This story is part of our March 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.
Emily Baime Michaels
Executive Director, Midtown Association
Emily Baime Michaels likes walking around Midtown — past rows of polychrome Victorian homes and specialty storefronts, turning a corner and bumping into someone she knows. She calls it an “urban village,” a fading vision of American life that still exists here. “It just feels like the city’s alive but still very human, and that feels very energizing for me,” she says.
Midtown, roughly defined as the eastern half of Sacramento’s historic grid, has been overlooked by outsiders — often distinguished by what it isn’t compared to surrounding sprawl and downtown high-rise vacancies.
But if there ever was a secret, it’s out now, and the Midtown Association has been central to that transformation. Since Baime Michaels became executive director in 2013, annual operating funds for Midtown stakeholders have grown from less than $250,000 to about $5 million, supporting a thriving nightlife and Michelin-recognized culinary scene.
A shining example of that growth is the Midtown Farmers Market. What began as a handful of booths in a parking lot has expanded into a six-block street fair with nearly 300 vendors. The market draws thousands every Saturday to shop, taste and mingle, named California’s best farmers market in 2024 and 2025 by the American Farmland Trust and currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.
This flourishing occurred in spite of — and in part because of — the pandemic. With an inflow of federal relief funds, the Midtown Association launched programs like Street Food Sacramento, which lowers barriers for underrepresented entrepreneurs who now make up about 75 percent of the market’s vendors.
For Baime Michaels, it’s people and their stories who make a community. Knowing entrepreneurs’ stories — and saying “yes” to the right ones — is everything. “If you come into our community, you’ll be a priority for us to advocate for you,” she says. “The people who care about Midtown are going to choose to spend money with you before they choose to spend money on a competitor that maybe has a larger brand recognition.”
“When we look at the pain or challenges that are happening globally and nationally, I think the way you solve those is by having really connected and honest-run communities.”
A San Diego native, Baime Michaels worked in the wedding industry while earning a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism from San Diego State University. Seeking purpose-driven work, she obtained a master’s in leadership within public policy from the University of Southern California and certificates in fundraising management and hospitality law. She also serves on the boards of the Capitol Area Development Authority and Visit Sacramento and contributed to sustainability planning for the World Cup and Olympics in Brazil.
Among her proudest achievements at the Midtown Association is the creation of Midtown Parks, which invests in the district’s six parks. She also led the revival of Second Saturday arts programming, featuring pop-up galleries, live music and audio tours of some of Midtown’s nearly 150 murals.
This summer, she’s looking forward to the Urban Dreams Art Experience, which brings temporary art installations into the district. Inspired by Burning Man, the event debuted last year with a giant interactive octopus atop Mulvaney’s B&L. For Baime Michaels, it’s simply “Midtown continuing to wear our heart on our sleeve.”
“When we look at the pain or challenges that are happening globally and nationally, I think the way you solve those is by having really connected and honest-run communities,” she says. “And I think that’s what we do here.”
She brings that same ethos into her office on 21st and N streets, which includes perks like massage chairs and a snack bar. She believes happy, well-compensated employees are essential: “If those things aren’t happening in our house, they’re not going to radiate out into the community.”
Baime Michaels met her husband, Darin, when she was CEO of the Downtown Stockton Alliance and he worked in beer sales. Bonding over all things culinary, they formed a cooking club and cowrote “A Year in Food and Beer.”
When she’s not at work or getting 2 a.m. phone calls to put out fires, she leans into those “grounded things”: cooking, gardening and renovating the couple’s Midcentury Modern home in Sacramento’s Little Pocket neighborhood. She also has an “aggressive amount of pets,” including chickens and cats with fishy names. “I found if I named them after fish, my husband would let me have more.”
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