californiareview . com
a positive resource for economic development practitioners in & around the Central Valley
 
In this issue...
Downtown Revitalization
Economic Trends, Forecasts
Business Attraction
Visitor-Serving Campaigns
Commercial\Industrial
Miscellaneous
Statewide EDOs 
San Joaquin Valley
Sacramento Valley
Surrounding Areas
University ED
Think Tanks, etc.
Business Media
vol. 003, nos. 004 Jan 27 - Feb 3, 2009

Greetings!

Californiareview.com is a free weekly resource for economic development practitioners in and around the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley regions.  This positive resource helps practitioners stay on top of regional economic news and trends.

/s/ Tony Daysog
Downtown & Neighborhoods
San Joaquin Valley and Nearby Regions
Brentwood looks for ways to improve d'town (CC Times, Press) 
 
Sacramento Valley and Nearby Regions
Redding eyes high-profile empty d'town lotl (Searchlight) 
Sacramento discusses state of d'town (Sac Union)
Placerville discusses revitalizing areas (Sac Bee) 
Chico planning its neighborhoods (Chico ER) 
Public art for d'town Redding (Searchlight)


 
EconomicDevelopmentNotes 
Best high school teacher in Ceres (Ceres Courier) 
CALED: stimulus summit: 2/19/2009 
CALED: annual conference: 4/15-17/2009
CRA: annual conference: 4/1-3/2009  

 

 
Economic Trends, Forecasts 
"Love affair" with malls ending, says writer (New York Times)
Banks in the region eeking by (Chico ER, Fresno Bee)
Amador Co. joblessness up (Ledger Dispatch) 
Placer Co. joblessness up, too (Auburn Journal)
Empty storefronts up in Redding (Searchlight) 
Supermarkets doing okay in d'turn (Retail Wire) 

Auto row, auto woes. . . not all bad news 
Visalia's Saturn shutters (Valley Voice) 
Some California cities helping auto dealers (NY Times)
 
 
 
 
Economic Development Plans 
Taft considers urban village concept for key site (press release) 
Patterson eyes 70,000 in 20 years (Irrigator) 
Gridley studying General Plan (Herald) 
Corning id's projects for Obama stimulus (Observer)
 
 

 
Business Attraction, Retention 
California versus Nevada, Arizona, etc (Sac Bee)
Elk Grove mall developer looks for partners (Sac Bee) 
Nat'l chains interested in Paradise (Paradise Post) 
Small biz group holds mtngs in Stanislaus Co (Bee) 
Wal-Mart eyes Patterson (Irrigator)
Lodi reducing electric rates for businesses (News Sentinel) 

 

 
Visitor-Serving Campaigns 
Visit Lodi! hosts booth at Bay Area show (News Sentinel) 
New motel slated for Calaveras Co. (Valley Spring News) 
Cities like Oakley, Rocklin cut back on events (CCT, Herald)
Hotels up in Clovis (Fresno Bee)
 
  
 
 
Commercial\Industrial Projects 
Industrial/Commercial/Civic Projects
Folsom ghost town makes way for commerce (Telegraph) 
West Park developer fronts money (West Side Connect) 
 
Residential, mixed-use
Investors buy unfinished tracts in Fresno Co (Fresno Bee) 
Loomis to discuss mixed-use project (Loomis News) 

  
 
 
Miscellaneous
Bulk of traffic fines to Roseville, not out of city (Sac Bee) 
McCloud, Nestle Inc. still talking (Siskiyou Daily News)
Calaveras Co. re-organizes planning, building (Stockton Record)
Sac-area hospital closing clinics in Rite Aids (Sac Biz Jrnl) 
Elk Grove's 1,900-acre project coming along (Sac Bee) 
Green jobs wave starts now (Modesto Bee)
Key Roseville employer cuts back (Sac Bee) 
Builder helps develop wetlands (Lodi News-Sentinel) 
 
Community "Third Place": Coffee Shops
Starbucks to close 300 stores (NYT, WSJ) 
Starbucks goes slow with de-caff (WSJ) 
 
Internet Access, Infrastructure
$6 billion for rural internet? (Fast Company) 
Verizon in store for $1.6 billion internet subsidy (NYT) 
Broadband bill not enough, says expert (WSJ) 
 
State of Cities, Counties
Kern Co. considers calling fiscal emergency (Californian)
Visalia holds retreat to set priorities (Valley Voice)
Clovis makes tough budget decisions (Fresno Bee) 
Manteca pursues early retirement, etc (Bulletin) 
Corning in good financial shape (Observer)
Mariposa Co. laying off workers (Gazette) 
Dixon to hold state of city soon (Reporter) 
Oakdale balancing its budget (Modesto Bee)
Stanislaus to discuss "state of county" (Ceres Courier)
Yolo Co. faces big budget hurdle (Daily Democrat) 
Ripon considers $1 million in cuts (Bulletin) 
Elk Grove seeks input on budget (Elk Grove Citizen) 
Folsom's tough decision: 55 let go (Folsom Telegraph)
Kingsburg trims budget by $160,000 (Recorder) 
 
Municipal bonds, insurance, etc.
Treasury Dept considers "muni czar" (Bond Buyer) 
 
Agriculture: A Way of Life
It's citrus season in Tulare Co. (Porterville Recorder)
Colusa Co. farm show soon (Herald Sun)
Valley wine industry eyes growth (Sac Bee, Stockton Record)
 
Community facilities
High-speed rail getting nat'l attention (WIRED) 
Chico places art on medians (Chico ER) 
Getting ready for Escalon community center (Times) 
Farmersville working on community ctr, too (Exeter Sun)
 
Alternative and Traditional Energy
Solar panels getting hot (LA Times, Fast Company, Sac Biz Jrnl) 
Ethanol opens HQ in Sacramento (Sac Biz Journal)  
 

 
 
About Us
Californiareview.com is produced by Tony Daysog, a Senior Associate with an economic development consulting company, called Applied Development Economics. He earned his Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley, where he also earned a Bachelor's degree in US History. You can reach him by e-mail at  tony_daysog@alum.berkeley.edu. 
 
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