Winter 2001
Valley Communities Fill in the Blanks
A downtown with vacant properties is like a toothless smile,”
says Sacramento Bee columnist Gary Delsohn. It is more than aesthetics,
however, that is motivating communities throughout the country
to focus on infill development. With residents complaining that
their communities have lost their sense of place to big box, freeway-oriented
development, cities throughout the country are working on revitalizing
their downtowns and older neighborhoods. They are finding that
doing so increases retail sales and related tax revenues in fact,
many national retailers now prefer downtown sites to big shopping
centers.
As compared to building in undeveloped areas, infill development
can also reduce the city’s infrastructure costs by 90%, preserve
90% more open space; and cut transportation energy use and greenhouse
gas emissions in half. This, in turn, improves air quality, a
serious concern in the San Joaquin Valley. (For details about
impacts of development types carried out for the U.S. EPA by Criterion
Associates: EPA staff member Geoff Anderson, (202) 260-2769).
Bringing housing downtown makes it all come together. Downtown
residents bring business to downtown services and assure that
the area is full of people and safe, day and night. At the same
time, downtown housing provides a place for seniors to live independently,
even if they no longer drive, and a lively location for young
people to live, work and play.
 Infill
Development Proliferates in Sacramento
Of all the cities in the Central Valley, Sacramento is the
most active in providing downtown housing: The city’s R Street
Corridor specific plan provides for 3,000 new housing units along
a light rail line. Over 1,000 housing units are in the process
of being built in downtown and midtown Sacramento, according to
Sacramento architect David Mogavero. Many of these projects feature
ground-floor retail.
City of Lindsay Actively Pursuing Infill
Mogavero has also been partnering with the Local Government
Commission and San Joaquin Valley cities on infill projects under
a grant from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
with additional funding from the California Center for Land Recycling
and the Great Valley Center. The most ambitious project is Sweet
Briar Plaza, in Lindsay.
The Sweet Briar site spans two city blocks on Sweet Briar St.,
located on an abandoned rail right-of-way. For some time, the
City has envisioned mixed-use development for the area that reflects
the themes of a European market place. They have imagined housing,
a paseo, and an open-air “mercado” market where farmers
and merchants could sell their goods. To help move their vision
to reality, Mogavero’s firm developed a site plan and financial
feasibility analysis for the project in 1999.
The LGC then leveraged additional funds and resources for the
project to bring Florida architect and town planner Ramon Trias
to Lindsay in August and November 1999. Trias facilitated community
visioning and design workshops to formulate a design for the entire
downtown area bringing extra energy and focus to the Sweet Briar
site and its relation to a refocused downtown.
Of course, revitalizing two city blocks requires a large investment
of money and active efforts by city officials. To date, they have
dedicated over $1.7 million in federal funds to the project. They
have also been awarded $500,000 in CDBG funds for on-site infrastructure
improvements.
 Lindsay
has five other infill projects either built or in development. In
1993, the City raised over $3.3 million to renovate the vacant but
historic Mt. Whitney Hotel. The building now provides senior housing.
The City also provided redevelopment monies for two rowhouse
projects in a formerly blighted neighborhood; and they played
a pivotal role in an infill development of five single-family
homes, the Ingoldsby project, located five blocks from downtown.
Here, the City provided first-time down payment assistance to
homebuyers and convinced the developer to incorporate tree-lined
streets, recessed garages and white picket fences.
In the planning stages is the Shropshire Project - 18-20 single-family
homes that will horseshoe around a publicly maintained green space.
Within walking distance of shopping and schools, Shropshire will
incorporate the design principles of traditional neighborhood
development.
Infill Guide Available: The Local Government
Commission has just completed an update of A Policymaker’s
Guide To Infill Development. The book details strategies that
local governments can use to encourage infill development and
redevelopment and provides numerous case studies and references.
For a copy, call Steve Hoyt, (916) 448-1198.
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