Tag: Sacramento

Urban Sacramento 1959: West End

This is so awesome, a must watch for fans of the 916. Redevelopment is clearly not a new issue facing our city. Stan Atkinson in the house!

This film spotlights a controversial piece of Sacramento history– a specific period of redevelopment, during the Fall of 1959, as city officials, community leaders and state agencies were deciding how to redevelop a large portion of Sacramento’s central city known as the West End– considered to be among the largest slum areas in California. Most of the film footage and interviews comes from a documentary on urban renewal that aired on KCRA 54 years ago. The original program was produced and reported by Stan Atkinson. This segment written/narrated by Chris Lango. Edited by SteveDavisProduction.com

Sacramento named best city to be single

Real estate blog, movato.com/blog, recently named Sacramento as the best city to be single.

From the post…

So in coming up with the criteria for the best single cities in California, we had to narrow it down to what we thought were “typical” requirements for today’s single. This included:

  • A lower percent of the population that is married
  • Number of bars in the city
  • Number of romantic restaurants in the city
  • A lower cost of living
  • A lower percent of people who drive to work
  • A lower median age

So to sum up: Fewer married people + places to mingle + young people to mingle with + a price you can actually afford = the singles’ mecca – which was apparently Sacramento.

The folks at Movato did a good job explaining their methodology, give it a read.

Do you single folks out there agree?

Sacramento is one of the strongest soccer regions in the country

Mayor Kevin Johnson at USL Pro Press Conference

In the wake of the Sacramento City Council’s decision to disband the Sacramento Sports Commission (Mayor Kevin Johnson was absent from the vote), the United Soccer League (USL PRO) announced that an expansion franchise in Sacramento will join the league for the 2014 season.

“I welcome USL PRO to Sacramento,” Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson said. “Attracting more jobs and civic amenities to our community is an essential part of elevating our profile as a vibrant and emerging region.”

I guess that’s all well and good, but I’m locking in on this statement from the article.

The Sacramento area contains one of the strongest regional soccer scenes in the United States, with some of the highest youth soccer participation rates in the country, as well as successful high school and collegiate programs. Numerous professional players from Sacramento currently play in Major League Soccer and USL PRO. During the 2010 World Cup, Univision had higher viewership in Sacramento than ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX stations combined for the game between Mexico and Costa Rica. Sacramento was also consistently in the top 10 for ESPN/ABC Neilsen ratings during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Wow. I need to get out more, I had no idea. But, then again, I had no idea we still had a professional football team, and that said team plays at Raley Field. Or do they?

And in related news, how do we feel about this Kevin Johnson ethics violation story? I’m not sure I’m buying the “Oops, our bad” response. Do you?

Drink Beer to Send a Kid to Summer Camp

Yep, you read that correctly. Drink beer, and you’ll help send a kid to summer camp. It just doesn’t get any cooler than this!

This Thursday, April 19 from 5 to 8p.m. Pyramid Alehouse will provide unlimited tastings of its new beer releases, light snacks, and live music for just $25. Proceeds will benefit UCP of Sacramento and Northern California’s Autism Center for Excellence, and send 15 children with autism to summer camp at Grizzly Creek Ranch in Portola.

Seriously! Let me repeat myself. You drink beer. Kids go to summer camp.

“Summer camp is a rite of passage, and we want to make sure all kids have the chance to enjoy this experience, regardless of having a developmental disability,” says Doug Bergman, president and CEO, UCP of Sacramento and Northern California.

Well, Doug, you had me at “beer.”

Buy a ticket. Help these kids out! (Must purchase tickets in advance.)

Explosively Fun Art Show this Saturday

Looking for the best of Second Saturday? The coolest party will be at The Urban Hive, 1931 H Street, from 6 to 9 pm, where the talented, outrageous and funny artist Jose Di Gregorio will be joined by musician and visual artist Neil Haydon playing acoustic folk songs.

Di Gregorio, born in Puerto Rico and raised in California, graduated from Herron School of Art and Design in 2006 and currently serves on the Board of Directors at Verge Center for the Arts, where he is also an artist in residence. If you’re familiar with Verge, it’s a local hub for the area’s most talented contemporary artists. Di Gregorio’s residency there, in addition to his outstanding artworks, speaks volumes about his credibility as an artist. His exhibit Saturday will feature 15 mid- to large-scale drip paintings on wood and paper.

Plus, it’s going to be fun. Di Gregorio is not only a painter; he’s also a performance artist. Known for over-the-top karaoke performances and doing cannon balls into pools at fancy affairs where everyone else is dressed in suits (I know; I was there), Di Gregorio entertains. The magnitude of his creativity explodes onto his paintings and into his everyday life with joyful fervor.

Don’t miss the excitement!

Award-Winning Documentary Showing Tomorrow

At the heart of Sacramento’s contemporary arts scene is an outstanding start-up nonprofit called Verge Center for the Arts. It’s where all the cool kids convene, and some of this town’s hippest entertainment takes place there.

One of Verge’s best-kept secrets is its Film Series. It’s a mere $7 to watch one of their award-winning picture shows.  Tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:30 p.m., they’re showing “Marwencol,” a film that won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the South by Southwest Film Festival (talk about cool!), Best Documentary of the Year from the Boston Society of Film Critics and Rotten Tomatoes, and two Independent Spirit Awards. New York Magazine reviewed the film and raved, “About as fascinating as a documentary can get.” Fancy film!

The documentary features the life of Mark Hogancamp, who is beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five teens outside a bar–and lives to tell about it. Continue reading “Award-Winning Documentary Showing Tomorrow”

Sacramento Gas Prices

sacramento-usa-gas-prices-chart
We're beating the USA!

As gas prices are back in the news (blaming Obama? get out!), here’s a reminder about www.sactogasprices.com.

There many tips out there for saving money on gas, here are a few I enjoyed.

  • Avoid stops. If approaching a red light, see if you can slow down enough to avoid having to actually stop (because you reach the light after it is green). Speeding up from 5 or 10 miles per hour will be easier on the gas than starting from full stop.
  • Anticipate the stop signs and lights. Look far ahead; get to know your usual routes. You can let up on the gas earlier. Coasting to a stop will save the gasoline you would otherwise use maintaining your speed longer. If it just gets you to the end of a line of cars at a red light or a stop sign a few seconds later, it won’t add any time to your trip. Ditto for coasting to lose speed before a highway off-ramp: if it means you catch up with that truck halfway around the curve instead of at the beginning, you haven’t lost any time. In many cities, if you know the streets well, you can time the lights and maintain the appropriate speed to hit all green lights. Usually this is about 35 to 40 MPH.
  • Limit your driving (now that’s a concept!). This article includes ideas such as carpooling, combining trips and taking the first parking spot you find.

I wish folks would adhere to these tips regardless of gas prices. I hate that I get passed aggressively by folks when I try to coast into a stop sign or light.

While we’re talking about it, what do Sacramento drivers do that irritate you?

More hot Sacto action on DDD

Guy Fieri continues his DDD tour of Sacramento at Gatsby’s Diner.

Guido chop!

Guy Fieri continues this season’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives tour of Sacramento with a stop at Gatsby’s Diner tonight. Earlier this season, he stopped at The Golden Bear and business immediately boomed. A similar effect is expected when his visit to Dad’s Kitchen airs in four weeks.

As usual, the food he featured looked great as chef-owners Chuck Caplener and Jerad Nuttall showed off their local examples of homemade dishes and condiments. Guy tried the beet sliders, smoked pork chops, and German beef rouladen.

Since we know he’ll be back, where else should Guy visit in Sacramento? Am I crazy, or does he almost never feature Asian restaurants?