How To Build The Walkable City
A few weeks ago, the Guru attended the grand opening of the 1801 L Apartments and the movement of the crane across the street on the expected sister condominiums next door to Aioli Bodega Espanola. Many of the apartments were small, but well-appointed and very affordable, allowing for the people who keep the restaurants and retail humming to live near their work. That means that some people may decide to forgo ownership of a car or alternatively just not need street level parking to go to work down the street.
Who knows why good things take so long to come? Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to achieve what should be very reasonable. This project, despite its size, fits well into the idea of the Most Walkable, Liveable City in America. People renting the apartments might live above their work with the coming L Street Wine Bar and the Buckhorn Steakhouse from Winters joining us in fair Midtown. As the Guru has discussed openly with the managing director, Bill Blake, of the B Street Theatre, perhaps the studio apartments would make great spaces for our culture creators, the actors, dancers, singers, musicians, and visual artists. The large open courtyard and shared pool of the L Street Apartments befits the social, economic, and philosophical collaboration of two visionary and committed Sacramento Greeks, developer Sotiri Kolokotronis and architect Ron Vrilakas.
For our part, midtowngrid.com has begun promoting the Midtown and Central City “Walkable Experience” on Capitol Public Radio on both KXJZ and KXPR to spread the word regionally and created an additional series of walkable tools in our maps. First, we have upgraded and updated the half-page “Shop the Grid” map for the Holidays. Secondly, we have added “Eat the Grid” dining maps to the mix. Other ideas will follow in the coming year, but “Eat the Grid” and “Shop the Grid” complement one another well. Look for displays inside participating shops, restaurants, hotels, and welcome kits for the heart of the property management companies of the Central City , including Vintage Properties, 1801 L Apartments, Loftworks, Whisler Land, Nielson, CADA, HPM, and PRG. Speaking of PRG, it launches the Cathedral Building today in Downtown.
As Sacramento evolves, it seems impossible to agree on everything. The Guru will forever miss the scope of the Ron Mandela Community Gardens, named for the late police officer murdered as he tried to break up a domestic dispute. While there is a renaissance of the garden in another more compact form and most of us understand the necessity of Fremont Mews (an earlier Kolokotronis project) to provide more infill housing in our Central City, the Guru wants each of us to reflect on what type of greenspace Midtown requires to flourish.
Will our future gardens grow on our roofs as in New York? Is there a path from the river to Alhambra Boulevard that bicyclists and avid walkers could explore daily like the American River Trail? Can we close certain streets like 18th Street between Capitol and L Street to blossom miniature urban parks or sustain a covered gourmet farmer’s market as in Davis and Santa Monica?
The Guru of course presents ideas and options. In order to close some streets, Sacramento would have to replace the parking spaces and explore alternative transportation. Let’s return to the idea of bringing back and extending the Downtown Trolley up J and down K and L from the hotels to Alhambra Boulevard. Why can’t Sacramento begin with a test during 2nd Saturday Art Walks in 2007 and let the chips fall where they may?
The Guru projects that such an extension would pay for itself unlike the grant necessary to support the trolley in Downtown where for now there are fewer pedestrians. If the trolley travelled to Midtown, the Downtown Partnership might be able to foster more interaction and increased symbiosis between the visitors and residents of Midtown and McKinley Park/Lower East Sac and the offerings in Downtown, which could decrease the dependence of Downtown on the grant. Either way, if the City Council and Manager Ray Kerridge understand the relationship of the arts district and wish to fuel 2nd Saturday as well as arts-related events beyond 2nd Saturday, then they would work hard immediately to test the trolley extension by spring 2007. It would facilitate the parking challenges, despite the City’s insistence that there are enough spaces, and it would add some fun to the experience of the Central City while bridging connectivity between Midtown and Downtown.
What are your ideas and dreams for the Central City? What would public green space look like to you? Engage us with your vision. On that note, the writers for the blog “Living in Urban Sac” deserve a nod for bringing Sacramentans an eye on development. Of all of the blogs out there, it devotes itself to dissecting new projects and their impact on our quality of life. Many thanks to their insights.
The Guru wants to alert you to two errors on Eat the Grid’s maps. As we added True Love Coffeehouse, we forgot to renumber on the map and that means that while the addresses were correct, True Love is switched with Temple Fine Coffee & Tea. We regret the oversight but it is corrected online and will be in print during the next run. Please let us know how useful the maps are to you and send us ratings of your dining and coffee experiences so that we can update the community. It’s all part of the give and take to cultivate Sacramento as the Most Walkable, Liveable City in America. We look forward to your feedback.
Enjoy Life on the Grid!
Comments
On a technical point, you can’t really “test” a streetcar system on a route. What we’re talking about isn’t one of those buses that look vaguely like trolleys (commonly called “trollops” by traction aficionados) but an electric streetcar line running on tracks. This sort of system requires less investment than a light-rail line (about half to a third) but still requires considerable financial and time investment to install infrastructure before the first car runs. The system currently being discussed will probably focus on a line between downtown Sacramento and West Sacramento, since West Sacramento is interested in picking up part of the tab. Once a line is in place, it is (relatively) simple to expand a line farther into midtown.
The problem with the trollop is that, like any other bus, it is impermanent–it requires no more infrastructure than some signs and maybe a few benches. Streetcars represent a permanence, an investment that won’t just pick up and go. A bus line can change with a few days’ notice. Plus, people just like riding a trolley more than a bus. Go to San Francisco and ride one of the F-line PCCs or Peter Witts, then take the same ride on a bus, be it diesel or electric. You’ll see what I mean.
Second Saturday already seems to hum pretty well. Personally I think the next step is to rename “Second Saturday” to “Every Saturday.” There is no reason why this couldn’t happen: when I stroll midtown on Saturday nights these days, it is about as busy as Second Saturday nights were a decade ago.
First, may I be the first to congratulate you on opening the doors of dialogue. I’ve been reading the Midtown Grid blog for awhile now (and have even referenced it in our blog) and have wondered to myself, “why, oh why” don’t they have comments? If we’re truly going to create community in the central city, our ideas and efforts need to be open to discussion. It will be great to have yet another passionate eco-urbanist participating in and cultivating the dialogue.
Second. I wholeheartedly stand behind your vision to make Sacramento the Most Walkable, Livable City in America. We have many of the critical pieces already in place (most notably, our wonderful street system). Two of your thoughts are especially important: the cultivation of open spaces in conjunction with the advancement of public transportation. When last I heard, both ideas have some expression with the next iteration of the R Street corridor plan which is slated to have an pedestrian-only strip of three blocks between 16th and 19th with a light rail station at 16th street. That said, I do think the trolley system is essential for more vibrancy within the grid: light rail is great for getting in and out of the core but what about “getting around”. The midtown/downtown connection is essential: I know I’d be down at Temple a whole lot more if there was a trolley going down K and J Street where our office is (and I’d get a whole lot less parking tickets too!).
The Grid Guru now welcomes your comments!