It appears to be moving right along and the possibilities appear exciting, the leadership appears to be ready to deal with the challenges (of which there are many), and the vision seems strong.
All are very good omens.
Editorial: Railyard renaissance
Design takes shape; costs remain challenge
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, June 9, 2007
Sacramento's biggest planning challenge -- doubling the downtown by redeveloping the dormant railyard -- may happen with remarkably little debate over its design.
Developer Thomas Enterprises bought the railyard in the last days of 2006. The first draft of the environmental analysis is already on the streets. And the Sacramento City Council may be done mapping out the future of 240 acres of new downtown before Thanksgiving.
"In the next six months, we're going to be moving at warp speed," Assistant City Manager Marty Hanneman recently told The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga.
The speed of the planning process is a welcome departure from decades of decay at the site under the ownership of various railroads (first the Southern Pacific, then the Union Pacific). But the progress doesn't mean that huge challenges, particularly financing all the necessary roadway, water and sewer improvements, is resolved.
Settling on a design and clearing the environmental review process simply mean that the railyard is ready for a rebirth that can occur when the money is found and the market is right for extraordinary investments in retail and downtown housing.
The heart of the railyard, and quite possibly the hot hub of tomorrow's downtown, is a fenced-in array of brick buildings known as the Central Shops. More than a century ago, they were filled with belching steam locomotives. But the size and scale of the structures make them ideal for a shopping and entertainment district in a stunning historical setting.
In some ways, the shops signify everything that Old Sacramento could be but has never achieved. They are adjacent to a proposed performing arts complex, which may breathe more life into the surrounding streets than an arena (gone from the plan, at least for now) that typically tends to be the focus of patrons' spending. And on the northeast side, a high-rise housing district would be accented by a strip of one-acre parks that provide the civic glue for this unique neighborhood.
