Status on K street 700 and 800 redevelopment (Sacramento, Selma: neighborhood, movies, prices)
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West Sacramento's riverfront development won't necessarily be without benefits for Sacramento--a major appeal of West Sacramento's riverfront is its proximity to downtown Sacramento, with the current stock of restaurants, entertainment venues, job centers, and cultural attractions we already have. One of downtown's long-term problems stems from our location on the far western edge of the metro area, but development farther west across the river means a busy, growing neighborhood right next door to downtown, as close as Curtis Park or East Sacramento. A shift to the west makes downtown more central in the region--and it benefits the urban core a lot more than development on the southern end of Elk Grove or the eastern end of Folsom. So while they may not get tax revenue, a bigger West Sacramento means good things for Sacramento too--especially if we're connected with a streetcar line and good bike lanes.
Work in the transit center is happening right now--the track relocation should be done by the end of the month, repair and restoration work is happening inside the historic depot. The transit center for the Green Line is almost finished--and apparently that line will be operating this summer.
It's easy to get too focused on projects that are down the road, or to concentrate on the projects that didn't work out, and ignore what actually does get built, restored, opened--somehow, things that are already here (including projects that were just finished!) are too readily dismissed by people who have infinite faith in projects that aren't past the rendering phase. Such as the return of the Fred Mayes clock to J Street, restored to its 1930s Art Deco appearance (I'm not sure why Downtown Partnership said Art Deco was a popular 1980s style on its site...) and fully functional, including neon lights. The work was done by the "Art Foundry" on R Street by artisans here in Sacramento.
Thanks a lot for your detailed responses guys! the powerhouse science center looks like a promising project, esp for families and kids.
And it looks like there are a few other infill redevelopments project besides the perpetually stalled Railyards; do you know if any retail and housing companies have signed up to set up shop and actually build in these areas (Bridge district, Township 9, etc) or are the developments just for building infrastructure/roads at this point?
No, the Bridge District in West Sac is mostly infrastructure and volume renderings at this point, although there were quite a few little "new urbanist" small-lot housing units built around the perimeter of the Bridge zone during the boom--Ironworks, GOOD, a few others--and a lot of fairly standard suburb/power-center stuff in the southern part of West Sacramento (Southport.)
Township 9 is a small project in the River District off Richards Boulevard--they apparently have funding for the first phase of housing (a low/mixed income portion) and the park/landscape elements, and the transit center is almost done (it's the end of the soon-to-open Green Line.)
The "perpetually stalled" Railyards thing is kind of mythical--it has really only been in play for a few years, and a lot of major work (toxic remediation, stabilization of the old Shops buildings, track relocation, construction of bridges and infrastructure) has been going on. Unfortunately, right now it is owned by a finance company that has no interest in being a developer--their current plan seems to be to sit on the lot until the next housing boom. The arena wasn't even slated for the "Railyards" proper, it was going to go on a small sliver of land originally intended entirely for the expanded intermodal depot.
Township 9 is a small project in the River District off Richards Boulevard--they apparently have funding for the first phase of housing (a low/mixed income portion) and the park/landscape elements, and the transit center is almost done (it's the end of the soon-to-open Green Line.)
Slated to have 2,350 units, so not too small. Also hopefully a catalyst to improving the River District. Now, the only traffic it gets are from those getting on the freeway from downtown, from transients, and from climbers at Pipeworks. (Those last two seem to have some overlap sometimes.)
That's it--the only redevelopment funds left are those committed before the hammer came down, like T9 and the 700 block. Richards Boulevard (sorry, the "River District") still has a lot of industrial and heavy commercial uses with quite a bit of traffic, as well as some office complexes and city government, and of course the Greyhound just relocated there, but like downtown, not many residents outside of the Dos Rios housing projects. 2000 or so units is a good start.
In the long run I'm pretty confident that housing will have a better long-term positive effect on central city life than an arena ever could--downtown residents (and residents of downtown-adjacent neighborhoods) have a much greater effect on the downtown economy than visitors from the far ends of the region. Sorry I missed your sarcasm re West Sac, ryuns--but at least for a while during the boom, West Sacramento was called "the new Midtown." I just hope they will take the effort to create historic districts for their beautiful older residential neighborhoods--part of why neighborhoods like Midtown have such appeal, the historic architecture is intact while having close proximity to other uses. Considering that West Sac already did away with a bunch of its beautiful neon signs on West Capitol, I am a bit worried about that--but still like the "West Sac is the Best Sac" motto that some of my friends espouse.
K street is a dump and always has been. If it had been left the way it originally was, it would be Sacramento's version of the tenderloin. As it stands now you can drive K street from midtown all the way west and the first thing that will come to mind is "spotty" . It's like it will pick up around 20th and k, then it dies. K street in midtown is still fairly dead and pretty lame -mostly residential. Everything worth seeing is a block away on J street.
They opened the street up to cars, yea there is a lot of shiny bright lights but it is still totally dead. More winos and crackheads on K street downtown, than actual patrons. Then you hit the wall of downtown office buildings and you are in a total dead zone. K street downtown is nothing short of a crying shame.
The only thing note worthy on K street is district 30. It's is a nightclub operated by people who run a club in SF. It is the only real club experience in Sacramento, with out the local low life element(ghetto/redneck). So the line is out the door and the dance floor is crowded. Outside of that K street epically sucks downtown. Always has and always will. And there is not much that can be done for K in midtown, lest you level all the houses to make way for real venues.
Downtown Sacramento itself is a total dead zone. Much like downtown Oakland, Detroit, and Fresno. It pretty much empties out after people leave for work and has absolutely no vibrancy, upscale shopping, or world class venues.
Township 9 is a another destined-to-failure project. All they have money for is the low income housing right now. So it is just going to wind up being a half finished project and what does get finished is going to wind up being ghetto crack head central, like globe mills.
Though I can't help but LoL at the notion that Sac is willing to LOAN developers money to develop A GHETTO, after fighting tooth and nail to show the Kings the door. Yea I'm sure GHETTO HOUSING is going to be way more beneficial to the grid than an entertainment arena.
The grid is still very much a work in progress. And not in a good way. Imagine an artist trying to put the finishing touch ups on a painting. But he can't get it done because he is too drunk, stoned, and indecisive...that's the grid on a whole .
If you don't believe me- take the cross town free way and get off at 16th street and take a look of the immediate area for yourself. Sacramento has done just a really terrible job of up keeping a good chunk of the core.
K street is a dump and always has been. If it had been left the way it originally was, it would be Sacramento's version of the tenderloin. As it stands now you can drive K street from midtown all the way west and the first thing that will come to mind is "spotty" . It's like it will pick up around 20th and k, then it dies. K street in midtown is still fairly dead and pretty lame -mostly residential. Everything worth seeing is a block away on J street.
They opened the street up to cars, yea there is a lot of shiny bright lights but it is still totally dead. More winos and crackheads on K street downtown, than actual patrons. Then you hit the wall of downtown office buildings and you are in a total dead zone. K street downtown is nothing short of a crying shame.
The only thing note worthy on K street is district 30. It's is a nightclub operated by people who run a club in SF. It is the only real club experience in Sacramento, with out the local low life element(ghetto/redneck). So the line is out the door and the dance floor is crowded. Outside of that K street epically sucks downtown. Always has and always will. And there is not much that can be done for K in midtown, lest you level all the houses to make way for real venues.
Downtown Sacramento itself is a total dead zone. Much like downtown Oakland, Detroit, and Fresno. It pretty much empties out after people leave for work and has absolutely no vibrancy, upscale shopping, or world class venues.
Township 9 is a another destined-to-failure project. All they have money for is the low income housing right now. So it is just going to wind up being a half finished project and what does get finished is going to wind up being ghetto crack head central, like globe mills.
Though I can't help but LoL at the notion that Sac is willing to LOAN developers money to develop A GHETTO, after fighting tooth and nail to show the Kings the door. Yea I'm sure GHETTO HOUSING is going to be way more beneficial to the grid than an entertainment arena.
The grid is still very much a work in progress. And not in a good way. Imagine an artist trying to put the finishing touch ups on a painting. But he can't get it done because he is too drunk, stoned, and indecisive...that's the grid on a whole .
If you don't believe me- take the cross town free way and get off at 16th street and take a look of the immediate area for yourself. Sacramento has done just a really terrible job of up keeping a good chunk of the core.
LOL ! that was very no-nonsense, and funny too... man not sure what to do now lol .....
Actually, it's pretty much complete nonsense. I think NorCalDude thinks downtown Sacramento is supposed to be some kind of booze-filled amusement park set up entirely to entertain him. It's kind of a stretch to criticize a neighborhood because people live there or work there--35,000 people live in the central city, and something like 100,000 people work there, so obviously large portions are dedicated to those needs, rather than stuff that exists strictly to entertain the visiting suburbanite. Office buildings tend to be pretty dead on the weekends, no matter what the city--you find the same thing in the business districts of Los Angeles.
Haven't actually been inside D30 yet, I assume I'm too much of a ghetto redneck, although I have been to Pizza Rock and Dive Bar (the other two-thirds of the project) and from what I have seen, all three take advantage of local talent to a great extent--local musicians at Pizza Rock's acoustic brunch, local DJs like Shaun Slaughter and Roderick Carpio, and talent like the Sizzling Sirens burlesque troupe and Harley White Jr. at Dive Bar. It's actually one of a dozen or so clusters of nightlife throughout the central city--there are about eight bars and clubs within a block of of D30, another bunch in Old Sac, more at 15th and L, 27th and J, 21st and P, 11th and R, 20th and K, etcetera.
I suppose the best way to put it is this, "abercrombiedudelosangeles": If your idea of a good time involves a place with lots and lots of wall-mounted plasma TVs, if terms like "high-end" and "world-class" make your ears perk up, if you are horrified and nauseated by the idea of being spare-changed by a homeless person, if you would rather drive to another city 75 miles away than pay for parking, then downtown Sacramento probably isn't for you, except for a couple of specific places that many of my friends have started calling "douche magnets."
I like it here, and find plenty to do that is interesting and fun and creative, mostly within walking distance of what I consider the most interesting neighborhood in the region, which also happens to be a great place to live. But I guess I'm some sort of ghetto redneck lowlife who wouldn't know a world-class, high-end club experience if it bit me on the fanny...
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the powerhouse science center looks like a promising project, esp for families and kids. 
that was very no-nonsense, and funny too... man not sure what to do now lol 
.....
