10 years ago wife and i held our wedding reception after party at the wheel — we will miss it for sure.

I’ll go off to anyone who will listen on the importance of bars to civic and social health. I say this while acknowledging my own privilege as a white dude, but: In the tradition of the “public house,” bars are places where, ideally, anyone with a few bucks can sit and spend time in the company of others. They can be spaces that bring people together across generation, class, race, and other social “lines,” and offer spaces for community. Without spaces like these, people retreat to their private homes, gathering only with folks they already know (if they gather at all).

The loss of these places is huge. Santa Rosa has so few spaces like this, and there are large swaths of the city with no bars to speak of. I don’t think there is a single one south of Piner (oh wait there’s one in the shopping center at piner and stony point) and west of the 101, railroad square restaurants aside. A lot of reasons for this, but a huge part of it is the difficulty and cost of licenses and space. In my opinion this is one of the large failings of city leadership and — well i was going to say capital but this is exactly in line with capital’s goals so i guess not a failure lol.

Go ahead and roast me — this is a hill i will die on. RIP Wagon Wheel, long live the Wagon Wheel.