Welcome!!!!

I decided to create my own little bog space to talk about one of my passions; urban development and revitalization. I am a lifelong Sacramento resident, except for a few years at college. After growing up in the suburbia known as Greenhaven in Sacramento, and then Natomas Park after I was married, my wife and I decided it was finally time to move to an environment which we both loved being in and was better suited for our personalities. We love going out to restaurants and other entertainment options only downtown and midtown have to offer. We also plan on raising our family in the home we recently purchased so they can to enjoy the culture and diversity of our city as well. We do not buy into the "once you have a family you move out of the city in the suburbs" mentality.

We are going through an unprecedented time here in Sacramento with regards to our central city, and with this, my blog will be mostly about the latest developments in Downtown and Midtown Sacramento. Sacramento has never really been known for its great urban living, but over the last 5 years or so, things have really changed for the better. Things only stand to improve by leaps and bounds over the next few years with latest flurry of housing, retail, and entertainment developments planned for our central city.

My general stance on high-rise housing, office, and hotel developments is that I judge based on the following criteria: Design, Density, and Street-level functional uses such as pedestrian-friendly ground floor retail/ restaurant /art gallery space, The Towers on Capitol Mall is a great example of this. "Make the first floor, the best floor"

While I love the sight of a nice looking skyscraper when I approach downtown on one of our congested freeways and would like to see the Sacramento skyline "grow up", I don't approve of a project solely based on how tall it is (Parthenon Office Building, Yuck!), or reject based on how short it is. (Plaza Lofts, Yes!!)

Over the next couple of weeks I will write on varies projects that you may or may not have read or seen about. I will post what I feel are pros and cons (if any) for the project.

If we want to see downtown Sacramento truly become a world-class city and become the entertainment, employment, arts, cultural, dining, shopping, and urban living center for the region, high-density mixed use housing development will need to be the most important part of the equation.

I hope you enjoy....