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The following is the first of LJ Urban’s Open Mic series. Where we invite you to write about the ins and outs of urban life. Email your entries to Levi(at)LJUrban(dot)com

The first post is from Ian Merker, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP. Ian currently works with MFDB Architects and is passionate about urban life here in Sacramento.

A little Urban Controversy

On Thursday 8/21, The Sacramento Bee featured an article about a small residential development that was turned down in Citrus Heights. What makes this project newsworthy to The Bee was that the project was essentially turned down because the neighborhood activists who attended council meetings angrily and loudly denounced the idea and council proclaimed the design as ‘ugly’. Council unanimously rejected the project.

Missing from the article is the personal story of applicant Valentin Krasnodemsky and the greener undertones of the project.

Mr. Krasnodemsky did everything right. He hired an Architect, had meetings with the neighborhood and even meetings with SMUD to go solar. Ukranian-born Valentin was trying to produce an admirable version of the American Dream - create a set of close-knit homes for his own family in a modest neighborhood of modest means on a site long neglected. The house/lot designs are dense, but not to the point of pushing the envelope. The lot subdivision would have created a series of lots of similar size to the neighbors. The floor plans are the average size of new homes, larger than the neighbors, but not monstrous. Valentin’s family would determine the space and amenities they desired to raise their families together in a tradition that is cross cultural and often abandoned in modern US suburbia. You wouldn’t have to load up the car to visit your relatives.

The fatal mistake made by Valentin, and to an extent by the Architects, is that they failed to assess the social and political nature of the project. Who would have thought that a relatively new city (10 years old) in a growing urban area would be so willing to throw progressive values to the wayside to allow an angry mob to prevail? Smart growth issues in the General Plan and regional Blueprint have not been popular among public comment in Citrus Heights, and design is always a subjective issue. Maybe there was even a little mistrust of a foreign-born man with a heavy accent.

Taking the high road has its disadvantages.

Since the beginning of the project, Mr. Krasnodemsky has lost the interest of his family- they have all gone and purchased homes elsewhere. But just as any dedicated, passionate person does, he tried to find a way to continue his vision and intends to sell the units market rate. Now that the project is rejected, he has the option to redesign the units and divide the lot into larger parcels. Where will this project end up in an era of conservatism and plummeting real estate values? We should all hope for a miracle.

I got this email from Stephanie our coordinator at USGBC.

“I am extremely pleased to present the Stage 2 Final Review for LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot project #10101868 Good which awards your project 43 points and a “Certified” rating. Congratulations! This is an impressive accomplishment.”

Hooray!

This has been an enlightening process to be involved with a world changing organization like the USGBC. We are very excited that we have been able to be part of the pilot. What is really cool is all of the verifiable good that a LEED ND certification will bring. We have a walkable neighborhood, transit lines right around the corner, parks, we can throw rocks at downtown, the houses are sustainable and use less resources and we are being recognized for it. Thanks to Greenbuilt Consulting for all of the work in making sure we stuck to our guns on this one.

Micah

I am going to be over at the GOOD project tonight from 5-6 for an open house. If you’ve been itching to take a look and want to swing by after work we will be there!  Here is a link to the Google Map

Levi

You see a lot of semis on I-5, but one caught my eye last week as I headed out of town on vacation.  On the back and side it said “OK Produce.” That’s it. Why would anyone name their company OK Produce? Do you want to take a bite of someone’s peach if they say it is just OK? I want a delicious peach - I expect it and expect to pay extra for it.

I had the same kind of feeling when I read a recent article that showed a couple new affordable housing projects in Sacramento. I guess I would call it OK Housing and it makes me sad we have it here. When people come home there should be a good feeling there that results from a well designed
place. Even affordable housing should have that - or don’t build it! Just like there shouldn’t be any OK peaches.

When people come home I think there should be some special touches there to greet them. Not Geography of Nowhere stuff, but distinctive lines and natural materials.

Steve

In 1961 Jane Jacobs wrote a book called The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I know many of you have read her work and already know just how revolutionary her ideas were. But I want to point out something that comes to mind when reading her work that I believe we may have a shot at getting right this time around. Sacramento has had a rocky history as it worked its way along the path towards becoming a great city even still some still think its best asset is that we can offer a cheap mediocre lifestyle. I however believe that we bring far more to the table as a city and that we are right where we should be today.

The next 10 years have the potential to be the best in our cities history. We are at a crossroads poised and ready to make the leap into a beautiful, powerful, livable, urban, utopia of a community. Yeah we have had our share of the real estate market blues but you know what I think we may have timed it just right. Where cities like San Diego have big empty condo buildings to show for the downturn we only have a few empty lots and even a hand full of successful projects that did make it through. Yeah some of them had to lower their prices but many of them still came through with good neighborhood beautifying architecture and we are better off because of them.

But it’s not where we have been that gives me goosebumps…it’s where we are going. Take a city such as ours with its grid streets, perfect climate, and stable (when Arnold isn’t paying minimum wage) employment base and add a time in history like the one we are about to embark on (think internet, alternative energy, enlightened urban planning), and you have the perfect storm for Sacramento to make its mark as a truly great American city.

Its not despite the failures we have endured but precisely because of them that we will become what we are destined to be.

Levi

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).

1A. 9onF

1. Sutter Brownstones

2. 4th Avenue Lofts

3. 1600 H St

4. L St Lofts

5. 500 N ST

6. 1801 L St

7. The Cathedral Building

8. Whiskey Hill Lofts

9. Alchemy at R St

10. 800 J Lofts

Levi

I have heard of adaptive re-use but this is a whole different thing going on here..

Some trends die off quickly and others seem to overstay their welcome by a long shot. I heard someone say recently (although I can not remember who it was or where they said it), that the stone age did not end because we ran out of stones - it ended because we found better ways of doing things.

One of those things I think should be dead is suburban tract development and yet despite my best efforts to will its demise, it remains today the housing option of choice. I wonder if it will take a complete collapse of the world’s oil supply to secure its end or if we will figure out that there are better ways of doing things first…

As promised we are trying to hold more open houses at the Good project. I know that several of you asked that we do one this weekend so we are going to be there tomorrow (Saturday) from 1-6. We will be showing off the nearly completed homes in the first phase.

Also I wanted to share a bit of good news I got on the mortgage side today. I just found out that the XS units can be as low as $1365 Per month with a 10% down payment and only $200 more with nothing down. Finally a break in all the mortgage madness we have been hearing about.

Here is a map to Good.

See you there!

“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.

The new prices are in the downloadable PDF and here:

Lot 21 - XS  -   298,000

Lot 22 - S    -   409,000

Lot 23 - XS  -   SOLD

Lot 24 - S    -   SOLD

Lot 25  - XS -   319,000

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….

Levi