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Part of what I feel my job involves is staying on top of what else is going on it town and over time I have gone out and looked through a heck of a lot of urban projects all over the country. And I thought it might be fun to rank my favorites.
These are my top 10 favorite urban housing projects in Sacramento that are selling or renting today. I am being fair and not putting the Good project on the list, but of course you know it would be on the top if it were included….
I am judging based on design, livability, and how well they fit in to or benefit the community around them. Keep in mind that just because the project may be good, the developers might not have gotten the memo about the Internet and how people are using it to find homes (just a warning).
(UPDATE and an important one I must say.)
I am adding the 9onF project and putting it right on the top of the list. I in a complete oversight forgot about the project and the good things that Jeremy is doing over at 49 Mile for sustainability and urban development. (Sorry for the oversight Jeremy).
I got an email from Michelle a few days ago asking some advice on education, and although I am sure I was not much help to her on that front, I want to mention her here because it’s people like her with passion like she has that will define the future. Passion for something that is right is the only thing that matters in the end. You can face just about anything that comes along and innovate your way around any problem if you have the passion in you to make waves.
Here is an article SN&R did about Michelle in July.
“Your Blog will never replace a billboard and a few guys dancing on the corner with a sign.” It was not the first time we heard the statement, but hearing it from a 30 year veteran with countless thousands of homes under his belt I must admit it was a bit of a blow. Our marketing has always been anything but normal and on more than one occasion we have been asked to lunch only to be lectured on the “way things are”. There is something about a system that has worked for 30 or 40 years that makes the people in it feel opposed and often insulted by the mention of change. LJ Urban is that change and we are standing up for a new way because this change is long overdue. Gone are the days of billboards and focus groups and in their place is a real time conversation between people who collectively stand for something better. The result is delivery of a product that is end to end what it should be.
We have had a series of dinners over the last two months where we invited fellow Eco-Urbanists to come together and talk about what its going to take to get Sacramento to be one of the shining few cities that takes up the call to build a more sustainable and livable core. We used the Good project as a backdrop and discussion point. From those dinners we got all kinds of ideas, many of which are being implemented already. Simple things like the walls getting a slightly different finish and the color changing on the tile to bigger things like the fact that higher mortgage payments are making it harder for people to get in the door. They proposed that we lower prices in the first phase which will move in the buyers waiting on the sidelines and keep things moving while the mortgage market smooths out its issues. I think we all get a bit myopic and dig our heads in the sand when we have a big project going and its easy to forget that outside opinions are priceless.
My point is this no matter what you sell you have to stop thinking of yourself as a marketer or a sales person and start thinking of your job as a conversationist, or even better, a listener. Things change and people are not always where you think they are. No amount of market statistics or studies can compensate for conversations with real people about what is going on today.
We are still in “pre-opening gear” since the first phase is still not complete, so we have not had very many open houses. I am sorry to those who wanted to get into the units but have not yet had a chance.
We are doing an open house this Saturday August 2nd from 2-6. Come by if you have not had a chance to see inside. We are going to be touring the nearly finished “Small” units as well. And yes we will be listening….
Many of you attended the movie night we put on last year, I know that there were even quite a few that were turned away because we ran out of space. Well we are thinking its about time to do another one and hopefully we can get everyone in this time.
We are going to ask that everyone bring a small donation at the door for our friends over at ECOS. They are a great organization that does great things for Sacramento and we think that a movie would be a great way to celebrate them and get some good folks together while we are at it.
The last movie was all Jason’s idea so its a bit sad to be doing one without him around to enjoy it but I think he would have wanted us to continue in his honor.
The Details
Where: Its going to be in the new Green Sacramento Space at 20th and H (which is our office also)
When: Friday July 25th at 7pm
What: We are going to be showing the movie The Corporation and possibly a few other short films as well. Just a bunch of fun stuff to get you thinking about your community and what you can do to make it a better place.
What is a normally perfect view of downtown from the corner unit in Good today looked like something straight out of our future if we keep using oil the way we do today.
I am very excited about this solution for vacant urban land. We have often talked about what to do with land that both we and others in our area own and have turned down the idea of a community garden because there are so many stories of gardens that once put in are “permanent”. And I understand fully why that is. But this idea takes out the permanence of that concept and allows a space to be used while it awaits future development without having to worry about what is in the dirt that could possibly contaminate the soil.
I can not tell you how inspired I am to make this happen all over the place! I am going to be in touch with the people who did this in London and get more information on how it all went together. I really hope that somehow Sacramento can adopt this as a interim solution and these can pop up all over the place. The lots that now take away from the area would instead contribute to the community. And all for a very minimal investment. There is no doubt that gardens help build community and more than ever the cost of transportation mandates that we grow more of our own food as close to home as possible.
Who is with me?
Go here for more about the people who started it, and here for an article about its first trial run.
I was very happy to open up the Wall Street Journal today and see the article about urban development in Sacramento that Anna Campoy worked on for so long finally made it to print. And it made it square in the middle of the front page! I am a little sad I must admit that the interview I did with her did not make it in the article but I have to just get over that because its so cool for Sacramento. Here is a link to the article, they also did a little video about urban development to go along with the story.
I was excited to read in Inside the City that Sacramento is taking it’s first step toward bike stations that I see popping up worldwide - it’s called Bikes and Bites! People can rent bikes by the Sheraton for the next few months and cruise around midtown to find food and beverages. Sounds like it is a private undertaking with some of the restaurants helping support it and it seems mainly targeted at the hotel guests. Hopefully it will be successful and keep going – and maybe someday we can have one of my favorite things in town- a Bike Tree! With Million Mile May behind us and Velocabs cruising the streets it’s a logical progression I think.
