fresh interest in Midtown alleys

Like all good things in the urban environment, the Old Soul coffee company in Midtown Sacramento wasn’t intended to be what it is now. Old Souls is tucked in a warehouse in the middle of an alleyway. The building’s high ceilings and exposed beams hint at a past life as a workshop or an auto garage.

According to the Sacramento Bee, local developers have proposed building small, affordable residential units in the alleyway where Old Soul is located at 18th and Capitol. Another alleyway near Memorial Auditorium would model a row of (expensive) seafood and Italian restaurants in San Francisco.

But the charm of Old Soul is precisely its unplanned nature. The Bee reports that Old Soul originally roasted beans to sell wholesale, and gradually started serving coffee and food, formalizing its operation with permits and a cash register along the way. (A sign at the counter informs regulars that Old Soul has now started collecting sales tax on walk-in orders.) No central corporate office decided on the mismatched chairs and benches, board games and books scattered about the old brick building.



Sacramento has been slowly taking notice of its alleyways. Over the past few years, the city quietly issued individual permits for a handful of new and above-garage housing units in alleyways, adding foot-traffic and life to its urban core.

The city could stand to make it easier for individual developers and businesses to set up shop in Sacramento’s alleyways. (Current code requires the city to grant an exception or variance.) But architectural re-use and creative designs should take priority over cookie-cutter redevelopment.

Neighborhoods and buildings that evolve over time create a more vibrant city than large-scale, purpose-built structures. To urbanist Jane Jacobs, this meant allowing a city block to evolve with new uses and new architectural styles one building at a time, like Old Soul Coffee has.

And one more thing. Developers and Bee reporters need not use “European” as a catchword for pedestrian-friendly streets. Midtown’s walkable blocks and alleys are as American in style as its grid of numbered and lettered streets. Those who remember a time (or live in a place like Midtown) where you don’t need to get in a car to buy a newspaper know that Midtown is full of character and surprises that reflect a rich blend of Sacramento history, not an imitation.

E. Mattiuzzi