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 installa

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 su

On Monday, March 18, Turn Downtown Around presents a Public Forum, a discussion of how downtown Sacramento reached its current state, what its situation is today, and what can be done by regular citizens to create positive change in our urban core. I was asked to talk about how we got here. If we want to turn downtown around, this implies that, at some point, downtown Sacramento was going in the right direction. How did that Sacramento differ from the one we know today, and how can we recapture some of that spirit? What lessons can we learn from the past--both the mistakes to avoid, and the useful elements that we can use today? [Note: Read the live blog of the forum as it happened here.]

During the late 19th and early 20th century, American cities showed their stuff by holding elaborate fairs. They showcased the host city with specially designed fairgrounds and elaborate exhibits. First popular in the mid-19th century, they reached new heights with the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893. National in scope, these fairs featured exhibits from around the country. Trends in architecture, agriculture, transportation, entertainment, technology and urban planning were set at these fairs, and a successful fair could bring great honor, investment and migration to the host city. In 1904 and 1905, two separate but related fairs were held in St. Louis, Missouri and Portland, Oregon.

Join Sacramento Heritage, Inc. on Saturday, February 9 for a "Dessert Tour." This two-hour stroll through Midtown Sacramento's residential and business district will visit architectural treasures, share stories of the city's past, and include delicious desserts from four of Midtown's most popular purveyors of sweets. Proceeds benefit Sacramento Heritage Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to protecting and maintaining Sacramento's architectural treasures. For fans of historic architecture, the tour will feature a look at Midtown Sacramento's diverse architectural styles, including 19th century Italianate and Queen Anne, early 20th century Craftsman and revival styles, and even Mid-Century

Many who visit downtown Sacramento note that, on evening or weekends, it seems like a ghost town. There is little pedestrian traffic, and most businesses are closed. In some ways, downtown Sacramento became a ghost town when half the central city’s population was forced to leave, and their homes were destroyed. Perhaps the ghosts of 30,000 former residents wander the streets, wondering what happened to their downtown neighborhood? The drop in Sacramento’s downtown population after 1950 is easy to see using census data. The US Census tracks population down to the “Census Tract” level, neighborhood-sized chunks of about 4,000 people. In 1950, the portion of Sacramento now known as “the grid

In the 1970s, a wave of young people, including Sacramento State students and state employees, moved to Sacramento’s central city, drawn by inexpensive rents, beautiful homes and tree-lined streets. Many shared an interest in craftsmanship, sharing techniques to restore older homes and create unique works of art, and used these skills to fix up their own houses or started businesses to help others turn faded homes back into gems. Tim Holt, publisher of Sacramento's Suttertown News weekly newspaper, called them “Sacramento's Urban Pioneers--New People in Old Houses.” They left a legacy of art, craftsmanship, entrepeneurship, neighborhood activism, and restored historic homes. Join us for a

Editor's note: The author of this piece, William Burg, will participate in a Sac Pres live chat on K Street this Wednesday at noon. Plan to watch? Please RSVP on our Goole+ page. You can also catch Burg live and in person at the California State Archives on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as he presents on his book, "Sacramento’s K Street: Where Our City Was Born". Event detials can be found here.  This week’s Sacramento Press scoop about Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s new “The Kay” marketing strategy was met with reactions ranging from grudging acceptance to outright ridicule. The marketing campaign was paid for by DSP, downtown Sacramento’s business association, funded by downtown property owners.

This weekend (October 5, 6, 7) is Norcal Noisefest, Sacramento's annual gathering of experimental musicians, noise artists and musical outsiders from around the country. This Noisefest is the sixteenth held since the festival's founding in 1995, making it one of the longest-running festivals of its kind in North America. Because noise is a profoundly unpopular musical genre, most people are unfamiliar with noise--there have never been any commercially successful noise musicians, although many successful musicians (from the Velvet Underground to Sonic Youth and Radiohead) have experimented with noise. The linked video below is a four-minute summary of what you are likely to see and hear at

On Sunday, September 16, 2012, SOCA will hold its 37th annual Historic Home Tour, featuring seven beautiful homes in the Poverty Ridge neighborhood. This year’s tour includes the McClatchy House (now known as the Ella K. McClatchy Library) designed by Rudolph Herold, the Roan-Didion House (briefly the residence of Sacramento author Joan Didion) designed by Seadler & Hoen, and a new infill residence at Tapestri Square, designed by Craig Hausman, plus four more historic homes. Docents will guide visitors through the interior of each house. Tickets are on sale now via http://socahometour.brownpapertickets.com According to local legend, “Poverty Ridge” got its name during the 1850s when resid

This Saturday night, the 2012 Trash Film Orgy season will close with a showing of Roger Corman's "Rock 'N' Roll High School," the end of a six-week series of the finest trash cinema seen on the screen of the beautiful Crest Theatre. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 11:00 PM! Admission $10 ($1 off for those in awesome costumes), 18+ only. At the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street, Sacramento. "Rock 'N' Roll High School," released in 1979, stars PJ Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard, Mary Woronov, and The Ramones. PJ Soles stars as Riff Randall, biggest Ramones fan at Vince Lombardi High. The soundtrack is a veritable who's who of late 1970s rock, most prominently featuring The Ramones, legendary three-c

On Wednesday, August 15 at 7:00 PM, Time Tested Books (1114 21st Street, Sacramento) hosts a book signing and talk for my new book, "Sacramento's K Street: Where Our City Was Born." From its early existence as a path from the Sacramento River to Sutter's Fort until the present day, K Street was the axis upon which the city of Sacramento turned. From its beginnings as a riverboat dock and nexus for stagecoach lines, K Street grew into the city's main business street. Fortunes were made and lost along K Street in the tumultuous decades of disaster and ambition that followed the Gold Rush. This era ended with the completion of America's first transcontinental railroad, a project started almo

On July 19, the United States Conference of Mayors released a report entitled “Metro Economies Report: Outlook-Gross Metropolitan Product, and Critical Role of Transportation Infrastructure.” From this snooze-worthy title, the Sacramento Bee produced an article titled “New report says Sacramento’s economy was among worst in U.S. last year.” (http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/19/4642197/new-report-says-sacramentos-economy.html ) The Bee article also includes a quote from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, second vice chair of the US Conference of Mayors: "The quality of this nation's workforce and its economic growth is directly tied to the quality of education. We must focus on ensuring our chil

In 1972, the Alhambra Theatre, a 45 year old Moorish Revival movie theater at Alhambra and K Street, designed by architect Leonard Starks and considered one of the city's most treasured landmarks, closed its doors when the building was sold to the Safeway supermarket chain. Over the next year, Sacramentans waged a "Save the Alhambra" campaign to prevent its demolition, uniting local musicians, students, politicians and architects. Despite fundraisers, benefit shows, a public vote and even a "sit-in", the Alhambra was demolished in 1973. The Alhambra became a symbol of Sacramento's potential, envisioned as a community theater or rock music venue but lost to the wrecking ball. The fight led

The Save the Eastern Star fundraiser features live music by Sacramento swing jazz favorites Mumbo Gumbo and the discount jazz stylings of the Freebadge Serenaders. Master of ceremonies Matias Bombal will introduce the performers. Locally-produced "Ruhstaller" beer will be available for those over 21. Tickets are $25 in advance via Brown Paper Tickets, $30 the night of the event--Saturday, April 28 at 7 PM. Sacramento’s Eastern Star Hall was built in 1928 as a meeting hall for the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic women’s organization. It is one of only four buildings constructed for the Eastern Star organization, and the only one still surviving and in active use. The building was list

Sacramento County Historical Society's 2012 awards dinner and fundraiser is themed "A Night at the Zanzibar," featuring dinner by the Dante Club, a talk by historians Keith Burns and Clarence Caesar about the Zanzibar Club, one of the most legendary of Sacramento's long-lost West End jazz nightclubs of the 1940s, and a live performance by the Harley White Jr. Orchestra performing big-band jazz from the era of the Zanzibar. SCHS will also present its annual awards for publication, education and historic preservation. Hear the Harley White Jr. Orchestra here: http://www.reverbnation.com/harleywhitejrorchestra Members of Sacramento County Historical Society and event sponsor the Sacramento

Sacramento Preservation Roundtable – Spring 2012 Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon Place: The Courtyard Building, 1322 “O” Street near the corner of 14th & O Streets Continental Breakfast served * $5 requested donation to cover breakfast The Sacramento Preservation Roundtable is a quarterly gathering of community organizations to share information about historic preservation projects and policies, adaptive reuse and green building, heritage tourism and local history, and other topics of interest within the city of Sacramento. The featured agenda item at this Preservation Roundtable is a forum and debate for City Council candidates in District 4, including the cen

Sacramento County Historical Society Presents Images of America, Mather Field by James Scott and Tom Tolley Tuesday, January 24, 7:00 PM Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building, 5380 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento Join us on January 24th at 7:00 pm, as historians James Scott and Tom Tolley present a history of Mather Field from prehistory to closure and introduce their book: Images of America, Mather Field. Born from America’s need to train aviators for the Great War, Mather Field has sat sentinel to the east of Sacramento for nearly a century. Overnight, the base transformed a lonely domain of cattle and vineyards into an aerie where fledgling “man-birds” were taught to fly and kil

On January 7, 2012, Sacramento city staff held a public meeting about the newest proposal to change the city charter, the “Checks and Balances Act of 2012.” However, this public meeting was not announced to the general public—instead it was directed at a small group of neighborhood leaders. I found out about the meeting via the chair of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, who received an email on December 27: From: Raihane Dalvi Date: December 27, 2011 2:19:11 PM PST To: Raihane Dalvi Subject: Checks and Balances Act of 2012 Dear Neighborhood Leader, I'm writing to request your participation in an important discussion before the city of Sacramento. As you may know, a broad coaliti

As part of the Entertainment and Sports Complex project, the City of Sacramento has posted a "Notice of Preparation" for an Environmental Impact Report, or EIR. The public has until October 31 to provide comments to help city staff determine what factors should be considered in this important document. The Notice of Preparation can be found on the City of Sacramento's website in PDF format: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/planning/environmental-review/eirs/documents/ESCNOPFINAL.pdf Reports like this EIR are written to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which requires that California governments consider the effects of their projects on the state's environ