Jun 28, 2026
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.
Jun 28, 2026
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.
May 28, 2026
Recently I read an essay about the “third place.” The idea has been around for years. Our first place is home. Our second place is work. The third place is everything in between, the locations where we gather, linger and connect.
Sacramento has always had strong third places. But we can no longer assume they will sustain themselves.
Think about a Saturday morning at the Midtown Farmers Market or Sunday morning under the freeway. Strangers stand together and sample citrus, buy flowers and debate which bakery line is shorter. Everyone participates and builds familiarity and a sense of trust.
May 28, 2026
The city’s Planning and Design Commission is no ship of fools. Planning commissioners showed their smarts earlier this year when they discussed changing the rules for short-term housing rentals.
They declared—for the record—Sacramento isn’t Barcelona or Pismo Beach. Thanks for clearing that up.
A dozen or so people in the City Hall audience absorbed the news as one might expect. No shrieks. No boos. Just silence.
Comparisons to beach towns in Spain and central California are rare at City Hall. But comparisons are handy when local authorities try to corral short-term rentals.
May 28, 2026
Every city has pressure points. In Sacramento, one point is the growing disconnect between what the city spends and what it can afford.
Sacramento Regional Business Leaders Council steps into this discussion with a clear voice. Formed in 2012, the group is a roughly 60-member coalition of business leaders from banking, manufacturing, agriculture and development. Its focus is how governmental decisions affect the cost and feasibility of doing business in the region.
Its chief executive is John Vignocchi, a local affordable housing developer. He explains, “We’re trying to help Sacramento realize its full potential through advocating for common-sense government policies.”
Apr 28, 2026
With his years on City Council and the state Assembly, Kevin McCarty brings more than two decades of elected public service to the mayor’s office.
He says being mayor requires a different perspective.
After 15 months in his new job, McCarty invited me to City Hall for what he called a “one-year check-in.” We discussed homelessness, Downtown’s recovery, government efficiency and what surprised him most about being mayor.
We began with homelessness. “There’s no question it’s the issue I deal with every day,” McCarty says.
