It's interesting to me that Heyamoto gets her chops so busted for her column yet Anita Creamer can write about "gym rage" and all the comments are like "great article".
This article freaks me out. So Fargo was quoted as saying "this community wants to see more housing". Who exactly is saying that? Really, who? Presumably it would be people who want to move here but can't find housing? Are there people like that? I doubt if it's people who can't afford to buy a house cuz that's me and I can't afford nor would I want to live in any of the new housing, especially since it all seems to cost as much as buying a pre-existing house downtown. So if it's not people like that then it would have to just be developers who stand to make money from building the housing. Who are hardly the "community". How about the reporter framing the dissenting comments as a "parade of interest groups" taking "cracks at the development". That's not really neutral reporting language, is it? Isn't Thomas Enterprise the largest "interest group" of them all?
Buying a new house will usually cost more than buying an existing house in the same neighborhood-- it's like buying a new car vs. buying a used car.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of people who want to buy a new house downtown. Some people want to live in the area, but just aren't ready for an 80 year old house. The upkeep can be very expensive if you're not handy with home repair, and there are green options available today which can't easily be retrofitted to work in older homes. I like living in my 1913 dump, but it needs a LOT of work that I could never afford to pay someone else to do.
Soriano's article in this month's Midtown Monthly went thru the regional housing downturn without noting that the central city area has withstood the drop better than the rest of Sac. There has been a softening in the downtown market, but that's more because the whole market was insane a couple of years ago than anything else. the Central City housing market has not crashe, (well, not YET, anyway). The real story for Central city housing is that one can actually find homes within biking distance for $250K now.
The question with the railyards development is, What will the neighborhoods be like in 40 years? midtown, East Sac, Land Park, etc are all established neighborhoods-- known quantities. how the railyards neighborhoods will age should be the biggest concern. The proximity to downtown is good... the inorganic nature of the growth (i.e. springing up like a suburb) is bad.
we'll see.
There is definitely a need for affordable housing, for both renters and buyers, but unfortunately it doesn't look like that has been necessarily prioritized in the railyard development. Maybe some one knows more about it, but if there was a set aside for affordable housing, I think it would have been mentioned in the article. But yeah, Sacramento is ranked 5th in the nation for population growth. And the housing market crash means increased rental demand and higher rents. Also, is it just me, or has anyone else noticed all the bank owned for sale signs around downtown. That's a pretty bad sign if you ask me....
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Anita Creamer is such a fucking tired scold. She's like what might happen if you gave Margaret from Dennis the Menace a newspaper column. I wish I knew what gym that bitch works out at, just so I could go up to her and terrorize her with a couple of loud woowoos.
ReplyDelete"We think your behavior is inappropriate" -- Creamer.
"Well, we think your tired schoolmarm column sucks" -- readers like me.
As for Jonathan, he was great, but I do agree that his version of "Lesbian Bar" wasn't the best one I've seen him perform; it wasn't even in the top five.
Cheers,
That Tall Guy Who Was Talking to Scott After the Show
ps: WTF were you guys doing eating at Dos Coyotes, anyway?
The county's 15% affordable-housing component does apply to the railyards, and so yes, 15% of the housing in the railyards will be affordable. That means 10% VLI housing (affordable to people making $24,000 a year) and 5% LI housing ($36,000 a year.) The developer will deliver 1000 housing units in the first phase (figure in the next ten years) and then eventually 12,000 units. So, theoretically, 150 low-income housing units soon, and 3000 units later.
ReplyDeleteThe developer kind of had to be set straight about low-income housing, they wanted an SRO replacement unit that wasn't even within the Railyards to count as their first 150 units (thus absolving them of having to build any low-income in the first phase), and then count a certain number of moderate-income housing units as low-income housing (moderate income is around $50,000 a year.) The city said "no," so they developer said "okay."
Thing about housing is, even if it's expensive, adding housing reduces pressure on the housing market, other factors being equal. It doesn't mean you'll be able to buy a house downtown for $50,000, but maybe $200,000. Which seems like a lot compared to what you'd spend on, say, lunch, but there are ways to do it.
One thing I like about the railyards is that it takes a lot of development pressure off of midtown. There will still be dorks who want to knock down a bunch of Queen Anne cottages to build more faux-warehouse lofts, but for the most part they can satisfy their urge to build super-modern luxury penthouses in the Railyards instead of in Southside Park. And the folks who want to live in a modern place with modern amenities can do so, thus making the older homes available to those of us who like living in hundred year old homes.
This potentially means a few more decades of having our rad midtown with the amazing houses and ethnic diversity and secret squirrel underground house shows and whatnot.
But, really, the railyards are fine, it means the secret preservation mafia that secretly controls the city will have to be vigilant, but there are actually some half-decent ideas, and THE RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM IS GOING TO HAPPEN (giant happy jumping around the room) so hey.
I was wondering what your take was on the railroad museum deal. I half expected to see you quoted in the Bee article, but the Bee isn't that cool.
ReplyDeleteSee that's the thing about "lesbian bar" that really bugs. You can always count on him to play it EVERY SINGLE TIME even though it's one of his worst songs, yet you can never count on him playing some of your faves. I enjoyed hearing "harpo" though, I can't recall if I've ever heard him sing that one live.
I was particlularly psyched that he played Corner Store - I've never seen him play that one before. It's off of "It's Time For..." which you don't see too often. I think, if I had to pick, that would be my favorite record of his.
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please tell me that anita creamer story is like the halloween show for journalism and someone just did a really good job of copying her. please.-ed
ReplyDeletedump?!
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