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!