Shooting slows downtown Sacramento’s recovery
The Sacramento mass shooting that killed six people last weekend adds another challenge to a downtown area still struggling to recover from months of COVID lockdowns.
Merchants there expect business to be hurt for weeks, but are hopeful that foot traffic will keep growing during the spring amid low virus cases.
Capital Books, which is on the block where the shooting occurred, just had its third-best month of pandemic sales in March, co-owner Ross Rojek said. Only the past two holiday shopping seasons were busier.
But after being closed on April 3 in the wake of the shooting, foot traffic was around half of typical pandemic levels last week.
“We’re a community down here. It will come back,” Rojek said. “I don’t see this as a longterm issue.”
The bookstore had closed much earlier in the hours before the attack, but during the shooting, people took shelter from bullets in its entryway, which is recessed from the sidewalk. The storefront wasn’t hit in the crossfire, but its neighbor, Sharif Jewelers, had broken glass from bullets. The Crest Theatre next door was also damaged, Rojek said.
The scores of people clubbing and bar hopping when the shooting occurred were testament to how nightlife has recovered in Sacramento’s downtown district. But it’s also a contrast to the slower daytime hours — and how partying is not for everyone.
“When the bars break up, it’s crowded and pretty chaotic. No one who works here is voluntarily here past 11 p.m.,” Rojek said of his employees. “It is crazy down here.”
Ken Twitty, general manager of Dive Bar and District 30, two separate businesses on the same K Street block, was outside with his staff trying to disperse a crowd when the shooting happened.
Employees took shelter in the basement and weren’t injured, but many were traumatized, he said.
More than a dozen employees across the two bars, which have a total of 54 workers, want to take a couple weeks off. Twitty credits the police for a swift response during the shooting, but “they’re just really shortstaffed,” he said.
Business had been up in March, but now Twitty expects a temporary setback.
“We were just bouncing back,” Twitty said. “More people were coming out, enjoying the weather.”
Downtown is still lively, with performances of the Broadway show “Wicked” moving forward. The Sacramento Convention Center underwent a $245 million expansion and renovation and reopened last year.
“We’ve experienced a tremendous amount of momentum in the past few months,” said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes that area and provides services including cleaning crews and community ambassadors. “We’re confident we’re going to get our momentum back.”
Ault supports tightening sentencing laws and hiring more police. The partnership is also trying to activate downtown with more events, concerts and farmers markets
Mayor Darrell Steinberg said last week that $8.1 million in federal funding will go toward safety measures including better lighting and more youth outreach workers.
“We need to make sure these investments are protected,” Ault said.
A lingering question for the neighborhood is how many of the state government’s office workers, downtown’s economic engine, continue working at home forever.
Sacramento County has about 70,000 state workers, and about three-quarters have been remote during the pandemic.
Some departments want workers to return at least a couple of days a week starting this month, but union leaders want remote work to continue, making the timing and extent of a return to offices uncertain, the Sacramento Bee reported.
“We really need office and state workers to come back,” Twitty said. “Right now, our business is getting by on the after 9 p.m. crowd.” There aren’t many people downtown earlier in the evening, he said. Nearby restaurants close inperson dining at 2 p.m. after lunchtime and switch to catering.
“I think it’s important to bring people back downtown and make the city vibrant again,” he said.
Many cities are grappling with public safety issues as they try to lure back office workers and tourists.
In San Francisco, District Attorney Chesa Boudin faces a recall in June, as critics blame his progressive policies for exacerbating crime. Amazon temporarily closed an office in Seattle after violent crime reached a 13-year high. New York City has seen a spate of homicides this year, a challenge for new Mayor Eric Adams after he ran on a law-and-order platform.
Unlike San Francisco and New York, Sacramento has gained population during the pandemic, growing 0.5% in the past year. U.S. Postal Service data showed an increase in migration from the Bay Area, where housing costs are much higher.
“People are looking at Sacramento for an alternative,” Ault said. An additional 4,000 housing units are planned in downtown Sacramento. That could provide a boost for downtown businesses in the absence of some office workers, he said.
Rojek, of Capital Books, feels fortunate that his business isn’t as dependent on daily office workers.
At the start of the pandemic, Rojek had only two employees, including his son, and had to lay both of them off. The store began focusing on deliveries and pickup orders during shelter-inplace and found customers were enthusiastic and willing to make a trip to buy a book. The store now employs about a dozen people, and it recently opened a cafe around the corner on 11th Street.
But not everyone has been as fortunate. Across K Street on Rojek’s block, there are four vacancies. “We’re still seeing more closures than there are openings,” Rojek said. Yet he remains hopeful about the area.
“I’m not pessimistic about the neighborhood. I’m just pessimistic about my next two weeks of income,” he said. “It’s not like the Capitol is going away.”