Hey there Midtowners, Downtowners, Sactowners, and Other Gridsters,

Or should we say "Good Morning Midtown!?"  Yes, it's 4 a.m. again and The Guru can't sleep, won't sleep, needs to count more sheep...feels like Cinderalla after the ball without fear of midnight...on with it.

It was a great night, a celebration of Midtown for the annual Midtown Business Association (MBA) dinner.   We started the evening mingling on top of the L Street Lofts combing the penthouses and balconies with the most spectacular views of our fair, quaint Midtown and some of the best scenes of the entire Central City.   This was an exquisite space to soak up a cranberry vodka with Uptown Studios and 3Fold Communications, appetizers from Culinary Specialists and Mulvaney's B&L, and a bustling, energetic crowd of Midtown devotees. 

The house was packed and the cards were stacked in favor of a gorgeous evening with the feeling of living inside the sanctuary of our urban forrest.   Aimee Conlee, Partner Development Manager of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB), and her committee of party planners, including the dashing Haus of Scott Hassenflu, former publisher of the News & Review, rang in the year of Midtown (which of course bridges from spring equinox) with jazz in the penthouse and DJ on the ground floor.   Every choice was a winner.

It amazes one to ponder that only a few short years ago, gaping holes, empty foundations, and open lots occupied these same blocks.   It is a testament to vision and deft entrepreneurship to steer urban infill and mixed use living to this bright moment that allows Midtown to be a bellwether, even a beacon, not only for the Central City, but also for our region, and anywhere in the United States.   The market is not down in Midtown.  It's exuberant.  While there are economic challenges, Midtown is best perched to more than persevere but actually prosper due to its density.

One wonders whether 20 years ago as a young architect and developer, Mr. Kolokotronis flew over the Central City of Sacramento to take in the sights  from this midpoint of Midtown before deciding this destiny.   Without standing upon the balcony with this bird's eye view, it is impossible to understand the true beauty and simplicity of our home so go take a tour before it's too late.

Projects that abound around us make Midtown the epicenter of Green the Grid.   Mixed use infill is our destiny against the backdrop of overdevelopment and overdependence upon suburbia.   Where else can you walk or bike to over 100 restaurants, 50 shops and boutiques, and myriad pocket parks?

While many of the leaders of this urban experience were able to steal a moment to smile with confidence at the extraordinary feat that Midtown is, this gathering pulsated with a vibrant energy and an appetite to pursue the pinnacle of imagination, some unknown quantity and quality of life laid upon the foundation of this sense of collaboration.  

Staring out across the open balcony, amidst Julia Seebach and Scott Smithline, the founders of midtowngrid.com, Liv Moe and Tim Foster, the editor and publisher of Midtown Monthly, Terrence Johnson of Oak Park Business Association and Stockton Boulevard Partnership, Alden Olmstead of Midtown Monthly, Julie Eshelman of All State Insurance, Doug Scholz of the SCVB, Allison Yee-Garcia of 3Fold Communications, Jim Relles of Relles Florist, Jonathan Marquardt of Haus, Judith Bommer of Amber House, and Councilman and Vice Mayor Steve Cohn, one sees a community gelling.  It takes time.

Truly, what could this group of people not accomplish together if they set a vision and made a decision of where to go from here.   The spirit of Midtown indelibly is marked by entrepreneurialism and optimism.   The Guru is inspired to work with the Board of Directors of the MBA, and in particular the new interim Executive Director, Collette Johnson of Sutter Memorial Medical Center; consultant and past E.D. Connie Miottel of the Miottel Corporation; Shawn Eldridge, past president, mayoral candidate, owner of Capital Painting and Construction, and the fuel of refashioning the soul of this organization; and Jimmy Johnson of Zocalo, to make this so.

Be a part of it.

The Grid Guru