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ANOTHER UTOPIAN DREAM STIRS IN CLOVERDALE
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
October 31, 2024 Date, Date, 20202020
‘ESMERALDA’ TECHIE VILLAGE HAS BIG VISION FOR NORTH COUNTY By Simone Wilson
➝ Techie Village, 4
Photo Courtesy of SMART
Remember in June, when 1,000-plus “techno opt i m i s t s ” f r om a r oun d the world convened in Healdsburg for a mysterious month-long series of talks, salons and workshops on how to build a utopian future? They weren’t kidding. Devon Zuegel of the Esmeralda Land Company, one of two groups behind the Healdsburg event, revealed this month that for the past year she has been in talks to purchase nearly 270 acres of land at the south end of sleepy Cloverdale, current population 9,000, and turn it into a “new town called Esmeralda.” This former industrial site just east of Hwy 101 and north of the Cloverdale Airport is a classic slice of Northern Sonoma County landscape. After years of environmental cleanup by the landowner and government agencies, it’s now a blank slate of grassy hills, old oak trees and a milelong stretch of coveted Russian River frontage. “It’s a beautiful location,” said Cloverdale City Councilmember Melanie Bagby. “It has one of our best views south to the Alexander Valley. Absolutely breathtaking.” Locals might also know it as the site of the wouldb e “A l e x a n d e r Va l l e y Resort” plan—a.k.a., the cash-strapped City of Cloverdale’s best shot at collecting even a fraction of the tourist- and propertytax money that Healdsburg enjoys. Over the past two decades, at the city’s encouragement, various developers have drawn up
ARRIVAL A SMART express train arrives at the Santa Rosa Airport station, currently the end point of the rail service’s route. Starting next year, construction will begin on extending it all the way to Healdsburg’s northern city limit.
SMART Picks Up Steam $81 MILLION TO FUEL EXTENSION TO LYTTON SPRINGS By Christian Kallen
That big clock is finally ticking for the train’s arrival in Healdsburg—it’s no longer only a memory or a pipe dream. Last week brought the news that the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District had been awarded an $81 million grant from the state to extend the rail service from its current terminus, at the Sonoma County Airport, though Windsor to Healdsburg’s northern city limit by 2028—including construction of a new or remodeled rail bridge over the Russian River. “This is such a huge victory for the residents of northern Sonoma County,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire,
Lytton Extension
a Healdsburg native. “We can’t wait to get the shovels in the ground and move SMART full steam ahead into Healdsburg!” McGuire was one of several public officials crowing about the grant announcement—James Gore, Ariel Kelley and Deborah Fudge all shared the brag, and with good reason given their longstanding service with local transportation agencies. “Adding Healdsburg to the SMART network builds on investments already made in the system and will help SMART’s ridership reach new heights,” said Supervisor David Rabbitt, a member of several Bay Area transportation boards. Even as the huzzahs and dollars rain down, eyes in Healdsburg are turning toward the two old buildings at the former NWP depot on Harmon Street and wondering what part in the coming drama this location will play.
The $81 million from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) is being matched by $188 million in other secured and pending federal, state, regional and local funds, including two pending grants to build out not only the 5.5-mile rail section from Windsor to Healdsburg, but a littleheralded 3.3-mile segment from the depot to Healdsburg’s northern city limits at Lytton Road as well. T he announcement from SMART’s communications office emphasized that SMART’s goal is to extend the rail line and pathway all the way to Cloverdale, arguing that “SMART’s northern extension will reduce congestion on major roads like Highway 101, offer safe and reliable alternative travel choice, foster economic growth through transitoriented development,
SNAPSHOT: ART IN EVERY CUP TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE THE DAILY POUR By Pierre Ratte
Photo by Pierre Ratte
LATTE ART Learning how to make hearts, flowers or trees in
a cup of coffee is a crucial skill for today’s barista.
For over 30 years, my daily pour has been a latté. Some years ago, I took a latté art class in Seattle. While it’s not every day that hearts and recognizable shapes like the one above get poured, it’s often enough that it is intriguing. What will my coffee look like this morning? No question, it’s addictive. Trying to get that design shape just perfect— very addictive! Oh, maybe you thought it was the caffeine? Well, there is that!
and improve access to jobs, education, and healthcare.” As well as completing almost nine miles of track between Windsor and Healdsburg, the combined funds will be used to complete critical segments of the SMART Pathway, also known as the Foss Creek Pathway in Healdsburg and the Great Redwood Trail more broadly. To fully fund the project, however, is conditional upon two current applications for a total of $91 million in additional grants, which will be announced in June 2025. Julia Gonzalez, SMART’s communications director, said, “SMART is not waiting to hear the results of the two pending grants. SMART is currently preparing designbuild contract documents and expects to select a contractor by summer 2025.” Construction would begin a year later, with “the goal of launching passenger rail service to Healdsburg by the end of 2028.”
Depot Questions
But the artwork is frustratingly difficult. So next time your barista pours a beautiful heart, flower or whatever, don’t take it for granted. If you’ve tried to make latté art, you’ll know it’s a skill not easy to come by. When you know, you know. Fun Facts: Ethiopian goats excited from eating hillside beans are credited with discovering coffee. Interest in coffee migrated from Ethiopia to Turkey. The first café opened in Istanbul in 1475, and coffee culture centered around cafés and conversations ever since. By the 1800s, coffee houses were the rage in Europe and Italy, but brewing took time. Espresso was invented to reduce brew time from minutes to seconds. Pavoni reportedly invented the first pressurerelease valve to safely operate steam-based machines in 1900. Later, Gaggia patented a device that
increased water pressure from 2 to 10 atmospheric bars, thereby discovering “crema”—the light-brown floating foam. Brazil produces more coffee than any other country. Finland consumes more coffee per capita than any other country. Caffeine’s effect begins in 5 minutes, peaks at 30 and remains for hours. Light roasts retain more caffeine than dark. Decaf coffee has 2-10 milligrams compared to 80-100+ milligrams for regular coffee. Starbucks reportedly has over 30,000 cafés in 75 countries. Why is the coffee company called Chock full o’Nuts, if coffee is a fruit? The company started selling nuts to theatergoers in 1926. After 1929, the company changed its nut shops to lunch counters selling a pumpernickel-raisin bread, cream cheese and nut sandwich for 5 cents, including a cup of coffee.
Although it’s unclear how much of the current $81 million award, or the expected $91 million, would go not only to building a new passenger platform but to possibly also upgrading Healdsburg’s historic depot site, currently partially rebuilt in 2011 but once again boarded up. Though the city went through a months-long crisis of doubt, in January 2024 the City Council finally settled on the Harmon Street Depot as the favored location for a SMART station. At one point it was proposed to locate the SMART station itself as close as possible to the Healdsburg Roundabout, essentially bypassing the old depot, to encourage foot traffic downtown. But SMART, which owns the two buildings as part of its acquisition of Northwestern ➝ Area Rail Transit, 4