Last thing not to be missed is Porchfest! It’s what every porch wants to be and showcases some of the best things in Sacramento. OK it is October 1, but you’ve been warned in advance so you don’t miss out. Get out a calendar and plan to hit all these things!

Ever thought about what our city would be if trees designed it? The Possible City considers the long term thinking and celebration in their exhibition and story The Dance of Thousands of Years that just opened in Seoul!

They ask – What if we listened to the voice of the trees, how might the things we hear transform the landscape of a city over years, decades, centuries? Here in the City of Trees we have so many to listen to – try it and share what you hear!

Designing our city like a tree would fits nicely with how we want a National Park City – share your ideas on our What If page as we build our vision for what it will be!

Green Drinks is back and highlighting us this Thursday at New Helvetia! Come on down and say hi! We’re starting to ramp up our campaign and if you’ve been on the sidelines and want to help out now is the right time to join – you can have a say in what Sacramento National Park City means and how it rolls out.

It’s been really fun starting this campaign virtually by meeting so many great local partners, and our last network call had people from all over the world participating – New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, UK, Korea, and Chattanooga! (Funny none of them had heard of Green Drinks either!) If you can’t make it Thursday drop me a note and we can talk about how to get involved.

PS -Happy Hour is til 6 so come a little early!

What better way to get the freshest food possible and support the people making our region greener and more productive? Hit a farmers market during National Farmer’s Market Week and use this great new guide from Alchemist CDC to find and use the markets – they can help you with incentives that make them even more affordable!

Biking is one of the best ways to explore the city! May is packed with events and you should sign up at May is Bike Month! If you don’t have a team already join our SacParkCity Team! We’re hosting an event May 16 at Gateway Garden where we tour the community created gardens of Oak Park with Bike Party – check out the flyer below.

There will be mural rides and lots of social rides and you can explore more routes like the River to River Trail! Don’t miss out!

This week is a great time to get out, explore, volunteer, and connect with the people making Sacramento better!

Friday evening join Bike Party for a Community Garden Tour of 10 gardens in 6 miles. Saturday join the American River Parkway Spring Cleanup, help launch the Florin Road Beautification Project, visit Mirasol Village, and visit the Environmental Justice Coalition Mixer.

Sunday is the big event at Southside Park for the ECOS Earth Day Celebration. SacParkCity will have our first table display out so stop by and say hi!

Sacramento did well by securing $16 million in state funding for various parks, cleaning, and beautification projects around town! There are constantly funds flowing from the state and we need to be positioned to put them to work making Sacramento better. Due later this month is the Urban Greening grant but we haven’t been able to identify a project yet – know someone applying that we can support or have an idea that we should build? Let us know!

Spaces in Sacramento are always changing and developing – how do we ensure we are creating successful ones? Research from Project for Public Spaces shows that focus on the human experience can have immediate and widespread effects.

“The idea behind this concept is that places thrive when users have a range of reasons (10+) to be there. These might include a place to sit, playgrounds to enjoy, art to touch, music to hear, food to eat, history to experience, and people to meet. Ideally, some of these activities will be unique to that particular place, reflecting the culture and history of the surrounding community. Local residents who use this space most regularly will be the best source of ideas for which uses will work best.

Further, when cities contain at least 10 of these destinations or districts, their public perception begins to shift amongst both locals and tourists, and urban centers can become better equipped for generating resilience and innovation.”

How many places in Sacramento can you think of that have 10+ reasons to be there? Old Sac has train ride, underground tour, train museum, carousel, river walk, taste candy, history museum, boat rides, carriage rides, costume shopping, taffy sampling, eating, and drinking so checks the boxes. On R Street you can eat, drink, admire murals, see a band, shop – could use a few more. Let’s hope as Stockton Blvd is redeveloped and Alchemist Public Market grows we can create more places that make destinations and activate our city!

We need some help getting to the next step and it just takes a moment for you to help by signing the Charter for Sacramento. The National Park City Foundation just released the Journey Book, which is a guide with 10 steps to becoming a National Park City. We need 200 residents to indicate support for Sacramento becoming a National Park City and have about 50 right now.

If you think this is a great idea like we do, please take a moment and add your name to the Charter!

This month seems to be the most active art month in Sacramento, so make sure you schedule some time to get your creative juices inspired!

In addition to these great art events, Farm-to-Fork Festival is Sept 9-18, so combine some great food.

If you’re inspired by these things, maybe you can apply it at home – Porch Placemaking Week follows all this from Sept 27- Oct 3. You can add your porch (or balcony, or sidewalk) to the map and make something interesting for your neighbors and visitors to enjoy!