Art, design, food festival comes to Del Paso Boulevard

When Sacramento’s more innovative and adventurous business owners—food truck operators, designers, artists—converge on one of the loneliest strips in all of the region this Sunday, their stab at revitalization isn’t just “green” or “eco-friendly.” It is, according to local business owner and green advocate Andrea Lepore, “new urbanist.”

“It is more than just green,” Lepore explained of Good: Street Food + Design Market, which launches this Sunday. “It involves quality of life, design, transit-oriented [living] open to various income levels.”

Basically, the event—a four-hour farmers market-type gathering on the struggling Del Paso Boulevard—showcases trendy farm-to-table eats and artisan designs in a neighborhood that doesn’t even have a grocery store.

It’s only $3 to get in. And, while parking abounds on the boulevard, two light-rail stops are less than a half-mile from the market, which is vital to sustaining a progressive carbon footprint.

“We plan to bridge that gap and create a sustainable local eco-system,” explained Good promoter Roshaun Davis. He says he wants the market attendees from the neighborhoods surrounding Del Paso Boulevard, which also don’t have a weekly farmers market, to embrace the local brands and foods. This hopefully will spur more events—and perhaps even a real farmers market—in the area sometime soon.

“A lot of the best things come from underdeveloped areas where people can’t rely on things to be handed to them,” Davis reminded, “so they create their own.”

Environmental advocates for years have championed the idea of urban infill, such as revitalizing underserved neighborhoods and tapping into existing transit corridors for retail and residences. And, while the Good market is just a weekly event, it’s also the kind of happening that can spark interest in a neglected block.

Dan Friedlander, who owns The Greens Hotel on Del Paso Boulevard, initially wanted to kick-start the boulevard with a seven-days-a-week farmers market. This idea is still being developed, but in the interim the idea of the Good market—in the vein of Artisanal LA market in Los Angeles or Dose Market in Chicago—evolved.

The Del Paso Boulevard Partnership got on board with the Good idea, and Friedlander allowed for the use of his 1409 Del Paso Boulevard building—the same site he hopes to one day operate a farmers market.

Shopping local, or buying local products or brands, is a big part of Good’s green credentials. Local shops will run the gamut: a mobile clothing store, an ice-cream vendor, a record store with original vinyl tunes, an on-the-go coffeehouse. And, of course, food trucks, including Mama Kim Cooks and Wicked ’Wich.

“We have people with internationally known brands, as well as different entrepreneurs that were developed here in Sacramento, that would love to tell their story to the locals, but there aren’t a lot of platforms for that type of engagement,” Davis said.

The promoters of Good argue that we don’t have to drive to San Francisco for snacks and a stroll through the Ferry Building Marketplace to embrace urban-market culture.

“We shouldn’t have to go to other cities to admire culture and established brands,” Davis said. “They are right here in our own backyard.”