Jul 28, 2026
Balanced budgets deserve recognition. The City Council closed a $66 million deficit this summer but weakened its economic safety net in the process.
City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, Finance Director Pete Coletto and councilmembers deserve credit for making tough decisions that produced meaningful efficiencies.
Consolidating departments, streamlining operations and reducing long-term homelessness expenditures are structural changes taxpayers should expect. Those savings aren’t temporary. They improve the city’s financial position for years to come.
The budget eliminates about 101 positions and increases fees for many services.
Jul 28, 2026
When people ask what makes Inside Sacramento successful after more than 30 years, I give the same answer: Local partnerships.
Yes, we publish local journalism. We tell stories about neighborhoods, people, businesses and public issues. But at our core, Inside Sacramento has always been about connecting people.
For three decades, we have been fortunate to partner with hundreds of nonprofits, schools, arts organizations, neighborhood groups and civic leaders who share a common goal—making Sacramento a better place to live.
Jul 28, 2026
In my crusade to stop cyclists from running down people on city sidewalks, I overlooked something.
I ignored the fact that some cyclists don’t chase pedestrians into doorways or gutters. Some cyclists are civilized. They follow rules.
Around two dozen readers contacted me after my first two Inside columns about sidewalk cycling. Everyone was gracious and polite and thanked me for highlighting an overlooked problem.
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.
