Living the Luxe Life
From September 2005
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That means, Fong says, having more nightlife and arts and entertainment. But none of that can happen without people moving here first.
And moving those professionals from the suburbs to downtown can have a positive effect on both locations. The urban density brings in a greater concentration of wealth and customers. Simultaneously, it reduces the need for sprawl and lessens traffic congestion in the suburbs.
Saca notes if a project the size of The Towers was built horizontally in the suburbs, it would take up some 150 acres of farmland, instead of two or three acres of urban infill. Bob Chase, a member and former chairman of the city’s Design Review and Preservation Board, agrees.
“We’ll have a tremendous amount of population growth over the next 15 to 20 years,” Chase says. “If we don’t get these people living more densely downtown, they’re going to be living in the suburbs and it’s going to increase sprawl. We owe it to ourselves and to our region to look at these new high-rise projects.”
Numbers Don’t Lie
Downtown’s population has already been rapidly increasing in the past few years. Between 1990 and 2000, the downtown population only grew by 2.6 percent to 126,161, according to a demographic report by market-research firm Claritas. But between 2000 and 2009, the population is expected to grow by more than 20 percent, to 151,982. Families are also moving back downtown, according to the report. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of families downtown dropped, but from 2000 to 2009 it is expected to increase by 19 percent, to 30,888.
The housing stock downtown is also aging, with the median housing unit built in 1958. In fact, of the roughly 66,000 units of housing downtown, about 17,000 were built before 1939. The median household income downtown is $36,949, and the average household consists of two people.
Michael Ault, executive director of the nonprofit Downtown Sacramento Partnership, says it is a “tremendously exciting” time for Sacramento. Downtown, he said, is already transforming itself with new restaurants and hotels and attracting suburban visitors for more than just Downtown Plaza and Old Sacramento.
“Downtown is not just for the rich, it’s not just for the poor,” Ault says. “Downtown should be a culturally, financially diverse population, which is what makes downtowns unique. There’s clearly, I think, an appetite and a market for downtown.”
And moving those professionals from the suburbs to downtown can have a positive effect on both locations. The urban density brings in a greater concentration of wealth and customers. Simultaneously, it reduces the need for sprawl and lessens traffic congestion in the suburbs.
Saca notes if a project the size of The Towers was built horizontally in the suburbs, it would take up some 150 acres of farmland, instead of two or three acres of urban infill. Bob Chase, a member and former chairman of the city’s Design Review and Preservation Board, agrees.
“We’ll have a tremendous amount of population growth over the next 15 to 20 years,” Chase says. “If we don’t get these people living more densely downtown, they’re going to be living in the suburbs and it’s going to increase sprawl. We owe it to ourselves and to our region to look at these new high-rise projects.”
Numbers Don’t Lie
Downtown’s population has already been rapidly increasing in the past few years. Between 1990 and 2000, the downtown population only grew by 2.6 percent to 126,161, according to a demographic report by market-research firm Claritas. But between 2000 and 2009, the population is expected to grow by more than 20 percent, to 151,982. Families are also moving back downtown, according to the report. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of families downtown dropped, but from 2000 to 2009 it is expected to increase by 19 percent, to 30,888.
The housing stock downtown is also aging, with the median housing unit built in 1958. In fact, of the roughly 66,000 units of housing downtown, about 17,000 were built before 1939. The median household income downtown is $36,949, and the average household consists of two people.
Michael Ault, executive director of the nonprofit Downtown Sacramento Partnership, says it is a “tremendously exciting” time for Sacramento. Downtown, he said, is already transforming itself with new restaurants and hotels and attracting suburban visitors for more than just Downtown Plaza and Old Sacramento.
“Downtown is not just for the rich, it’s not just for the poor,” Ault says. “Downtown should be a culturally, financially diverse population, which is what makes downtowns unique. There’s clearly, I think, an appetite and a market for downtown.”
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