[travis bickle]

Well, I enjoy CPK and the Fleming's in Downtown San Diego in fine. Not as expensive as Morton's but of similar quality. I guess the only negative is that they wet-age their beef and I prefer dry. But that's just a personal preference. Some of you may be asking how many similar steak-houses can one area support. I said the same thing about downtown San Diego but they just keep coming and none have closed...

Downtown Sacramento has actually been pretty lucky as far as restaurants and bars. In SD the convention center was the real catalyst and I'm sure it much the same in Sacramento, but the SD convention center is much larger. And, of course, San Diego's downtown population has exploded over the last ten years and this helps support the restaurants/clubs.

Sacramento has enjoyed its renaissance without the same numbers for either conventions attendees or housing units that sparked San Diego's fabulous downtown.

Retail is always the last to join the party and without dense housing and large numbers of convention attendees is difficult to sustain. Of course, you need retail developers that share your vision of a vibrant downtown that is a regional attraction, but that discussion is for a different thread.