As cities rethink their urban cores, a new paradigm emerges: vibrant, walkable downtowns that feel like neighborhoods, not just business districts.

In “The Great Downtown Renaissance,” a recent piece in Dwell magazine, urbanists emphasize successful revival requires more than office towers and event districts. It demands thriving public spaces, mixed-use housing and a genuine sense of community.

Orlando, Indianapolis and Houston are reimagining their downtowns as places where people live, work and play. This “renaissance” is aimed at reversing decades of postwar planning that emptied city cores, prioritized cars over pedestrians and made downtowns ghost towns after 5 p.m.

Mark Friedman and Julie Young, two developers known for stylish urban apartments, found a formula to provide affordable housing that’s truly affordable.

Using a strategy Friedman says can be replicated when economic conditions are right with low interest rates and reasonably priced materials, he and Young built 350 “attainable” apartments in Sacramento and West Sac for about $77 million, or $220,000 per unit. Monthly rents start at below $1,500.

From Joyce Raley Teel to Sofia Tsakopoulos, women do the heavy lifting to keep local stage lights burning.

But when it comes to cultural philanthropy, nobody beats a shy, frustrated playwright named Eleanor Grace McClatchy.

For five decades as Sacramento transformed from sleepy farm burg to capital metropolis, she pumped oxygen into theater arts with cash and publicity.

Clay bowls, cups, vessels and vases crowd open shelving. Some of the ceramic pieces are finished with swirling earth-toned glazes. Others await their turn in a kiln.

Buckets of home-mixed glazes line one wall from top to bottom. Ceramicist tools and art supplies fill plastic bins. Pottery wheels sit side by side, adjacent to long high-top working tables.

23C Studio is a ceramic arts cooperative tucked away in a warehouse at 23rd and C streets in Midtown. The space is dusty and rustic, open to the weather, no air conditioning and limited heating. But the studio is fully equipped for wheel throwing and hand building, creating and collaborating.

In my four years as Inside’s farm-to-fork columnist, the Sacramento Food Policy Council has been a key driver behind local urban farming and food equity. The Food Policy Council is the essence of farm to fork.

The council works with farmers and food advocates to make the county’s food system more sustainable and equitable. The steering committee includes the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, Valley Vision and Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Collaborations paid off when the City Council and Board of Supervisors passed the Urban Agriculture Ordinance, legalizing residential sales for home-grown fruits and vegetables.

Thanks to the ordinance, residents can set up farmstands and sell harvests to neighbors. The law also creates tax breaks for property owners who use their land for urban farming. This way, vacant lots produce food.

Casa Lola, a new Mexican restaurant Downtown, is more than a solid place to eat. It’s more than a spot with extraordinary service, more than a restaurant run by pros.

More than all that, it’s a lot of fun.

When I told my wife Casa Lola reminded me of Disneyland, she said, “Like in a bad way?” No, I said. In the best way.

It reminded me of the imagination, service and entertainment value of an in-person Disney event.

Every wall, plate, seat and light fixture at Casa Lola feels like it was imagineered.

Floor-to-ceiling murals with jaguars and hummingbirds seem to pop right off the walls. A Spanish-style veranda hangs over the passthrough, overflowing with bougainvillea and palm fronds. Heavy wood and leather-strap furniture look straight out of Acapulco.