Downtown Rebound: What's next for Sacramento?
SACRAMENTO — People are returning to downtown Sacramento at 75% pre-pandemic numbers, according to a national survey analyzing cell phone data.
Getting more people to return is a challenge Mayor Darrell Steinberg addressed at the annual State of Downtown summit. Empty office space in state buildings continues to be a drain on downtown businesses.
"I have no illusions," Steinberg said. "Downtown faces big challenges right now."
He added, "We need to find another way. We need to capture our own destiny."
The mayor even announced an idea at the event: he plans to convince some state workers to return with a PR campaign.
"We don't have to beg the state workers or the city workers to come back," Steinberg said. "Let's use billboards, social media, television, to say, 'Look at what you are missing out on.' "
We asked Mayor Steinberg about the dramatic drop in downtown Sacramento state workers. Post-pandemic, half of all state workers are now eligible to work from home.
"Are you able to say to the governor, 'Come on, let's get these state workers back'?" Large said.
"I've had these conversations," Steinberg said. "I have had these conversations with the governor and his team, but it's not so easy. There's collective bargaining agreements."
Barry Broome is CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and is critical of any effort to bring back state workers.
"This downtown will be hard to re-imagine if we're soft about it," Broome said.
"What are we doing with so little confidence in our community that we're going to beg part-time government employees to come back part-time?" Broome added.
"The mayor says he's not begging," CBS13's Steve Large said.
"It's begging and we shouldn't even do it, and it's beneath us," Broome said.
In a downtown recovery ranking compiled by researchers from U.C. Berkeley and the University of Toronto, Sacramento came in 17th in the U.S. percentage of people returning to downtowns.
That compared with Salt Lake City, which came in first. New York City came in 18th. San Francisco ranked 62nd — last place.
"We should be thinking about music and entertainment and starting a new class of entertainment in our downtown," Broome said.
Sacramento is beginning to transform its downtown away from office space, toward housing and entertainment. The mayor announced the state is turning three massive buildings on Capitol Mall into affordable housing.
Downtown business owner Tony Christ is ready for what's next.
"Let's do it, you know," Christ said. "Like, let's do it!"
Christ is a hospitality entrepreneur and partner at Solomon's bagels. He is all in for the new post-pandemic edition of downtown. He's planning on expanding his brand to include downtown festivals and farmer's markets.
"And saying like, 'Hey, what does the city need and how do we put it through our lens, Sacramento's lens?' " Christ said.
It's a new era and an end to embracing office space.
"Here's what won't work: getting the government to give us the remote working model back.," Broome said. "We should oppose that."
"It is changing," Steinberg said. "But what's happened is the pandemic has accelerated the change."
Now, it's the beginning of a to-be-determined downtown Sacramento.
The state workforce may not come back, but the city's hotel occupancy rate has now returned to its pre-pandemic levels. Downtown businesses are also reporting the Kings' winning season is boosting sales on game days.