Sacramento’s riverfront
Two rivers but no vision
Re “Sacramento’s riverfront is going to waste” (Foon Rhee, June 29): One does not need to venture far from home to see how cities take advantage of their waterfronts.
Associate Editor Foon Rhee is right. Our riverfront is going to waste. Vancouver, Portland, San Antonio, and even Chicago, which has terrible weather compared to Sacramento, have water taxis, river boat rides in the middle of town, waterfront restaurants, hotels and outdoor amphitheaters for concerts. Portland has a downtown marina.
What does Sacramento have? A 20-foot concrete wall separating the city from the Sacramento River, a vacant railroad yard, and plans for housing that backup against the American River with little or no public access.
So where are we putting our precious resources? Toward building a trolley that crosses the river, rather than providing access and enjoying the two beautiful rivers that meet downtown. Our civic leaders lack vision.
Terry Kastanis, Sacramento
Sacramento deserves better
Yes, Vancouver’s waterfront is great. But comparing it to Sacramento’s riverfront is a little like comparing it to San Francisco’s.
Vancouver has been improving its waterfront for more than 40 years. The city enjoys multiple areas such as the Stanley Park area, the old coal wharfs and English Bay.
Many of the improvements were started for the World’s Fair in the 1980s and have been finished during the last 20 years. Sacramento does not have the length or variety of spaces to come close to such a waterfront.
However, we deserve much better than we have. I challenge our developers to come up with something uniquely Sacramento for our waterfront.
Frank DeBernardi, Sacramento
This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Sacramento’s riverfront."