Five reasons why opening K Street to cars is the wrong idea

A magical fix to all of the downtown area's woes has been proposed. What if there were cars on K Street? Suddenly people will return to the area, restaurants and businesses will flourish and the long black spot on Sacramento will vanish.

This weekend my family and I took advantage of the IMAX 10th anniversary free showing of "Adventures in Wild California." We parked at 10th and L and walked up K to the Esquire. It got me thinking about what is really wrong with K Street mall and why adding traffic won't fix the problem.

1) The mall still hasn't been given a chance to really be successful.
The first thing we observed on Saturday was the huge amount of state and government businesses taking up ground floor space. Despite more than 30 years as a "pedestrian" mall, K Street hasfew pedestrians on the weekends and after 5pm. There are a few gourmet restaurants, the Crest, the Esquire and a smattering of other quick lunch places. But overall, the mall still completely lacks the feel of a solid pedestrian mall. Our city leaders should be considering revitalization that includes mixed use, more ground floor retail, a successful Farmer's Market. For examples, look to Denver, Santa Monica, Charlottesville, Boulder, and Boston.

2) Homeless are still a problem on K Street.
I'm not sure if it's the lack of police presence, the lack of pedestrians, the convenience of the light rail or a mix of all of the above. Until people feel that they can walk freely and happily without being harassed, K Street won't be successful. It doesn't matter if there are cars if there are still aggressive homeless people every 10 feet. Many large cities have a homeless problem. I've certainly walked many blocks in San Francisco and DC that made this apparent. However, we appear to have a more uncommon problem with aggressive, drunk and mentally ill homeless who have settled on K.

3) Where's the draw for families?
Opening up K Street to car traffic may increase restaurant traffic in the evenings. But until K has a draw for families, the weekends will still be empty. A consistent Saturday Farmer's Market, a children's museum, independent toy shop, even a fun market type atmosphere like Pike's Place would bring in families of locals and tourists. More families drive out the negative presence in the area and build the reputation of a fun, safe environment. $15 per person movies at IMAX isn't going to do that.

4) Cars remove any novelty and any reason for the City to focus on the area.
Once K is open to cars, the area returns to being just like any other street. There is no further motivation for special renovation, no attention to the problems left behind by City interference. At that point, Downtown Plaza should probably be completely closed and the walk tunnel to Old Sac removed or rerouted. While many local restauranteurs have poured their heart and soul into these 6 blocks, they will be abandoned once K is just another problem area. K Street needs to become THE focus if downtown is going to thrive.

5) Cars don't build businesses.
It doesn't matter if traffic is open to cars if nobody has the time, money or ability to open new businesses. Years have been spent and piles of money poured into the buildings between 7th and 9th and nothing has changed. Until the owners of these buildings are either "eminent domained" out of the way or they decide to become part of the solution, K Street will remain a problem.

Kids camps around Sacramento

We've been missing for too long! Too many blogs, too little time. But we know you're busy and looking for fun summer camp resources for the kids! We are still confirming availablity and will add more camps as we receive the information.

Here's a listing of camps that have spots still available as of June 24th:

Fairytale Town- Primarily for kids ages 3-7 but some camps available for kids 7 and up

Sacramento Zoo- A few spots available in camps! Register soon!

Early Childhoold Learning Center of Natomas- Exciting programs for preschool and kindergarten aged kids.

Effie Yeaw Nature Center- Call for more information. Day camp spots available.

Sacramento Country Day School- Recreational day camp programs and specialty camp programs available for kids through middle school

Discovery Science Center- Spots available for science and space camp for kids ages 7 and up.

Crocker Art Museum- one class still open for kids 12-17. Mixed Media Mosaic

Explorit Science Center- half and full day camps with spots available in selected classes for kids preschool through 5th grade.

International Gym Centre- West Sacramento gymnastics camp offering full and half day programs for kids ages 5 thru 12.

City of Sacramento- Wide variety of half day, full day and recreational camp activities. The City offers many programs that are low-cost and still has spots available.

Sacramento Theatre Company- Camp starts next week so hurry up!

Gibson Ranch- Horse camp for kids ages 8 to 18

B Street Theatre- Acting and production camp for kids ages 6-17.

Consumer Supported Agriculture, a cheap and easy way to eat healthier!

As my beautiful box of fruit arrived this week, I realized that I hadn't ever taken the time to write about Consumer Supported Agriculture and the huge benefits! In a time where money and water resources are tight, supporting locally grown food and CSA programs are one of the best use of your finances. By buying locally grown produce, you reduce the cost to you and the farmer, saving everyone money!

So what is CSA and how does it work? Different local farms run different programs. Our box comes from Farm Fresh To You and is delivered to my house every other week. For $30, every other week, I get a massive box of delicious fresh fruit and veggies. We choose the Mostly Fruit option which this week contained 3 avocados, a bunch of carrots, a pound of kiwis, at least 3 lbs of apples, 3 lbs of two different kinds of pears, and a handful of tangelos and blood oranges. The box is different every week and part of the fun is never quite knowing what will arrive. Farm Fresh has a whole variety of programs that start as low as $20 to large boxes your entire office can share at $140.

Other CSAs like Good Humus, Full Belly, Del Rio and Soil Born, deliver to a local spot where you pick up your boxes. Some farms offer produce, nuts, jams, jellies and bread. Many farms create a special relationship with their customers and offer farm tours, picnics and harvest celebrations.

Even those of us (me!) who are not big on vegetables, have really enjoyed our produce box. Other than actually living on the farm, you don't get much closer than apples with morning dew still on them when the arrive at your house. With my CSA box, there are always healthy and inexpensive snacks on my counter and more choices in the lunch box!

Sacramento Free Museum Day- TODAY- Saturday 2/7!

Today is Free Museum Day! Get out and see some of our local museums. Nearly all museums in Sacramento are open for free today from 10am to 4pm, including the Railroad museum, Fairytale Town, the Crocker and the Zoo. Or check out some lesser known museums like the Towe Auto Museum, the Museum of Medical History or the Military Museum.

Free shuttle buses are available from many locations. The most popular places fill up fast so be sure to get an early start. If you have a few extra dollars in your pocket, be sure to drop it in the donation buckets inside the museums. Many of our best assets are struggling and this is a great way to ensure there will be a Free Museum Day next year!

Help save something fabulous for Sacramento families!

As we have all read and heard a million times, times are rough and services are being cut. Many things make up a great city and it's hard to choose one that is worth saving. But I hope that you'll think about your family vacation plans for the summer and consider a great, inexpensive alternative to your normal plans!

Camp Sacramento is an affordable, fun and adventurous family vacation for everyone! We were first timers last year and had taken a few other vacations over the past three years. Camp Sacramento, BY FAR, was the most relaxing, fun and low stress vacation we've done! I cannot recommend it enough for any stressed out family with kids between 4 and 14! Even teenagers with a little cash in their pockets and a little freedom will have an amazing time.

Moms and dads take note- your kids will have fun activities all day run by the City Parks and Rec people. They'll be occupied while you read on the porch, take a nap, drink a glass of wine or participate in an art class. They'll be learning archery while you are hiking, fishing, playing board games with other adults or just doing nothing. Literally nothing! You don't have to cook, clean or plan anything if you don't want to.

Best of all, Camp Sacramento is totally affordable. Look at this cost comparison and you'll see that you'll save $1000 by taking a Camp Sacramento trip instead of Disneyland. I can promise you'll come home more rested and recharged after a week in the hands of the Camp Sac staff!

Parks and Rec is shooting for 95% occupancy rate this summer. Make some lifelong memories. We'll see you at Camp Sac!

Does a Goodwill bring good will?

North Natomas is all a buzz about the possibility of a Goodwill taking over the Borders location in Park Place. You can read the tension on Natomas Buzz and Joe Sacramento. People are either against the Goodwill or against people that are against the Goodwill. I've seen very few arguments that are encompassing a positive argument for why a Goodwill is really what North Natomas needs. Calling names, calling us "haters" because we didn't sign up to live next to a thrift store is not productive.

My thoughts from my comments on Joe Sacramento with some additions:

The Goodwill in North Natomas fills a need that is temporary. Sure, the economy is in decline. But when the economy turns around, our neighborhood will not make the same increase if we have fallen apart. I didn't sign up 10 years ago to live next to a thrift store. Supposedly, I was getting a mixed use, neighborhood commercial center that was fully walkable and family friendly. That didn't happen. But I'm not willing to settle and say "It's not walkable, so let's just throw in whatever fits the building." I bought my house on a promise that the City would fulfill a beautiful community plan. If I were opposed to diversity, I wouldn't have bought here- we'd be in Granite Bay. This isn't about diversity. It's about reality of economics. When you swamp an area with low-income housing to meet an arbitrary percentage, you defeat the purpose of mixed residential.

I would like to see a traffic impact study done. Goodwill will no doubt increase the traffic in our neighborhood. I can't imagine that the donations pouring in will amount to the same traffic as one Borders delivery truck. North Bend was not designed to be a retail route. If people start driving in and out that way, the entire neighborhood (including the elementary school) will be impacted. The increased traffic on Natomas Blvd will also be difficult, considering before and after the high school days are already a nightmare.

Goodwill is not the best we can do. It's better than the Dollar Store idea. But I'm very concerned how a change will impact the other tenants in the center. Adding one Goodwill and losing 5 locally owned businesses as a result, is a major problem. I don't think we could stand to lose Jacks, Dinner My Way, Strings, Mathnasium, Big Spoon etc. in that center because people are either afraid (rightfully or not) to shop there, or because the new clientele attracted doesn't have the cash. Sorry- few will convince me that folks will go to Goodwill after work, do a little shopping and then drop $40 at Strings for dinner very often. Highly unlikely the same clients buy fancy shoes from the Shoes N Feet, get frozen dinners or for a week at Dinner My Way. One retailer can change the entire dynamic of a center.

People all over Natomas need to grow up, stop slinging mud and stand up for what we all committed to either 10 years ago or 30. If you're in South Natomas, you have just as much right to be mad at the City. But it's time to DO SOMETHING. Don't just complain that everyone in North Natomas is whining. We all bought into an idea of a community near downtown, close to the airport, with great schools, nice parks and high quality community activities. I don't think you can find one person here who said "Hey I think I'll rent a crappy apartment in a bad school district where the city lies to me, the parks are covered with graffiti and I'm afraid to go shopping." Not one person chose to live here saying that.

Drama unfolds in Natomas Park as discrimination is legalized

Welcome to guest blogger Mr Speeb who has given us permission to repost this from comments on News10.net



So if you're a home owner in Natomas Park, you probably received in the mail today, an interesting document. It is a proposal to amend the delegate voting system from its current form to a new (more sensible?) form. As I said, the clubhouse vote was rigged from the beginning. Here is how the current voting works:

Let's say each delegate has 100 home owners (votes) in his neighborhood. If 10 people vote for something and 10 people vote against something, and 80 didn't vote, the delegate gets to spend the 80 votes anyway that delegate sees fit. Essentially, in this example, the outcome for this delegate will be 90 (80 + 10) votes in one direction and 10 votes (actual home owner votes) in the other direction. Pretty cool. To even get a break even, unbiased vote, 50% of the homeowners would have to vote in one direction. Heck, we don't even get a 50% turnout in a national election. So, as you can see, if the delegates all agree that "those people" should be excluded from the club house, it was a done deal. With a 25% (or less) turnout for the vote, the delegates held 75% of the votes, before it even went to ballot. That's why these board defenders here won't give up any numbers. There was never any chance for a democratic process. But then the board knew that, planned on it, and counted on it.

So back to today's proposal in the mail. The delegates would now have to cast their votes (non-voting owners) in the same proportion as the voting home owners. That is, if the delegate represented 100 home owners, and the owners voted 10 for and 10 against, with 80 non-votes, the delegate would have to cast his vote 50 for and 50 against. Gee, one wonders why they are changing that now. Covering tracks? Trying to make sure the same ploy can't be used to undo their dirty deeds?

Come on NEWS10. Get on this. Start digging and publish the truth.