What has long been hidden is finally coming into view and this new vision is one the city has yearned for since we became a residential destination over the past few decades.
The tide is turning for river renaissance
Public, private projects lined up
By Deb Kollars - dkollars@sacbee.com
Published 11:00 pm PST Saturday, November 3, 2007
For years and years, Sacramento's urban waterfront has been a ribbon of disappointment.
While cities across the nation have embraced the magic of water with spaces alive and appealing, we have settled for patches of weeds, old gray warehouses and empty slabs of concrete along the shores of the stately Sacramento River.
Look around the riverbend, however, and you will find a new waterfront rising:
Riverside offices with views of the Capitol. The region's first condominium tower with balconies overlooking the water. A pair of new museums facing each other across the river. Shops and restaurants. Piers and marinas. Public promenades where people can gather.
All are being contemplated and designed, some with local muscle behind them, some with big national names.
Most are far from completion. Some may change or fade away. In every location, challenges remain, from securing levee safety to clearing industrial uses to waiting out a sagging housing market and tricky economy.
But for the first time in Sacramento's halting riverfront history, a series of projects with real plans, real backers and real timelines are lining up along the riverbanks in a collective sign of a renaissance.
To many, it is about time.
"I have been here 30 years," said Michael Glassman, a Sacramento landscape designer who is cohost of "Garden Police" on the Discovery Home Channel. "I have always been surprised at how little we've done with our waterfront."
A maturing market
The new focus along both sides of the river comes from converging forces, according to city planners and real estate experts. After years of suburban expansion, a maturing downtown market is drawing developers to the urban core. At the same time, the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento are taking steps to connect people to the river.
