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I have a love-hate relationship with the alleys in Sacramento’s urban core.

Hate the Alleys
I live on an alley corner lot. At present, this is not an asset. The walk-through traffic makes our bedrooms less private, people drive through at insane speeds which makes for noise pollution and safety concerns (our kids know not to walk in the alley without us), the alley is frequently tagged, and many who do walk through (especially at night) are on their way to or from the liquor store two blocks away.

We’ve actually banded together with others in our block to request a gate for the alley to minimize some of these problems. So far, it looks like the request will be granted.

Love the Alleys
I love alleys. I like the hidden surprises you find in them. One alley condo near us has some really sophisticated urban-alley architecture. Another alley is home to what looks like a 100-year old barn: I always expect to see hay bales being forked out the window. Then there’s alley-fruit foraging, but I’ll save that for another post… And I have my own guilty admission; I do occasionally drive through other alleys. However, I DO limit this momentary hypocrisy to when I need to backtrack and the next street up is one-way.

Writing this, I recognize, of course, that the love-hate thing could be viewed as myopic: i love other people’s alleys and want to walk/drive through them but don’t want others to do that in the one next to my house.

Perhaps this is why the article in Sunday’s Bee about about Steve Cohn’s proposal to name the alleys caught my eye.

Here’s my condensed version. Alleys are an untapped resource. As more people move to the urban core and land becomes more and more scarce, these quasi-streets will become home to more residences and businesses. However, the people who occupy these places have two problems: their address is hard to find and the alleys themselves need some help to make them more attractive and desirable. Cohn’s proposal to name the alleys isn’t entirely unchartered territory–several alleys already have names–but, by advancing the cause of alley-naming, he hopes to jump-start some urban revitalization. Projected alley christening would be in 2007.

My Take
I think the overall idea could have some merit. I think naming has some legitimizing power and could help with urban clean-up. And I can sympathize with alley-based occupants. Finding someplace fast and easy is one of the perks of urban living in Sacramento; at present, alleys and Westfield Mall are the noteworthy exceptions.

I also think, if the naming thing happens, a lot of thought needs to go into the naming system. I like the idea that names would relate somehow to the alphabet named streets. One thing I love about Sacramento’s urban core is how easy it is to find places based on their address or cross streets. I remember how dumb-struck I was by the genius behind the address number on the alphabet street correlating with the number of the letter in the alphabet (lots between E and F all start with the number 5 which matches the 5th place that E has in the alphabet).

Two Questions
First, about the naming system. Something about Cohn’s idea of “selling” alley names as way of funding their clean-up doesn’t quite sit well with me. Street-names shouldn’t be ego-strokes, which is what I often find with name-based fund-raising. Maybe there’s a creative way around this, though. Granted, it’s a secondary name but that seems to invite confusion. Do I live on “Privileged Patron” alley or “E Flat Alley?” Also, is the sponsorship written in eternity or does it renew every 10 years or so? Both seem to present problems: eternal names may lose communal relevance, while renewed names keeps funds flowing but presents logistical issues.

Second, some areas of the urban core seem to be a better fit for this than others. Particularly alleys that would benefit from the increased traffic, like the one that’s home to the Old Soul bakery. But additional traffic, pedestrian or other-wise, may not be as welcome in the alleys around Midtown that are 100% residential (mine for example). Also, if naming an alley is presented as an alternative to having it gated, that seems somewhat limiting. Our alley needs a gate, as evidenced by the number of signatures on the petition requesting one.

Jason