Sorry, I don't agree that Downtown Sacramento is such a failure. Sure, K Street Mall and Downtown Plaza lack life, stores, and people - but the rest of The Grid and the surrounding Midtown, East Sac, Curtis Park and Land Park neighborhoods exhibit a lively mixture of varied architecture, retail shops, restaurants, and coffee shops. These areas exhibit streetlife around-the-clock, and have a healthy number of bicyclists and pedestrians as well. Sure, the Central Business Dustrict surrounding Capitol Park is deserted at night and on weekends, but the remainder of the downtown area has a streetlife vibe as good as any other California city, except, perhaps San Francisco and the San Diego gaslamp district. Having been involved in land development for the last 25 years, I find it interesting that the most interesting and lively urban places are where the majority of the development occurred decades ago. Our (limited) redevelopment projects seem much more sucessful at creating interesting, livable spaces than clear-and-build projects. In some ways, Sacramento's slow-motion growth patterns have been more of a blessing than a curse - leading to the non-redevelopment or preservation of midtown. I find it telling that now, recovering from the ashes of the last real estate development boom, that while many of the signature projects planned for the central business core crashed and burned, midtown Sacramento and The Grid have never been more lively. Don't be too quick to dismiss Sacramento when looking for a quality urban living environment.

I am a River Park resident and a Landscape Architect and agree that this fence would not only visually intrude upon the beauty of the American River Parkway, it really will do little to solve the problems identified. Enforcement of existing laws, rather than spending precious resources upon a visual eyesore is the answer here. Homes in River Park are distinguished by not having bars on their windows. Please don't put bars on the American River Parkway.