State of the City first reaction

Along with maybe a couple hundred others this morning, I headed to the Grand Theatre for coffee, a croissant and a taste of the city's fortunes.

Mike Locke of the San Joaquin Partnership and Mayor Brent Ives covered a lot of territory during the two hours of talking, but the main topic was mostly economic — what's going on now, and what's in store for the future.

There's a ton in the address, and it'll take a few days to sort through it all and report back. (Which, have no fear, Second Thoughts will do in a State of the City blog series.)

For now, suffice it to say that I left that room feeling optimistic about Tracy's future prospects.

Whether it was a good sales job by Ives or the actual content of the speech, I'm not sure. But despite the in-between-the-lines messages that Tracy is still steered by developer interests, I think that our Hamlet by the Highway has a lot going for it.

What exactly is that (and what are those "messages")? — well, stay tuned. We'll get there.