This Wednesday's Design Dialogue will feature a presentation on the "Delivery of the Midtown Pilot Alley" by Julie Young with the Alley Activation Group and Steve Cohn, Council Member, City of Sacramento. Both Julie Young and Steve Cohn spearheaded the effort to implement a pilot project to activate the alley between 18th and 17th Streets/ L Street and Capital Ave that is currently under construction. On the 2nd year anniversary of UDA's "Imagine Alley Event", Council Member Cohn and Julie Young will present on the status of the Midtown Pilot Alley, global efforts to activate alleys, and efforts to name Sacramento's alleys. Join UDA and the AIA for a discussion and idea session on future

The Midtown Business Association voted to provide $20,000 to a Midtown Alley Activation Alliance project aimed at transforming an alley section running from 17th to 18th Street, between L Street and Capitol Avenue. The project is a pilot venture to activate Midtown alleys, creating a space that can be used for art, commerce and civic activity. Construction of the alley will take place this summer and is expected to be complete by early September. What makes this project so unique is the sustainable focus on engaging public space in creative ways. Complete with permeable paved stones, solar lighting,and planters, this pilot will add a public benefit to a unique Midtown alley. The project h

The Midtown Business Association voted Wednesday night to kick in $20,000 toward nearly $400,000 in improvements for a prototype alley running from 17th to 18th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue. At the same time, a three-unit condo building has been under construction since February next to that alley. Construction workers have created a shell containing three condos and a garage. Developer Jeremy Drucker is building the alley-front "Stitch" project as a three-year sales model for other property owners and prospective tenants. Facing Old Soul coffee roastery, the project sits at the back of a deep lot behind a house at 1717 Capitol Ave. The building is expected to be finished

On Friday, May 14th, local bands Vesuvius, A Single Second, and Purgatory will play at the Distillery, located at 2107 L Street in Sacramento.  The cover charge is $10, and the show is scheduled to begin at 9pm.  However, management from the Distillery says the first band is likely to begin playing closer to 10pm as the dinner crowd tends to remain seated for some time. A Single Second's Shawn Peter says, "Dave Girard, Aaron Holt, Jason 'Mogley' Tilsey and I are raising funds to help make a difference." Purgatory's Coleman Garcia says, "We're doing the show because we love writing and performing music.  We generate a clean rock sound that's also very melodic and can still kick your face

A group interested in transforming alleys will present three prototypes to the Sacramento City Council Tuesday. A restaurant row concept is proposed to hold a mix of outdoor cafés just steps from Memorial Auditorium. Another could contain an alley-front condo sales model. The third would demonstrate the vision for alley hardscapeimprovements. The Alley Activation Committee is proposing three pilot alleys in Midtown. Two would stretch from 17th to 19th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue in the Handle District, and a third is proposed for the alley from I to J streets between 16th and 17th streets. "It's thinking about the whole piece of how do people live and work in the city,"

The two Midtown alleys stand largely quiet and deserted, except for the occasional rumbling delivery truck and dumpsters crouched behind buildings. The alleys have a hidden, tranquil feel in contrast to busy streets they run between. A third alley holding the entrance to Old Soul coffee house gets more foot traffic and cars heading surreptitiously to and from a state parking garage. So many cars, in fact, that they rob the alley of that serene environment. One group has another vision for what these alleys could become. They see al fresco dining in an upscale restaurant row reminiscent of San Francisco's Belden Street. They see a small, affordable, alley-front condo building that doesn'