The R Street streetscape improvement project that broke ground in 2010 finished in the fall, and several other changes to the R Street corridor signal it as an up-and-coming district heading into 2012, with more improvements on the way. Improvements to R Street between 10th and 13th streets came in at less than the allotted funding, allowing the city to add a few more amenities, including 13 more benches for pedestrians. Other improvements included creating uniform sidewalks, new pavement and new streetlights. Rail lines were left in place in a nod to the area’s history. The construction stayed on schedule, coming to a close in the fall. Completion of the first phase is just one step i

The 2012 race for Sacramento mayor just gained another candidate: Edgar Hilbert. Hilbert, a tax preparer in Oak Park, said Wednesday that he was motivated to run for office by a desire to serve the Sacramento community in a meaningful way. “It will be my duty and goal to not just protect the quality of life in Sacramento, but to improve it,” he said in a press release Tuesday. Hilbert, 45, is married and has three children. He was born in Mexico City and moved to the United States in 1993. He has lived in Sacramento since 2001. Hilbert’s wife, Leticia, ran for City Council District 5 in the 2010 election, and Hilbert acted as his wife’s campaign manager. One of the biggest issues that

City Utilities is looking for customer input as it faces challenges with aging pipes, increasing regulations The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities, the City’s water, sewer, drainage and solid waste service provider, is seeking residential and commercial customer input on a set of guiding principles that will guide the department’s future services, programs and priorities. Through the initiative called Your Utilities. Your Voice., the department is educating customers about the challenges it faces as well as gathering their opinions about how the department moves forward. “Choices have to be made as we look to the future of the department,” said Dave Brent, Interim Director of t

The new owner of the historic railyards will roughly outline plans for the site Tuesday. Representatives for the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, a Chicago-area real estate investment firm, are scheduled to appear before the Sacramento City Council for the first time since taking over the defaulted property Oct. 22. They will briefly discuss their approach to the project and what may be the focus in the future, as well as give a quick update on infrastructure work taken over from Thomas Enterprises and other issues they're focusing on in the transition, said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. "I think they've gotten their bearings and just want to share with the public where th

The Sacramento City Council agreed to fund a $150,000 study of downtown's infrastructure Tuesday night. The purpose is to collect up-to-date information about the core's aging and sometimes outdated infrastructure and identify improvements needed to eliminate obstacles to the kind of infill development outlined in the city's 2030 General Plan and the Downtown Activation Strategy. It was adopted by the council in January. The study is needed to make sure downtown is primed for the development and investment that's expected as the economy picks up. The data also will help the city apply for state and federal funding. An R Street infrastructure study done years ago has been used to get fund

SACRAMENTO, Cal. - FEBRUARY 9, 2009 - A local group of bicycle advocates launch the 1st Annual Bikeramento Week from Feb. 9-14, culminating on Valentine’s Day with a race day watch party at 18th and L on the patio of the Buckhorn Grill during the Amgen Tour of California, the largest bicycle race in the United States. Each day this week, the team offers a different bicycle-friendly event to highlight Sacramento’s potential as a bikeable community to both visitors and locals alike. By attending events, participants can win a pair of tickets to the Bikeramento Patio during the Amgen prologue on Saturday. The group wishes to raise awareness of bicycles as a transportation norm. “This is a g

Given the state of the local economy, I wanted to share a press release regarding some encouraging news about The Railyards project.  Sacramento, CA – (Dec 3, 2008)  The developer of the 244-acre Sacramento Railyards project announced today that approximately 3,000 new jobs will be created in 2009 as a direct result of voter passage of Proposition 1C, the $2.8 billion Housing and Infrastructure Bond and Proposition1B, the $19.9 billion Transportation Bond as well as other local and federal infrastructure funds. The announcement comes as the Obama administration considers a federal economic recovery plan with a national infrastructure investment component and the Sacramento region copes w