From the Publisher’s Desk
How To Build Community
Browsing in a gift shop recently, I came across a lovely poster with the headline, “How to Build Community.” Given that building our community has been my mission for almost 30 years, I was naturally attracted to the message. The poster listed dozens of suggestions. Here they are, with some thoughts along the way. And I’d love to hear your ideas—email me and we’ll publish them in an upcoming edition.
Wall-To-Wall Beauty
Across the world, the mural movement is bringing artistry and color to cities large and small.
A growing body of research has associated murals with social, cultural and economic benefits. Murals help build a sense of community. They offer accessibility to art and creative expression without the problem of cost-based barriers, such as museums and galleries.
This month, our own city’s mural status will be multiplied and celebrated. Running Aug. 8–18, Wide Open Walls has become the premiere mural festival on the West Coast, attracting artists from all over the world who contribute to Sacramento’s vibrant street art scene.
Inside Adds Digital
For 23 years, we have been committed to delivering our monthly Inside Sacramento publications free to readers. It has been an innovative business model. Our readers tell us they enjoy the product. The community has been well served.
More than a decade ago, most other Sacramento print publications took desperate leaps into the digital world. Sadly, the publications that charged subscriptions saw their subscriber bases and revenues shrink when they rolled out digital formats.
New City Cemetery ‘Gag Order’
The Historic City Cemetery is home to the 500-bush Historic Rose Garden, as well as two other major gardens. For decades it has been restored and maintained by dedicated volunteers.
Now these same volunteers are outraged at being asked to sign a new six-page agreement outlining the details of their service.
War of the Roses
During the last 18 months, my McKinley Park neighborhood has experienced a battle over the city’s plan to construct a large underground water vault. The project will go beneath McKinley Park’s eastern side where the baseball field sits.
We’ve had contentious community meetings, with neighbor against neighbor. Most water vault supporters—I am one of them—tended to stay out of the battle and let the city deal with the small but intense group of vault opponents.
Is Sacramento Dying?
When I heard about the hourlong documentary film “Seattle Is Dying,” I felt a certain dread. Listening to a radio interview about the film, I was struck by the bleakness of Seattle’s homeless situation. It took me a week to make time to watch the film. After viewing it, “bleak” wasn’t strong enough to describe the problem.
The film was produced by television station KOMO in Seattle. It was the third part of an informal series developed a few years earlier as the homeless situation grew worse in that city. The film opens with a bold statement: This is about an idea. For a city that has run out of them. What if Seattle is dying? Can it ever recover?
