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Showing posts with label the buzz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the buzz. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Seen In The Neighborhood

The Good:
Landscaping -- namely trees -- being planted in the North Natomas Regional Park! Lookin' good...


The Bad:
Graffiti all ... over... the... place. Every possible surface around the regional park duck pond, utility monuments and mailboxes. Some people just suck.


Thursday, July 17, 2008

How Do We Love Natomas? Let Us Count The Ways...

Growing up, THE BUZZ moved around a lot. We lived in Arizona, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington before coming to California to go to college.

We have been in Sactown since 1997 and in Natomas since 2001. This is the longest we have ever lived in (a) the same city and (b) the same home.

The husband, on the other hand, grew up in the same house which is still owned by the family 40 years later. Our better half is familiar with living in the suburbs. Us? Not so much.

Today was a lesson in why we enjoy living here...

When popping into Raley's this afternoon to pick up an iced coffee, we ran into April a teacher at our daughter's school and we talked PTSA stuff. Megan got in the check out line right behind her and we caught up on an e-mail exchange that had gone awry. From the coffee counter we waved at Gretchen, a friend from MOMS Club, shopping with her kids.

While waiting for our drink, we chatted with Carolina who works in the store's bakery and got an update on the upcoming conversion from Java City to Peet's Coffee. The gal who sold us our drink asked after the kids, who usually get the "free" cookie when we are there together.

Later, with the kids this time in Target, Lisa and I ran into each other again and talked about neighborhood involvement. We introduced her to Melinda, one of our fellow PTSA board members, who chatted with us about the merits of shopping the Dollar Spot. Then we spoke with Christine, with whom we are in the same babysitting co-op, and a few minutes later we exchanged pleasantries with the Westlake Charter School principal whom we met during May Is Bike Month.

In our whole life, we have never lived anywhere like Natomas. A place which reminds us of that bar in Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

Everyone has a reason why they chose to stay here when others moved away, why they get involved in committees and neighborhood watches, and why they stick up for our neighborhood when someone bad mouths it.

THE BUZZ couldn't help but wonder what those reasons are... Won't you, Neighbor, click "comments" and share?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Because Some Things Just Bear Repeating

sacrealstats.blogspot.com

Coming out of the Natomas Landing meeting yesterday afternoon, some NATOMAS BUZZ readers asked us what we thought about the proposed project.

Last time THE BUZZ posted an item on the Natomas Landing proposal was back in February.

At the time we referred our readers to a blog about Sacramento real estate statistics and specifically to a photo log (scroll down to see all the pictures) of empty commercial and retail space located throughout the Natomas area.

Since February several businesses in the neighborhood have closed -- adding to the amount of available square footage in our area. And with the state of the economy now -- think Linens N Things, BORDERS and Starbucks -- it's anyone's guess what will still be open this time next year.

When Doug Ose was asked yesterday whether any "letters of intent" had been received from retailers interested in the Natomas Landing site, the answer was "no." While we understand the drive to get a project in the works before the flood-related building moratorium goes into effect, we don't think it's necessary.

THE BUZZ and family moved to Natomas in 2001. In less than a month, we'll have lived here almost seven years in the same single-story house. When we moved in, we did our grocery shopping at Bel Air on West El Camino. We preferred driving to Target on Riverside rather than down the street to Walmart. The Costco on Exposition was the closest warehouse store.

Look at the neighborhood now! Not only do we have three major grocery stores to choose from, there is a Sam's Club, a Target and numerous family-owned eateries! Sure, it would be great to have a Trader Joe's down the street, but to date the grocery chain has no plans to build in our area...

So what do we honestly think about the Natomas Landing project? And building retail on the neighboring Tsakopoulos property?

In the words of one NATOMAS BUZZ reader, "We can survive with what retail (and retail space) we have now. So let's take a deep breath and reevaluate after the moratorium."

Friday, July 4, 2008

You Asked For It!


Powered by free web polls
READER FEEDBACK:
What's your fave neighborhood grocery store?
Bel Air
Raley's
Safeway

View Result

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Click on "comments" below and tell us why!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Ding Dong, The Witch Is Gone

Even though we know it would be cheaper to shop at Safeway, THE BUZZ continues to frequent Raley's.

What can we say? We're creatures of habit -- and convenience.

That being said, NATOMAS BUZZ readers may recall we have not been too pleased with the quality of customer service at our neighborhood grocery store.

In the last month, the store switched its play care hours to open an hour later and has discontinued its .10/gallon of gas discount at Aisle One (you can still get .25/gallon off if you buy more than $100 worth of groceries).

And shoppers were not notified of the above-mentioned changes until after the fact...

Imagine our delight, when we were told the store director had been transferred elsewhere and that Raley's on Natomas Boulevard is now under new management! We're also told some of the departmental management might also be changing.

This could be a good thing!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Not Seen In The Neighborhood: News Coverage

Still Missing "The Boat" As It Were

We can't help but point out -- yet again -- how the local media has failed to cover the rash of home-invasion robberies plaguing Natomas.

One would think that if the crimes themselves, or the arrests of a few suspects, didn't generate interest, the fact Mayor Fargo and Councilman Tretheway plan to attend Monday's community forum with Sac PD officials would...

Oh, my bad.

Maybe someone will cover it in a couple weeks.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Seen In The Neighborhood

THE BUZZ is not the only one who has noticed a flurry of new traffic signs being posted throughout our Natomas neighborhood.

The one pictured here is located at the new crosswalk from Natomas Park across North Park Drive and into the North Natomas Regional Park.

Other new signs have also been spotted on Del Paso Road near Blackrock and the Charter School.

Click on "comments" below and tell us where you have seen new city-posted signs.


Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Memo To "The Media"

In a former life, when THE BUZZ worked as a full-time newspaper reporter we always hated being lumped into that category "the media" because it usually meant whomever was referring to said media was probably saying something negative.

Now it's our turn... THE BUZZ has been wondering -- pretty much since the whole Monica Lewinsky debacle -- how the media decides what to cover.

Natomas residents started a Yahoo! Group and e-mailing Sac PD officials in an effort to stay informed about area crimes not being covered by the media. This grassroots movement helped give birth to the NATOMAS BUZZ.

In the last week, two different Natomas women have been held up at gun point in their garages, in one case while children looked on (see
Natomas Cops Log in right-hand column).

Have we seen anything about either of these incidents in the
Sac Bee? On their Blog 9-1-1? On our local TV news? Were it not for this post right here, would you even be aware this is happening in our neighborhood?

THE BUZZ longs for the day when the
Sac Bee had reporters assigned to cover individual neighborhoods (we had South Sac). Natomas residents live in what was then referred to as the "North Area," a section of the paper which was published every other week.

Now we get the weekly North Sacramento section inserted in our paper every Thursday. Has anyone else noticed that rarely an item is published actually relevant to our neighborhood?

THE BUZZ thinks it's great Natomas residents continue to rally, look out for one another, and keep each other informed about the goings on in our neighborhood...

Because no one else is doing it.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

How Did Natomas Vote?


The
Sac Bee has posted an interactive map online which reportedly shows how folks voted in Sactown's mayoral primary.

From the looks of it, KJ had the lead in North Natomas and North-Central Natomas with 56% and 54.9% of the vote, respectively.

On the other hand, Mayor Heather Fargo had 44.6% of the vote in South Natomas, where she resides.

One NATOMAS BUZZ reader asked whether there was a "better" candidate for Natomas.

We are disappointed Mayor Fargo's camp did not submit answers to our questionnaire meant to shed light on all the candidates' vision for our neighborhood.

We are curious to know why area residents voted the way they did. Click "comments" and share your thoughts.


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Won't You Meet Your Neighbors?



Photos from Regency Park Day 2008.
Courtesy Paul Johnson & Friends.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Word From Our Candidates

NATOMAS BUZZ readers may recall a post earlier this month about a planned interview with Mayor Heather Fargo -- at the request of Fargo's reps.

Unfortunately, our interview with Fargo scheduled for May 19 was canceled the afternoon before and efforts to schedule a telephone interview did not come to fruition.

So THE BUZZ offered to send Fargo's camp a questionnaire and after last week's candidate forum, we decided to give candidates Kevin Johnson and Leonard Padilla a chance to answer the same questions.

All three candidates were provided the same questions and given a deadline of noon Tuesday, May 27. Padilla's responses were returned three hours early. Johnson's came in two hours later -- still 45 minute before the noon deadline.

More than four hours after the deadline, THE BUZZ received the following message from Fargo's campaign rep Dale Howard, "We have every intent of getting your answers done, but we'll need more time. Sorry for the delay."

24 hours later we have yet to receive anything from Fargo and so, to be fair to the candidates who met the deadline, we shall press forward.

As requested by THE BUZZ, many of our readers e-mailed questions they wanted posed to Mayor Fargo.

Creekside HOA prez Angelique Ashby wrote, "It seems to me that the over-arching issue in Natomas is a fundamental gap in service expectation between the community and the city -- meaning that the community members have expectations to receive and or have access to resources that the City either is not, does not or will not provide at the level the community wants..."

With that in mind, THE BUZZ asked candidates to address how they view the Natomas neighborhood, whether they felt there were any specific issues facing our community, what those issues are, and what their solutions -- as Mayor -- would be.

THE BUZZ is pleased to present the candidates' responses to these questions and look forward to hearing what our readers think.

Read this doc on Scribd: kjquestionnaire


Read this doc on Scribd: Natomas buzz questionaire

Sunday, May 25, 2008

What's The Haps In Natomas?

At the urging of a trusted reader, THE BUZZ has decided to add a calendar to our online offerings...

Simply look for WHAT'S THE HAPS? in the right-hand column and click on the link.

In the last week we have also added CATCH THE BUZZ which allows readers to subscribe to a RSS feed of our posts.

BUZZ readers be sure to send us your events so we can get them on the calendar!

Isn't It Ironic?

THE BUZZ posted our previous post in the wee hours of morning...

Should have waited a few more hours for this morning's edition of the
Sac Bee.

As pointed out in reader comments already, the
Bee has decided to endorse no one candidate at this time.

In an editorial published today, the local daily pub suggests voters cast ballots for any candidate other than current Mayor Fargo or KJ.

The idea is that neither lead candidate would receive a simple majority of the votes to win the election and thus a second vote in November would be required.

We find the
Sac Bee's reader comments both hilarious and on spot in response to this issue -- what do BUZZ readers think?

Is It Just Me?

Is it just me or is it unclear who the Sac Bee favors in the upcoming mayoral election?

First there is a huge story about Councilman Robbie Waters switching his endorsement from Fargo to KJ on the front page of the Metro section.

Then there is a story on Page B2 about Sacramento County Supe Roger Dickinson's endorsement of Fargo.

The articles seem a little editorialized, too. What say you BUZZ readers?

Friday, May 23, 2008

As Smooth As A Baby's...


The newly paved intersection at Del Paso Road and Natomas Boulevard is looking good, but THE BUZZ is starting to wonder... When will this project be
done, y'all?

Update from Councilman Ray Tretheway's office: The city plans to have Del Paso Road 99% complete by June 15. The remaining items are signing, striping, and landscaping.

Monday, May 19, 2008

We Asked, You Answered

Sac Bee...14%
Sac Biz Journal...3%
TV...7%
Natomas Journal...7%
N Magazine...7%
THE BUZZ...85%

In a recent poll THE BUZZ asked "Where do YOU get news about North Natomas?"

We allowed readers to select and vote for as many news sources as they wanted to, and these were the results.

THE BUZZ wants to thank our readers for their support and helping keep us in the loop as things happen here in the neighborhood...

We couldn't -- and we wouldn't -- do it without you!

Home Sales On The Rebound?



The Sac Bee is reporting home sales were up in April and "for sale" signs are coming down.

THE BUZZ is curious: Is this what readers are seeing here in North Natomas?




Monday, May 12, 2008

Got Questions? We'll Get Answers

Mayor Heather Fargo's camp has offered THE BUZZ an interview -- twice -- and we've decided to take her up on it!

So here's the deal... If it were YOU sitting down with Ms. Fargo, what questions would you want to ask?

Click on "comments" below or e-mail THE BUZZ at natomasbuzz (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Like, ASAP!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Something A Little Chairy

How would you like to sit in that chair?

THE BUZZ spotted this interesting chair and table formation this morning around 10:15 a.m. in the pavilion adjacent to the former Pick Up Stix restaurant.

Two hours later, the creation had been disassembled and chairs neatly re-stacked.

Monday, April 28, 2008

We've Been Hit 10,000 Times!


THE BUZZ has reached a mini milestone!

At some point earlier today, our North Natomas neighborhood news blog reached the 10,000 mark -- in web hits that is!

There have been a few changes since the site was launched late last year:
  1. We have revamped the look. We know some of you preferred the old "honey comb" design and color scheme, but don't worry, we expect to switch things up from time to time.
  2. We are getting more and more community input in the form of news tips, photographs, etc. each day! Keep sending us your news!
  3. We have purchased the natomasbuzz.com domain, so no need to type in that pesky extra dot and "blogspot" anymore. Whew! That saves about a second every time you visit...
  4. We have ceased using Google ads and switched to running ads for those businesses owned and operated by Natomas-area residents in an effort to support our neighborhood economy.
Let us know what you like and dislike!