Davis (Sacramento: neighborhoods, school, college)

[cewen_fae]

Could anyone tell me anything about Davis, Ca? I was looking at the college there and was curious about the city. I would be moving with my husband, we're 27 with no kids. I was hoping for somewhere with good public transportation, friendly people and stuff to do. (not really night life, more like near by shopping, culture) Hopefully no extreme heat or cold.
Thanks!

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

There are three things that make Davis stand out:

1. UC Davis and all that comes with a typical college town.
2. Arguably the most bike-friendly city in the U.S.
3. Urban planning that favors walkable, bikeable family-friendly neighborhoods.

The appeal of Davis is directly proportional to the extent to which these three things are important to you. If you're not an avid cyclist and don't care about living in a New Urbanist neighborhood or attending UC classes, then there are other satellite communities of Sacramento that offer the usual car-dependent sprawl with ample entertainment and shopping at a much lower price.

[cewen_fae]

Thanks. We were looking at Davis because of the UC campus. My husband will being doing grad school civil engineering and they looked like they had a good engineering dept. I don't know anything about Sacramento so I might look into that too. Those things about Davis do sound nice, although I don't bike, but the walkable bit sounds good.

[Curmudgeon]

Don't know what you consider "extreme" heat but Sacramento, Davis, et al are valley cities. During the summer, triple digit heat, sometimes lasting a week or two at a time, is not unusual. It's fairly dry but hot nonetheless.