Sacramento vs. Portland/Vancouver (San Francisco, Fresno: 2015, homes, university)

[b.hughes]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Damn and yet it is so much more urban, sophisticated, and forward thinking compared to Sacramento.


This makes Sac even more of a national embarrassment!!!!!

Such sophistication in these commentaries. When was the last time you actually lived here?

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by b.hughes

Such sophistication in these commentaries. When was the last time you actually lived here?

Why has Sacramento voted against the street car?

Why did Sacramento vote against light rail rail to the airport?

Why are there so few bridges connecting Sac to other side of the rivers?

Everything progressive and efficient that Portland does, Sac does the opposite.

It seems that many in Sac still have this cowtown mentality. It really is shameful. Will the influx of sophisticated people from the Bay Area one day change this and make Sac a real city?

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Why has Sacramento voted against the street car?

Why did Sacramento vote against light rail rail to the airport?

Why are there so few bridges connecting Sac to other side of the rivers?

Everything progressive and efficient that Portland does, Sac does the opposite.

It seems that many in Sac still have this cowtown mentality. It really is shameful. Will the influx of sophisticated people from the Bay Area one day change this and make Sac a real city?

I have issues with the naysayers too, but I still love Sacramento and will work to make it the best that it can be. Yes we have flaws.

Sacramento was one of first cities in the nation to build light rail back in 80's along with San Diego and Portland.

Many factors went into the street car vote, and the street car is far from perfect, even Portland has issues with their streetcar. Seattle's street car has poor usage. A new campaign is being put together to move the streetcar forward again (not sure when).

The traditional Bay Area transplant is very suburban oriented and could care less about the central urban core of Sac. It's the hard core natives and young people of Sacramento who have moved Sacramento forward. Hopefully, the new Bay Area transplants will help to move the central city forward like Silicon Valleys' Vivek Ranadive who put the team in place for the new Arena, Hotel, DOCO and the vision to make "Sacramento Great Again".....sorry I had to say that,

[WizardOfRadical]

The problem with Sac is there is a hardcore group of voters who literally fight everything.


New Arena, light rail, street car, residential tower.

The level of NIMBYism in Sac is literally insane. Which is weird when Sac should take whatever it can get

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

The problem with Sac is there is a hardcore group of voters who literally fight everything.

New Arena, light rail, street car, residential tower.

The level of NIMBYism in Sac is literally insane. Which is weird when Sac should take whatever it can get

Wow, we totally agree on this. Although I've have learned to accept this group at bit more and have taken a "meeting of the minds" approach.

NIMBism lives in many many many other cities too, not just Sac.

"Sac should take whatever it can get", or perhaps be open-minded, don't obstruct and collaborate.

[wburg]

As I have said before, if you are under the impression that there aren't neighborhood activists in other cities who do the same sort of things--including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland--then it's safe to assume that you really don't know anything about those cities. If anything, Sacramento's activists are relatively tame and not particularly well-funded compared to those in most large cities. And we're nowhere near desperate enough to take whatever crap is shoveled our way--we can and should demand the best we can get, not settle for "whatever it can get." Maybe the suburbs and outlying neighborhoods are that desperate, which is why nobody is building there, but the urban core is booming and growing at a faster rate than San Francisco, and our planning process is a dream to get through compared to theirs.

Sacramento as a whole didn't vote against the streetcar, most of Sacramento never voted on it at all--the effort to form a special funding district based on voters within 3 blocks of the line was half-hearted, so it didn't get the two-thirds majority needed, so instead they're trying another method that is moving forward. Nor was there a public vote specifically to fund light rail to the airport--Measure B was another half-hearted measure with an equally weak effort to promote its positive points, and it only failed a two-thirds vote by about 1%; a stronger measure (such as one with a clearer transit focus) with a better campaign strategy would have passed. Also note it was a countywide vote--if the city alone had voted it would have passed, but the unincorporated suburbs are afraid of new taxes.

Seems like Wizz can't win when it comes to actual statistics and numbers, so has to fall back on subjective statements about "sophistication" and "forward-thinking," whereas many people who like Sacramento prefer a more unsophisticated, laid-back sort of city, and think of themselves as plenty forward-thinking--just maybe forward in a different direction than Wizz's preferences. He also seems very fixed on the biggest and most popular thing--he's more interested in the championship team, concerts by the most popular national recording artists, and the cities that have already "made it" to whatever arbitrary metric of success he sets. I'm more interested in potential; the band that plays small clubs now but is likely to make it big, or is little known but was influential to more recognized artists; and cities that are evolving and growing, experiencing the transformations but at a stage where citizens can become directly involved and participate in that transformation, rather than just observing them as a spectator.

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

Wow, we totally agree on this. Although I've have learned to accept this group at bit more and have taken a "meeting of the minds" approach.

NIMBism lives in many many many other cities too, not just Sac.

"Sac should take whatever it can get", or perhaps be open-minded, don't obstruct and collaborate.

Yea but other cities can survive NIMBY if it us not pervasive and there is a strong urban footprint/fabric.

With Sac NIMBYism is huge and the urban fabric is already super minimal.

So NIMBY fighting street car and light rail has set the city back another 15 years. Portland will like Seattle at that point.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Yea but other cities can survive NIMBY if it us not pervasive and there is a strong urban footprint/fabric.

With Sac NIMBYism is huge and the urban fabric is already super minimal.

So NIMBY fighting street car and light rail has set the city back another 15 years. Portland will like Seattle at that point.

I hear ya; its frustrating. Despite that, I'm still a citizen and I'm not going to move because I love Sacramento despite its flaws.

The greatest cities in the country, SF, NY, LA, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle,, etc., etc. have one thing in common. They have a large percent of people who Love their city. They don't run away to the next coolest city because their city has issues or too many of a certain type of people. They stay and make it better. .

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

I hear ya; its frustrating. Despite that, I'm still a citizen and I'm not going to move because I love Sacramento despite its flaws.

The greatest cities in the country, SF, NY, LA, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle,, etc., etc. have one thing in common. They have a large percent of people who Love their city. They don't run away to the next coolest city because their city has issues or too many of a certain type of people. They stay and make it better. .

The thing is NIMBYism is more popular than the people who want change. Sac's NIMBY crowd should marginalized.

Fighting a new arena, street car, light rail, and tower construction in the grid is the hallmark of Nimby . The problem with Sac is there is no strong sense of identity, that makes poeple want more for the greater good.


This is why skyscrappers still get built in LA, and people vote to tac themselves for more light and heavy rail.

[wburg]

...you cats do know that two-thirds of the planned expenditures for the latest transportation sales tax bill (Measure B) was for highways and roads, right? And only about 2000 people voted on the streetcar ballot measure?