Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[wburg]

I have noticed an increased presence of private security on RT's LRVs lately. This makes a lot of sense to me: either a conductor on the train or private security would add a lot of peace of mind and prevent many hassles.

I take light rail around downtown sometimes, but it's a third choice after walking and driving. If walking would take too long and driving would be inconvenient I take light rail: I have used it several times to go to Old Sacramento, for example. But yes, it is primarily a commuter line, which was its original intent, and a job it does very well.

[travis bickle]

Originally Posted by econgrad

Not sure what you mean yet, but the light rail stations here are being used during the day for people to avoid traffic on highway 50 and 80. People who live outside of downtown and work in downtown. I know many RT employees, and you will hear from them, especially after a few drinks, that they will never ever ride the RT because it is so dangerous..there is absolutely no help in time if you get into trouble. At the same token, I have friends who use the light rail, and have not had any problems, but do admit there being a serious issue with bad elements, especially hanging out in the stations.

What I mean is there a case of light rail improving the streetscape and street life? Is there an example of a thriving district on a light rail dominated urban core street? And I mean one dedicated to light rail - not one that also has auto traffic or a heavy rail subway. They could have chosen a variety of streets but they wanted to attract riders to K Street. I don't think this decision was made solely because of the desire to move commuters. I think there was a specific desire to move them to K Street under the assumption that it would help revitalize the area. I'm sure other factors including no disruption of vehicular traffic were also considered, but more people on K Street certainly was part of the equation.

If such an example exists, what is different about it that has produced a different result?

[econgrad]

Simply put: No, there isn't. They are trying, but no go so far. Near CSUS (Cal State Sacramento) a "Transit Village" is being built around a, RT station, but that is purposely being created, is there anywhere where an RT station turned an area around for the better? Nope...not at all.

[wburg]

R Street, in the vicinity of 19th (the Safeway is technically considered a TOD due to the proximity of the 16th Street station) and the developments on 26th and R, which are in the last phases of construction (the New Faze project and the Macnamee fourplex) are there because of proximity to light rail, as well as other factors (the main one being federal cleanup funds being available to make development on R Street economically feasible.)

Believe it or not, Twelfth Street has gotten a lot better since light rail went in--or, at least, it used to be a lot worse.

The line was put on K Street as a way to spur visits from the suburbs to downtown, and the K Street Mall was still considered to be the primary focus. It isn't a "street activator" the way a streetcar is, because LRVs and streetcars are not the same thing.

[ozone]

Well it's hard to say whether or not light rail improved or hurt K Street because when light rail was put in K Street wasn't exactly a thriving district -it was another failed pedestrian mall. Who knows what would of happened if light rail was put on J or L instead. Obviously K Street's problems go far beyond anything light-rail or a better streetscape scheme could have produce. Even with all the inherent problems of limited access, ugly streetscape and poor maintenance I've always thought that there is still no excuse for K Street being so pathetic. I can only conclude that it's the property owners and lame business who are mostly to blame.

[sacamenna kid]

Right-- Light rail could never rescue K street on its own. Still, they should never have put it there. They should have run it down J Street, and straight to the College (CSUS), with a turnaround there. K Street should have been reinvented along the lines of University Ave. in Palo Alto. But all of this discussion about light rail on K Street is moot by now; the tracks are there to stay for quite a long while. It's painful, though, for those of us who can recall when it was a thriving street, the heart of a real gem of a city (as per Gertrude Atherton). First move in the right direction would be to get Mo out of the picture and let Z in. Has anyone seen what Z did to the block he has in Palo Alto? Nice model.

[redvine]

The thing that really bothers me about putting the light rail on K street is that, because of the all the pedestrians, the trains have to run a lot slower than they would if they were in an auto lane as they are through most of the rest of their downtown run. I'd say a good five minutes of travel time are added as the trains slow down along K street. Having those heavy trains move along the pedestrian stream is like watching mice and elephants dance together.

[wburg]

sacamenna kid: When I was interviewing people for my new book, I did notice that a lot of old-timers pronounced Sacramento as "Sacamenna." I assume that this was the common pronunciation at some point?

Adding streetcars to the commuter mix on K Street might actually help things a bit, by moving people who aren't commuters onto the mall. Of course, it would help if there were more reasons for people to get off of light rail or streetcars.

[innov8]

Residence Inn to open near Capitol
By Mark Anderson of The Sacramento Business Journal

2:00 PM PDT Thursday, June 28, 2007

The 235-room Residence Inn by Marriott at 15th and L streets in Sacramento is opening Monday.

The downtown hotel is across the street from Capitol Park and the Sacramento Convention Center.

Rates start at $189 a night. The hotel has studios, one- and two-bedroom suites. All the suites feature a fully stocked kitchen, work desk and 32-inch flat screen televisions.

The hotel will be operated by Hospitality Partners, of Bethesda, Md. It is owned by Three Fires, an investment group of three tribes including the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of San Bernardino County and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians of San Diego County. In the lobby of the hotel, each tribe has a cultural display inset into the back wall.


Hotel set to open near Cal Expo
By Mark Anderson Sacramento Business Journal

Thursday, June 28, 2007

A 118-room TownePlace Suites at 1780 Tribute Road opens July 2.

It will be the last of three hotels opened over the past year in that location by DKN Hotels of Santa Ana and Tarsadia Hotels of Newport Beach in a joint partnership.

The two companies operate, own and manage the hotel under a franchise agreement with Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR). They also operate the neighboring Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn. Those hotels were remodels of the former Beverly Garland Hotel. The TownePlace was new construction.

The TownePlace brand is targeted at travelers who need accommodations for a week or more. The Sacramento property has studio, one- and two-bedroom suites with fully equipped kitchens.

TownePlace Suites is an all-suite extended-stay brand in a moderate price range. Marriott launched it as a lower-priced alternative to its Residence Inn brand. Since Marriott introduced TownePlace in 1997, it has opened 120 of them across the country.

[Web]

Wow its finally gonna open!!!
I remember this missing so many deadlines!!!

[Sacto]

Good to hear Residence Inn is finally opening.

[sacamenna kid]

Originally Posted by wburg

sacamenna kid: When I was interviewing people for my new book, I did notice that a lot of old-timers pronounced Sacramento as "Sacamenna." I assume that this was the common pronunciation at some point?

Adding streetcars to the commuter mix on K Street might actually help things a bit, by moving people who aren't commuters onto the mall. Of course, it would help if there were more reasons for people to get off of light rail or streetcars.

That comes from Herb Caen. He called himself the "Sacamenna Kid." Sacramento HS used to have a "chant" that went: Sacammena, Sacammena, Sacammena High! (That was in the 30s).

[Trojan]

Is the Euro Parlare Lounge [sp?] opening up across the street from The Citizen Hotel, or was the sign just an advertisement? If the lounge is opening up on 10th and J, then that little corner area is going to be excellent with hopefully the Metro, the Citizen, and that lounge.

[ozone]

No work on the Euro Parlare Lounge is progressing nicely. Their posting for employees on craigslist says that they are opening in less than 3 weeks.

[fatchocolatecow]

The Metropolitan went before Planning Commission last night for review and comment and they mentioned that they are looking at possible changes to the programming of the building which may include a hotel and some office condos.

This could mean Saca is trying to relocate the Intercontinental to the Metropolitan. It also seems he is responding to market changes by replacing some residential units with office.

They also said they are looking at staying within the scope of the existing EIR, so I doubt this will mean any big changes to the scale of the building. But they did mention there will be some redesign upcoming.

Planning Commission also mentioned to Kwan Henmi that they have a significant responsibility to differentiate the design of the Met and Cathedral Square since they are the architect for two similar buildings that are being proposed at the same time and location, especially since they are not connected projects.

[snufalufugus]

I'm not sure if anyone saw this but there's an article in the sacbee today that discusses the affects of bay area transplants have had on the Sacramento region and what their thoughts are about the Sacramento region.

I won't copy the entire article in this post (since this forum is really about development) but here's a link to the article http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/245486.html

You may need to login to see the full article.

[wburg]

While I don't think I will ever go to the Parlare Euro Lounge, they are doing a nice job of rehabbing the building and prettying it up a bit. I assume they are owned by the same folks who own Rodney's Liquors, as that store has been included in the remodel. I don't know if the floor tiles are new, but they took off a big mural that covered their windows, which makes that corner a lot more airy.

[slaiguy]

Ya, I saw that article and the first few comments that followed. As a Bay Area transplant some of those comments pissed me off. I mean, c'mon you can't blame us for the traffic and crime, etc. As a city grows, like Sac and becomes a destination people want to live, traffic, crime, etc is just a natural effect that will happen. It amazes me at how stupid people are, seriously. I bet those people are the older generations who hate to see any change.

[Sacto]

Here's a shot I took last week...you can see how much 621 has added to the skyline. Oh...and don't mind the photoshop effect.

[foxmtbr]

Woah!! Awesome shot there!