Jan 28, 2024
With March primary elections in full force, Sacramento needs a plan to repair the damage from recent years. Problems include homelessness, crime and the effects of destructive COVID-19 lockdown policies. We need solutions.
Before the pandemic, the city was on its way to becoming a sought-after location. Between 2016 and 2018, I published two editions of our Inside Sacramento book highlighting the most interesting restaurants and shops in America’s farm-to-fork capital. The books were a hit. I was optimistic.
Today that optimism is gone. City life is worse, not better. A national survey of major cities ranks Sacramento as No. 2 in growth of homeless populations. From 2020 to 2023 Sacramento’s unhoused numbers exploded by 68%.
Dec 28, 2023
Next month we celebrate 27 years of publishing Inside Sacramento, now the largest print circulation periodical in the region. Covering local politics has been part of our mission since we started.
In recent years, as our beloved city has descended into chaos, we stepped up our coverage. I like to think we’ve led the way with analysis and reports on the toughest city issues. We’ve done our best to hold local elected officials accountable.
On March 5, four of the eight City Council positions are up for reelection. For many Inside readers, the most important race involves District 4, which includes East Sacramento, Midtown and Downtown.
Dec 28, 2023
Inside Sacramento interviewed the four candidates for mayor in the March 5 primary election—Flojaune Cofer, Steve Hansen, Kevin McCarty and Dr. Richard Pan. The top two finishers will advance to a runoff in November if no candidate receives at least 50.1% of the March vote. The election is nonpartisan.
Oct 28, 2023
My friend Sue Watkins has bought, fixed up and sold more homes than just about anyone else. The daughter of a local developer, Watkins loves a challenge and enjoys remodeling.
I met Watkins in 1995 when she bought and remodeled the Tudor home—once owned by her grandfather—next door to us on 33rd Street facing McKinley Park.
Before her move to East Sac, she lived in a 1950s Fair Oaks home she bought from the original owners. She remodeled the kitchen and kept most of the design intact. “I loved the neighbors, the neighborhood and the easy access to Fair Oaks Village,” she says.
When she sold the home three years later, she never imagined returning. But after many years and several life and home changes, including a move to Bodega Bay and Sebastopol, she longed for Fair Oaks.
