The city of Sacramento is pushing to improve its social economy, and new research is guiding its next steps, according to the Office of Nighttime Economy. “The Sociable City Assessment plan is really going to serve as the blueprint for what my office is going to do moving forward to elevate our nighttime economy,” said Tina Lee-Vogt, Sacramento’s nighttime economy manager.The city contracted The Responsible Hospitality Institute, a nonprofit that specializes in assisting cities to find strengths and weaknesses in their entertainment viability, for the research. The document outlines areas the city is excelling in and offers actionable items into improvements they believe will help the city better serve the region and keep up with growing interest in it. Roughly 100 stakeholders – companies, city staff, neighborhood associations and venue owners — assisted in the compiling of the data, Lee-Vogt said.| RELATED | Sacramento Music Census finds music industry ‘out of balance.’ How city leaders want to change that The report found midtown and downtown are the “heart of the city” but states the city must learn to accommodate the increasing number of residents in the downtown area to ensure tenants have access to their homes during large events and highlights how, despite an increase in enthusiasm for events in the city, staffing and resources have not kept pace.Shawn Kahan, of the Yellow Brick Group, began producing events in Sacramento more than a decade ago; he’s one of the minds behind the “Our Street Night Market.” The event is modeled after night markets in Asia and brought tens of thousands of people to the R Street Corridor this fall. “There’s definitely been a learning curve for us as we’ve understood what it takes to host events here,” Kahan said. Kahan said he doesn’t believe the challenges are due to a lack of enthusiasm on the city’s part but that the resources and staff struggle to keep up with the demand. The report found that in 2006, there were around 200 events in the city. By 2022, that number grew to 1,000. Some of the report’s action items include streamlining review processes and better coordinating public safety resources, developing educational resources and best practices for event organizers and creating multiple levels of entertainment permits for them.“I think having an assessment like this really lays out the tools to benchmark Sacramento against other peer markets to make sure that we are positioning this city to be as competitive as we can, “ said Scott Ford, of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. “I think the future is really bright for Sacramento.”Ford said he looked forward to continuing to partner with the city and Lee-Vogt in implementing recommendations, adding the suggestion about making changes to the city’s permit structure seemed to him like a good first step. The city currently only issues one type of entertainment permit to social venues. The report states the city needs “more than a one-size-fits-all approach” for its permits. It also suggests creating a one-stop shop for obtaining licenses and permits for events. Lee-Vogt said it was an idea her team was interested in as they worked to identify long and short-term goals. The Sociable City Plan report can be found here.
The city of Sacramento is pushing to improve its social economy, and new research is guiding its next steps, according to the Office of Nighttime Economy.
“The Sociable City Assessment plan is really going to serve as the blueprint for what my office is going to do moving forward to elevate our nighttime economy,” said Tina Lee-Vogt, Sacramento’s nighttime economy manager.
The city contracted The Responsible Hospitality Institute, a nonprofit that specializes in assisting cities to find strengths and weaknesses in their entertainment viability, for the research. The document outlines areas the city is excelling in and offers actionable items into improvements they believe will help the city better serve the region and keep up with growing interest in it.
Roughly 100 stakeholders – companies, city staff, neighborhood associations and venue owners — assisted in the compiling of the data, Lee-Vogt said.
| RELATED | Sacramento Music Census finds music industry ‘out of balance.’ How city leaders want to change that
The report found midtown and downtown are the “heart of the city” but states the city must learn to accommodate the increasing number of residents in the downtown area to ensure tenants have access to their homes during large events and highlights how, despite an increase in enthusiasm for events in the city, staffing and resources have not kept pace.
Shawn Kahan, of the Yellow Brick Group, began producing events in Sacramento more than a decade ago; he’s one of the minds behind the “Our Street Night Market.” The event is modeled after night markets in Asia and brought tens of thousands of people to the R Street Corridor this fall.
“There’s definitely been a learning curve for us as we’ve understood what it takes to host events here,” Kahan said.
Kahan said he doesn’t believe the challenges are due to a lack of enthusiasm on the city’s part but that the resources and staff struggle to keep up with the demand. The report found that in 2006, there were around 200 events in the city. By 2022, that number grew to 1,000.
Some of the report’s action items include streamlining review processes and better coordinating public safety resources, developing educational resources and best practices for event organizers and creating multiple levels of entertainment permits for them.
“I think having an assessment like this really lays out the tools to benchmark Sacramento against other peer markets to make sure that we are positioning this city to be as competitive as we can, “ said Scott Ford, of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. “I think the future is really bright for Sacramento.”
Ford said he looked forward to continuing to partner with the city and Lee-Vogt in implementing recommendations, adding the suggestion about making changes to the city’s permit structure seemed to him like a good first step.
The city currently only issues one type of entertainment permit to social venues. The report states the city needs “more than a one-size-fits-all approach” for its permits. It also suggests creating a one-stop shop for obtaining licenses and permits for events.
Lee-Vogt said it was an idea her team was interested in as they worked to identify long and short-term goals.
The Sociable City Plan report can be found here.
