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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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

"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."

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!

Dial 311 and report it!

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.

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

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.

Midtown zombies are the best zombies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.