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Old 05-01-2018, 09:50 PM
 
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The natural environment helps make a downtown enjoyable to live in and play in.

SACRAMENTO

Amazing walkability, amazing tree canopy, garden setting where ever you walk especially compared to other California cities, flat landscape is a good thing for biking and walking long distances. There is no California city like it.

Architecture is rich in the low rise 2 to 10 story range. The Capitol Building at around 250 feet is still the crowning neoclassical jewel often hidden behind trees is stunning.

Every house, building, beer garden, cafe, coffee shop, bar, restaurant, theatre has huge trees hanging over you. Nine out 10 restaurants have some sort of outdoor street patio.

Most blocks are neighborly, inviting, organic, leafy and green. Murals are everywhere and you often see a Muralist at work on a blank wall in an alley or in full view of the street.

High-rises over 300 feet to 400 feet are unique and distinctive. The city grid is maturing into a larger share of 5 to 10 story residential buildings mixed with freshly restored Victorians.

The Sacramento River waterfront adds a nice touch of geographical diversity and is just in its infancy of full scale development.

Light rail trains are regularly packed.
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Old 05-02-2018, 12:33 AM
 
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I'll jump in! Notes below:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Losfrisco View Post
Oh really. What is downtown San Francisco's answer to-

The Broad Museum -- SFMOMA (Legion of Honor is more similar but not downtown)
Angels Flight -- Cable cars (way better!)
Grand Central Market -- Ferry Building Market
OUE Skyspace -- Coit Tower
Spire 73 -- Top of the Mark
Union Station -- Transbay Terminal

Remember-downtown only, no plucking from "core" neighborhoods. Since amazing San Francisco is so far ahead, I'll expect a quick response.
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Old 05-02-2018, 12:40 AM
 
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Hands down its Downtown Los Angeles.
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Old 05-02-2018, 07:27 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tstieber View Post
And here are my rankings:

1. San Francisco
2. Los Angeles
3. San Diego
4. Sacramento
5. Long Beach
6. San Jose
7. Oakland

I actually like ALL of these downtowns for different reasons. DTLA is putting up lots of interesting skyscrapers and residential towers downtown, and the jewelry district has amazing historic architecture. It's got the Symphony Hall down there, LA Live, and some other neat things, but it's still a bit quiet at night. Still, it feels like a big city.

San Diego is compact, and there is residential highrise construction going on constantly. It's not a major financial center, even within the region, but it's become the playground for people to live, go to shows, concerts, restaurants, coffee shops, farmers markets, festivals, etc. It's full of life and bustle, and, like San Francisco, it is blessed with a great waterfront location on the bay, even having a bay bridge. Compared to Long Beach's harbor, San Diego is more of a working fishing harbor, which I like better.

I went to Long Beach for the first time six months ago and was really impressed! It reminded us of a larger Sacramento, really similar in size, vibe, architecture, and people. The main difference was that Long Beach has a touristy, palm-lined waterfront, whereas Sacramento has a non-touristy, palm-lined State Capitol (which I think is more regal, but Long Beach just seems bigger, so I give it the edge).

San Jose has a bright, sunny vibe with a great downtown street layout. It feels to me like the kind of California city that would lure weary East Coasters out west from seeing a fruit crate label. It's just very pretty. I also love the First Street (SoFi) arts district with its unique Art Deco architecture and the beautiful jacaranda trees. San Jose sort of has every element of California blended into one place. Whatever you think about California, north or south, east or west, it all comes together there.
Great descriptions, I will agree. However, Sacramento feels smaller than it is because of the flat terrain, huge trees, and the hills and mountains in the Sac Metro are 20-50 miles away from the downtown, so you have no perspective of the size of Sacramento.

If Sacramento's Capital Park sat on a incline/hill, or any of the small districts within the city grid, or any of the older leafy wealthier neighborhoods surrounding the downtown were either up on a hill or down in a valley or small canyon, you would be able to see how big Sacramento really is. If you had that perspective, vantage point or vista you could easily see all the interesting blocks and neighborhoods of Sacramento; you can't see them from one block to the next, or one neighborhood to the next because of the flat terrain, but it doesn't mean they are not there.

For example, if you had to drive up a hill to get to the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento from Capitol Park because Capitol Park sat in a lower level valley you would be able to see the many streets and buildings and the beauty of Capitol Park down below from your hilltop neighborhood. Picture looking down at the Sacramento River from the "hills" of Sacramento's older beautiful neighborhoods. Most California cities have hills that give perspective and vistas of the city, Sacramento doesn't, but again, it doesn't mean all that interesting architecture and all those beautiful neighborhoods aren't there.

Flat terrain cities have to work a lot harder to show off their beauty and Sacramento does it well. If we had just one incline or big hill in the downtown, Sacramento would look much much bigger, and you would be able to see how big Sacramento really is.

Reverse that and picture Capitol Park on a hill with the Capitol Building on it, and all those older beautiful neighborhoods sat below it. Your view from your neighborhood would be of a hill with a tree lined park and the Capitol building high above you across the way. Picture being in Capitol park and looking down below to see the Sacramento River. We don't have those vistas or views but all those elements of the streets, trees, architecture are still there you just can't see them all in one or more vistas as you can in most other California cites.

Last edited by Chimérique; 05-02-2018 at 07:59 AM..
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Old 05-03-2018, 10:42 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimérique View Post
Great descriptions, I will agree. However, Sacramento feels smaller than it is because of the flat terrain, huge trees, and the hills and mountains in the Sac Metro are 20-50 miles away from the downtown, so you have no perspective of the size of Sacramento.

If Sacramento's Capital Park sat on a incline/hill, or any of the small districts within the city grid, or any of the older leafy wealthier neighborhoods surrounding the downtown were either up on a hill or down in a valley or small canyon, you would be able to see how big Sacramento really is. If you had that perspective, vantage point or vista you could easily see all the interesting blocks and neighborhoods of Sacramento; you can't see them from one block to the next, or one neighborhood to the next because of the flat terrain, but it doesn't mean they are not there.

For example, if you had to drive up a hill to get to the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento from Capitol Park because Capitol Park sat in a lower level valley you would be able to see the many streets and buildings and the beauty of Capitol Park down below from your hilltop neighborhood. Picture looking down at the Sacramento River from the "hills" of Sacramento's older beautiful neighborhoods. Most California cities have hills that give perspective and vistas of the city, Sacramento doesn't, but again, it doesn't mean all that interesting architecture and all those beautiful neighborhoods aren't there.

Flat terrain cities have to work a lot harder to show off their beauty and Sacramento does it well. If we had just one incline or big hill in the downtown, Sacramento would look much much bigger, and you would be able to see how big Sacramento really is.

Reverse that and picture Capitol Park on a hill with the Capitol Building on it, and all those older beautiful neighborhoods sat below it. Your view from your neighborhood would be of a hill with a tree lined park and the Capitol building high above you across the way. Picture being in Capitol park and looking down below to see the Sacramento River. We don't have those vistas or views but all those elements of the streets, trees, architecture are still there you just can't see them all in one or more vistas as you can in most other California cites.
I agree! The only way to get a good vantage point of the entirety of Sacramento is from a high-rise building such as a hotel. I do find that Sacramento is a bit slower-paced than some of the other downtowns, but that's part of its appeal. I don't know if that's because it's more locals and not so many tourists like some of the other cities, who are annoying anyway, or if the leafy trees and parks just relax people more. Capitol Park is one of my favorite little spots in the entire state. It has almost the feel of a genteel southern city like Charleston. But there's also sort of a Portlandesque/ European pace and Ambience to the city. And I think another reason it feels, is because you don't have big districts where every retail and restaurant business is sandwiched into one Long Street. Instead, there are these cool pockets of activity clustered around residential intersections that create more of a patchwork that begs to be walked and explored. That also means that wherever you live in downtown or Midtown, for example, you'll be walkable to something cool.

That's why I say, my rankings don't reflect how great each of those cities is. With the exception of San Francisco, which Is one of the most beloved cities around the world, the rest are very close! In fact, if the question were specifically which are the most livable downtowns, then Sacramento should be much higher on the list, and I would put San Francisco way down on it. The old adage, a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there, also holds true in reverse. I would consider San Francisco much more worthy of visiting than Sacramento, but Sacramento is far more livable.
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