Dale Kooyman: The balance in Midtown is fragile -- and it's in danger

Midtown Sacramento stands at a crossroads.

Should it become Sacramento's "entertainment district," with an overconcentration of bars and expensive restaurants? Or, should an entertainment district be focused downtown, like San Diego's Lamplight District? Should midtown retain its residential charm and historic homes in order to continue attracting new families and businesses to meet the needs of residents? Should midtown retain a mix of businesses that meet residents' needs? Which direction will provide midtown and Sacramento with the greatest long-term economic benefits?

To answer these questions, a review of midtown's history, current status and needs is necessary. First, the law of balance and proportion must be achieved if both midtown's residential quality of life and pricey restaurants and clubs are to survive. This basic law of supply and demand applies to nature and every successful human endeavor. Too little rain and you get parched vegetation or desert. Too much rain and you get floods and swampland.

I moved to Sacramento in 1976, having lived in large cities in California and elsewhere. I bought a house in midtown, where it appeared I would be part of the fabric of a rare and precious urban environment with residents living in a charming mix of Victorian, Craftsman and Mediterranean single-family homes and duplexes, sprinkled with Federalist and Greek Revival mansions and other historic structures. Locally owned restaurants and stores also lined streets covered by trees providing a canopy of shade that cooled pedestrians as they walked to work or to shop.

But I found that businesses were struggling because there were too many liquor stores, social-service facilities and a large amount of low-income housing.

Residents could not afford to support the businesses, and the streets were flooded with noisy commuter traffic. Children were rarely seen. Some schools had been demolished. Businesses and a variety of entertainment venues struggled to survive.

Lenders were skittish, and unimaginative developers refused to invest in restoring and enhancing midtown's beauty. But a glimmer of hope beamed from a small number of brave "urban pioneer" preservationists. Buoyed by courage, they invested their money, time, sweat and tears to embark on a 20-year battle to save and restore homes and commercial structures to their original grandeur.

As the ranks of urban pioneers swelled into the hundreds, the health and number of locally owned businesses and restaurants improved. And, with support from a determined then-City Councilwoman Heather Fargo, success came slowly and painfully, culminating in a new and enlightened city management, which made midtown what it is today.

Without the improvements, developers and bar owners, who are now seeking to cash in, would have continued to view midtown as a "risky investment."

Ironically, new city management, bar owners and developers threaten the successes of those pioneers and businesses. Driven by the lure of quick profits, they insist that a heavier concentration of clubs, bars and restaurants is needed to "enliven" midtown and capture the youth market. Sadly, the "more-the-merrier" advocacy ignores some basic realities. No midtown resident I know is against having bars or existing entertainment venues. All of these are part of many residents' lives, too.

But we have reached a saturation point.

Midtown residents and their children now have to deal with the overconcentration of bars and clubs, and all of the activity that spills out in the neighborhood: fights, stabbings, shootings, obscenities shouted, property destruction and patrons using residents' front lawns as toilets.

Alcohol impairs judgment and alters behavior, and a small percentage of drinkers then engage in criminal behavior. Often unknown or conveniently ignored is the fact that residents have a constitutional protection to "quiet enjoyment of property" whether they are homeowners or tenants. Courts have interpreted "quiet enjoyment" broadly to include not just loud noise but other alcohol-related misbehavior.

Our primary concern is that the number of crimes will increase as the number of bars increases, placing our lives and properties at greater risk.

An obvious question: Is it safe to live here anymore?

Studies have shown a direct correlation between overconcentration of bars and an increase in crimes in nearby neighborhoods. If you looked the Sacramento Police Department Web site you will see an increase in crime around bars in midtown. Some bars and clubs have hired security personnel, but success has been limited.

More comprehensive action is needed to curb alcohol-related criminal behavior. Tragically, this type of misbehavior destroyed historically restored residential neighborhoods adjacent to Chicago's Old Town and in the St. Louis Gaslight District.

Sacramento must not let this happen to midtown.

Many new residents have joined the urban pioneers of the 1970s and 1980s to retain the original vision and quality of life we enjoy in midtown, which attracts others, including students and working youths who flock here to rent apartments.

Newcomers also support our existing dynamic – neighborhoods with a mix of large and small, locally owned and ethnically mixed businesses that supply basic goods and services.

Instead of midtown residents being forced to drive to shopping centers or strip malls, it would be economically and environmentally wise for high-rise developers to rent their ground floors to locally owned businesses catering to the needs of residents instead of bringing in chain stores and restaurants, which can afford the higher rent.

City management and businesses in the 1990s joined with residents to successfully lay the foundation for midtown's future, which finally sparked the interest of developers.

Midtown's prosperity and the city's health depend on continuing such cooperation – not promoting the current imbalance and divisiveness.

About the writer:

• Dale Kooyman is a midtown resident of 32 years and is active in neighborhood and historic preservation issues.