I enjoy the heck out it, as a matter of fact. And I tend to visit neighborhoods like Midtown Sacramento when I visit other cities, in part because I like that kind of neighborhood, and in part to see if there are interesting solutions to neighborhood problems that can be translated into local solutions.

One strategy I notice in other cities, including West Hollywood in the Los Angeles area, and the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, is resident-only parking in residential neighborhoods near busy nightlife districts. On Sunset Boulevard, there is metered parking on the boulevard (and the meters run until 2 AM) and quite a few paid parking structures and lots, and at night there are guys with flashlights waving thousands of visitors into their paid lots. Near Wrigley Field in Lakeview, there is metered street parking that is free until 6 PM, some off-street parking, and it's right next to two El stations. Both sites get tons of visitors--Sunset is legendary for its restaurants, live music, and assorted nightlife. Lakeview is home to a baseball field with no parking lot and a popular club district. So both get plenty of evening traffic.

But if you walk a block or so away from Clark Street or Sunset Boulevard, you find residential neighborhoods, that, like Midtown, were largely built before cars were common, so they don't have driveways or garages. And in those neighborhoods, parking is sharply limited to residents only at night. In Chicago, the restriction runs from 6 PM to 6 AM--in West Hollywood, from 7 PM to 7 AM.

The result is that visitors to the fun parts of those neighborhoods have to stick close to the fun parts. They generally have to pay for parking, but frankly, anyone who is going to drop a bunch of money on a play, a live show, a baseball game, dinner out, or a bunch of drinks can afford to spend a few bucks on parking. Parking is scarce, so it's kind of expensive.

Now, this does not mean that those neighborhoods are deathly silent. Plenty of people who live in those neighborhoods, as in Midtown, do so because they like being able to walk to a lively and stimulating place. So they still have the occasional crew of drunken revelers stumbling home from the clubs, just not nearly as many as there would be if parking was unrestricted. So, because they're reasonably quiet and safe (but not silent), and the people walking through tend to be neighbors rather than visitors, they're less loud than the business streets, and thus more livable. This means the property near the business district, more valuable because of its proximity to businesses, STAYS valuable--because it is both convenient AND livable.

Now, midtown Sacramento probably isn't facing the kind of parking pressure that Chicago or Los Angeles faces. But what we see on Second Saturday is a clear indication of where things are headed--every Saturday in the central city is as busy as Second Saturdays were 10 years ago, and weekdays are as busy as Saturdays were 10 years ago. So if we know where we're headed, and other cities have already addressed this problem, we can take advantage of their solutions rather than the slower process of having to learn from our own mistakes.

And yes, having better public transit (like the late-night bus service on Sunset Boulevard, or the El in Chicago) would also help solve the problem. But that's a subject for another article. In the meantime, stay off my lawn or I'll sic my unicorn on you!

Larry, you're my hero.

Tonight I met up with a friend at the Crocker Museum auction and afterwards asked her to go have dinner with me in Midtown (East End). My friend was hesitant at first because she said she was worried about finding parking. I turned to her and said "You go to San Francisco all the time. Does the lack of parking spaces there stop you from going?" "Of course not", she said, I think realizing for the first time that Sacramento was actually growing into more of real city. She found parking a block away from the busy restaurant and we had a great time.

Spot on!

I love riding my bike in Midtown! Solutions are much more simple than one might think!

Requiring people to walk those three, four, or five blocks might help a different problem we have: health! Dust off those parallel parking skills and stroll a few blocks, it won't kill you. Or better yet, take light rail or a bike! Great article, Larry.

I'm also a recent DC transport. OP and I probably know very well about those who're averse to using public transit or biking, as it is wildly popular amongst the majority suburbanite population there. Try getting a person from the further out Virginia suburbs to come into the district on the Metro.

It exists here too, certainly (see: a lot of people in Roseville and Elk Grove). I don't think midtown should be accommodating these people. Urban parking lots are horrific and are really a thing of the past and not something for the present. As for the parking problem, it is a little too easy to get away with free parking in midtown and that should probably change. This will encourage people to park farther away (and explore more of the neighborhood) or contribute to much-needed parking revenue.

This is a great piece and I appreciate all of the people who have weighed. The City is under the impression that Dale Kooyman, William Burg, and small group of dedicated emailers speak for the entirety of Midtown. It is nice to see other people give input. This is our neighborhood and we deserve to be heard as well!

We have lived in Midtown for 9 years and ever since we arrived, there has been a small handful of people who complain about the parking, the restaurants, the bars, the noise, the amount of people, etc. We chose to move to Midtown because we wanted city living, which encompasses most of the above. If we had wanted suburban living, we would have stayed in the suburbs. I realize that most of the people complaining have lived in Midtown for over 20 years and change has been hard. This is not the neighborhood they moved into. But, what neighborhood is? Change is inevitable and you have to adapt or be miserable. Restricted parking is not the answer and would cause as much hardship to the residents as to visitors. We have a large extended family and friends and we don't always know when they are coming to visit. We are allowed one guest pass every two years. This is definitely not enough. Gettting temporary passes is almost impossible and means you have to know in advance who might be coming. Having extended restrictions on parking would make our living in Midtown untenable. Asking guests to move their cars every two hours (and moving them to where???) is impossible. Additionally, according to regulation, you can't just move across the street, but have to go onto another block. The parking restrictions already in place have been working as well as any parking restrictions can work. Extending them (either down to one hour or onto nights and weekends) would cause great hardship for those of us who are homeowners in Midtown and have people who visit us on a regular basis, to say nothing about having an occasional party. I also feel we have bigger issues to deal with like the loss of police and fire personnel, issues in the park, and the future of Marshall School. I hope that the City will listen to the vast majority of homeowners, and not those who talk the loudest.

Well done, Larry. Thank you..

I have an idea.

It is not fleshed out at all, it just popped into my head but seems quite relevant. Why not allow residents, property owners or tenants, to purchase additional visitor passes beyond the first one they receive for free. Each additional pass could cost more. Perhaps start at $25 for the first additional one, then maybe $50 for the 2nd one? From there who knows.

Again this idea just popped into my head and undoubtedly will have flaws or not work at all, please feel free to reply and tear it apart or suggest amendments.

By charging reidents aren't you penalizing them for the lack of parking caused by people who not visiting said residents? Where would that money go and what would be the purpose of charging residents to have more than one visitor? Maybe to add insult to injury.

Not to get too far off topic but since you brought it up....it's absurd that many of the sidewalks with the highest pedestrian traffic in Midtown are without street lights. It's a safety and economic issue. The problem is that new street lights are typically paid for by property owners through assessment fees. Many of the property owners along these streets do not live or work in Midtown and/or just don't care and therefore are unwilling to voluntarily sign on. I know I tried. Maybe next time someone is hurt or attacked the City should be sued for not providing a safe, well-lit environment for pedestrians?

Goodness gracious. Reading all these comments, and various articles about downtown parking over the years, makes me extremely glad I live out in the quiet burbs. No fanny pack though, nor fear of dragons. I do manage to park 5 blocks away from my destination without whining on the infrequent occasions when I venture to your neck of the woods. I don't return to my car in a drunken stupor either. We're not all brain-dead out here, you know.

I love this article, and I couldn't agree more. Compared to other cities, our parking is a slice of sweet cake. I never have to park more than a block away from my house.

On Second Saturday, I know it's going to be a bit difficult after 5 pm, so I try to have the car home by then. However, most places I visit either on foot or bike, which is why it's great to live here! Simple.

Signed, fellow street-parking midtownian.

It's neither "lack of parking hysteria" or "a belief that thousands of drunk frat dudes will be coming into the neighborhood flipping over cars and setting homes on fire in an alcohol-fueled rage", Larry. It's real life experience. My household has experienced hundreds of dollars in property damage, groups of people having loud conversations, drinking, yelling at the top of their lungs at 2 AM, loitering, and littering while they hang out near their cars on my block. This usually happens at least a couple of times a week.

It wasn't always like this. It resulted from the proliferation of alcohol purveyors in my neighborhood, especially those who've gotten parking exemptions. Of course the conversation gets heated when there's yet another alcohol license application in an area that ABC itself has identified as "over concentrated".

The proposal is for a 26 square block area, only on Second Saturday, and only for three months. Why can't people advocate for something in their own community without others responding with negative labeling? Why the uproar?

You are absolutely right Tom. And for those who said that they knew nothing about proposed parking changes were being considered--whether in a pilot or in some form or another, please refer to a March 22, 2011 sacpress article by Suzanne Hurt regarding presentation at NAG..

"City, residents discuss Second Saturday, nightlife

by Suzanne Hurt, published on March 22, 2011 at 5:56 PM

" . . . . . The city is also considering changing its parking ordinance to allow city staff to make changes to residential parking zones – such as extending the hours of certain areas to after 6 p.m. – to solve problems without having to get City Council approval. . . . . . . ."

I excerpted the above paragraph and records show that the complaining Marshall School Co-chair and fellow complainer board member and commenters were in attendance. If anyone is interested in reading the entire article, it is available.

I think a lot of folks are missing the point. The businesses in midtown rely on their customers having simple access to parking near their businesses. Many of their customers won't mind the added difficulty of parking but some have a more difficult time.

I live in West Sacramento and although I love Midtown I have spent very little of my recreational time there in the last few years since the city has been making parking more difficult. I happened to spend this last Saturday in Midtown and had breakfast there, bought some shoes, and had gelato. In all three cases the proprietors were absolutely wonderful and my interactions with the businesses were great. But in order to have these experiences I had to:

- Park my car, unload my two young children, walk half a block away to get the ticket, walk back and hold my 2 year old's hand while we walked into traffic so that I could nervously put the sticker on the street side of my car with cars while cars zoomed by. This while I'm screaming at my six year old not to walk away or walk into the street to follow us.

- Having spent more time at the shoe vendor than I expected, I had to grab my children and run back to my car. That wasn't so bad because it gave me a chance to try out my new running shoes before the purchase. But then I had to argue with a meter maid to let me go since my sticker had only expired by a couple minutes. Ultimately she let me go but not before giving me a gigantic sigh. I then proceeded to move my car closer to the business next to a broken parking-sticker-vending machine. Instead of walking another block and crossing the street to the next closest machine I took a picture of the broken machine with my children in the background so if I had to argue to a judge that it would have been unreasonable to expect me to cross the street with both children. I then proceeded to rush through my purchase in order to finish before encountering another meter-maid.

- I then brought my children to a wonderful Gelato shop. Unfortunately by that time I only had a couple of quarters left which would only pay for a few minutes of parking. As we sat outside on a beautiful Sacramento spring day my children enjoying Gelato for the first time I eventually spotted a meter maid. Realizing that my time was about up I hurriedly packed up our unfinished deserts and rushed my children to the car. As I was loading them into the car the meter-maid stopped at my car, looked at the now expired meter, and began to walk toward my car. I pleaded "I'm just leaving" and she nodded and moved on to the next car.

My overall experience of my day in midtown was bad despite the wonderful businesses I had the chance to interact with. Next weekend I will almost certainly spend my Saturday in West Sacramento where my options are so much more limited on where to go but the city doesn't treat you like a criminal or as a opportunity to plunder when you're a customer at businesses there.

I realize that I am probably a minority of the customers who shop at midtown. But even if the cities agressive parking fees don't bother 90% of their customers, the 10% is does bother is a huge loss in business for storefronts in midtown. Obviously the city doesn't care if the businesses fail as long as their revenue increases.

One last note, I have to tip my cap (if I ever wore one) to the shop owners in Midtown who are doing such a fantastic job that they are able to stay in business despite the cities best efforts to chase away their customers.