Slowly but surely, Sacramento's alleys are stepping out of the shadows.
Businesses are revamping them into the sites of coffee shops and hair salons. People are using them as passageways.
During a recent Second Saturday art walk, architects urged passersby to suggest names for the city's unnamed back streets. Some of our favorites? Alley McBeal and Alley Oops.
Now there's a proposal afoot for an even more startling transformation of the central city's alleys. A partnership called Stitch wants to entice owners of large, underutilized yards along alleys to redevelop the back portions of their lots for condominium units.
The new units would front onto the alleys, with garage space below and housing above. Property owners would gain income, and possibly gain a new garage or a "granny flat" for an elder or other family member. The neighborhood would win by having more "eyes on the alleys" as a way to deter crime.
The partners of Stitch, who include developers Jeremy Drucker and Ron Mellon, architect Ron Vrilakas and construction company owner James Cuttle, estimate that there are 2,400 lots in the central city that have lots 40 feet wide by 160 feet deep.
If just 15 percent of these parcels could be split and built upon, the city could add at least 1,000 condo units – more than John Saca was planning with his twin towers project on the Capitol Mall.
Creating alley apartments will not be easy.
As anyone who has tried to add a granny flat can tell you, these projects can be derailed by municipal regulations and infrastructure challenges. For Stitch to succeed, it will need to win over city planning officials, neighborhood groups, historic preservationists and other organizations.
But if Sacramento hopes to grow up instead of out, it will need to make the most of its underused and neglected properties. Transforming alleyways into living spaces is a great way to start.
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