central city businesses, and limit displacement of downtown business patrons by arena visitors.

Sacramento Deserves A Better Plan--And More Time For Public Review.

The proposed arena plan has many improvements over the 2012 plan. The arena has a better, more central location with access to highways, public transit and existing downtown amenities. The private investors are better capitalized, and willing to pay a higher proportion of the arena costs. But this plan’s fatal flaw is its dependence on a shrinking supply of parking, with no means to limit competitors for that parking supply. Parking will become more expensive if this arena is built, and free parking downtown will become a memory—this is an unavoidable consequence of the arena plan’s main funding mechanism. A parking surcharge for private lots, a requirement that ESC investors cannot turn their new properties into new parking lots, and a validation program for central city businesses can create a new funding stream, encourage development of vacant properties into something other than parking lots, and protect existing businesses. This reduces the risk to the city’s general fund and makes better use of city assets being given to the arena developers.

Without these three additions, the arena term sheet violates the city’s fundamental rules of engagement. It jeopardizes the city’s general fund, and does not make the best use of city resources. Tight deadlines and high pressure should not ease public scrutiny and detailed review of the term sheet. If such serious flaws can be found in the term sheet in only three days, what other unidentified and unexamined weaknesses does it contain? Sacramento deserves better than this.

Sources:
2006 DKS Associates’ “Sacramento Central City Parking Master Plan”

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/transportation/parking/central_city_parking/

2013 Sacramento arena term sheet
http://sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?meta_id=396718&view=&showpdf=1

Disclosure: William Burg is a Sacramento resident.

William Burg on "Downtown arena open house - live blog "

2013-03-24T05:39:56Z

Assuming that it happens (still an open question) the arena would take the place of about half of the mall, presumably the eastern half (although I have heard other reports that the Burkle team wants to put it on the western half, where Macy's, the movie theaters, and Holiday Inn are located.) The deal includes several lots on or about K Street (the 800 K and Bel-Vue properties, 4th and J) that are owned by the city that would be transferred to the ownership group for their cash value, about $40 million of the $258 million city portion.

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-23T05:00:11Z

Street lighting costs money (it usually requires a tax assessment of property owners) and typically a majority of property owners in an area proposed for street lighting have to agree to pay an assessment for the lighting to be installed. Absentee landlords don't like spending money. 90% of the central city is rental, so there are a lot of absentee landlords--the voices of the renters in their apartments don't count. Homeowners get outvoted by a wide margin, so except for a few places where some deal was worked out (tradeoffs for Sutter or other developments, CDBG funds for lights on J Street, BIDs or residents willing to pay for individual SMUD poles) much of the central city remains pretty dark.

William Burg on "Midtown BierGarten approved with design tweaks "

2013-03-22T14:33:40Z

The fish is in the toaster!

William Burg on "Midtown BierGarten approved with design tweaks "

2013-03-22T00:24:48Z

The bathrooms are ventilated, and the planning director is asking them to put in aome sort of climate control other than passive ventilation too.

William Burg on "Midtown BierGarten approved with design tweaks "

2013-03-22T00:23:35Z

The owners of certain establishments were highly praised in public comment by an opponent of this project at an earlier meeting.

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-21T14:25:16Z

Sounds like some great ideas--and it's basically what the neighbors are asking for. Midtown Business Association and the Downtown Partnership have addressed some of these issues, but they have a tough time putting pressure on member businesses that resist these measures. Police and ABC are stretched paper-thin, they don't have the resources to do more. Midtown Business Association's "Clean and Safe" subcommittee meets once a month at the MBA offices on J Street--they might want to hear your suggestions! www.mbasac.com is their website with contact info.

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-21T04:57:18Z

Actually, there were more people living in the central city in 1992 than there are now--we have lost about 2000 people in the past 20 years. But we have more visitors, especially at night, than we did 20 years ago. I moved here about the same time you moved out, and while the central city is far from "gentrified" (thank goodness!) it has generally gotten more prosperous. When I moved here there were still meth labs in Midtown, Alkali/Mansion Flat was a lot more no-go, and Southside Park was still pretty dangerous during the day, let alone at night. Downtown had more SRO hotels, and J Street was still a hooker's crawl near what is now a Starbuck's. Homes that were boarded up or run-down back then are fixed up and occupied today. For a long time, things have gotten safer. That's why the wave of violence and robberies that seems to have risen over the past few months is so alarming--those of us who have seen things get better here have no desire to return to the "bad old days."

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-20T19:43:04Z

Up until last year, there was a volunteer group called the Lavender Angels who helped patrol the streets around the club districts, but they appear to have fallen by the wayside. Do you think there is interest in a similar organization taking up where they left off?

William Burg on "Opinion: Neighbors not happy with developer's lack of response on McKinley Village"

2013-03-20T19:15:41Z

The fight over Centrage happened when I was still in college, before I moved to Sacramento, so I'm not all that familiar with it. What exactly did I supposedly want? Curmudgeon: This parcel was located in between the city dump and a busy railroad line in the 1950s. Not until a decade or so later was it also located next to a highway, all of which make it just a little less than desirable for infill. But it was an orchard ten years ago!

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-20T19:12:13Z

Now hold on a second...Jessica, are you claiming that the people concerned about the effects of bars and nightlife downtown are the ones responsible for these attacks? Or that wanting a safe neighborhood is somehow equated with being anti-gay, or violent?

William Burg on "Vigil held for man beaten to death in Midtown"

2013-03-20T19:10:39Z

There are more people in the suburbs suburbs than downtown, Jessica. And bars are a major factor in the problem if they are operated by irresponsible people and the city does little to contain them. They don't have to be a problem--but they have become one, both in the people they attract and the assumption that nobody living downtown has any right to complain.

William Burg on "Gay rights activist: Anti-gay attacks could increase with push for marriage equality "

2013-03-20T15:28:55Z

I don't think these folks live anywhere near downtown--they come here to get into fights.