Sacramento questions (San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Clara: rental, house, neighborhoods)

[famlife]

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Santa Clara on a Sunday?
how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Oakland on a Sunday?
is the Sacramento area much affected by large earthquakes elsewhere?
is it easy to get local, organic foods in the area?
is there much local business or is it mainly big box stores?
how bike-able/walkable is the city, is it convenient and safe?
does it have a fun city atmosphere?
what are nice, affordable areas in Sacramento that's on the nearside of Oakland or Santa Clara?
are there areas not so susceptible to flooding? and by flooding, do they mean flash flooding or just general flooding?

thanks for any info!

[Majin]

Originally Posted by famlife

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Santa Clara on a Sunday? 2.5h
how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Oakland on a Sunday? 1.5h
is the Sacramento area much affected by large earthquakes elsewhere? no
is it easy to get local, organic foods in the area? yes
is there much local business or is it mainly big box stores? depends on where you live, sacramento is a big place
how bike-able/walkable is the city, is it convenient and safe? depends on where you live, sacramento is a big place
does it have a fun city atmosphere? depends on where you live, sacramento is a big place
what are nice, affordable areas in Sacramento that's on the nearside of Oakland or Santa Clara? west sac
are there areas not so susceptible to flooding? and by flooding, do they mean flash flooding or just general flooding? foothills

thanks for any info!

.

[famlife]

are the foothills expensive? whats the price range for a rental house in the foothills?

[Majin]

don't know, i don't follow renting trends in suburbs

[wburg]

is the Sacramento area much affected by large earthquakes elsewhere?
No--the quake that devastated San Francisco was barely felt here.
is it easy to get local, organic foods in the area?
When Bay Area stores advertise "local produce," they mean produce that comes from here. Many local markets sell organic produce; there are a lot of local farmer's markets.
is there much local business or is it mainly big box stores?
Plenty of both.
how bike-able/walkable is the city, is it convenient and safe?
The eastern/central parts of the city are the most walkable and bikeable, pretty convenient and pretty safe, although it's still a city. I like Midtown, but it's not for everyone.
does it have a fun city atmosphere?
Sacramento doesn't "bustle" like really big cities--even the most urban parts are pretty laid back. Our strong suit is the tree-lined and comfortable neighborhoods, which are pretty nice. You can get your party on here once you know your way around, especially if you live in/near Midtown.
what are nice, affordable areas in Sacramento that's on the nearside of Oakland or Santa Clara?
What's your price range? The affordable areas aren't that nice--the nice areas aren't that affordable. But if you're used to Bay Area prices even the nice areas will seem downright cheap.
are there areas not so susceptible to flooding? and by flooding, do they mean flash flooding or just general flooding?
Closer to the river is higher risk of flooding, but pretty much all of Sacramento is vulnerable to flooding. We haven't flooded in a very long time, but our levees are getting kind of old. You have to go to other cities farther east to be out of the flood plain entirely.

[sacramento916]

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Santa Clara on a Sunday?

About 2 hours without traffic

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Oakland on a Sunday?

About 1 hour 25 minutes without traffic

is the Sacramento area much affected by large earthquakes elsewhere?

No

is it easy to get local, organic foods in the area?

Yes

is there much local business or is it mainly big box stores?

Both. Depends on the area.

how bike-able/walkable is the city, is it convenient and safe?

Yes, the central city that is.

does it have a fun city atmosphere?

The central city does.

what are nice, affordable areas in Sacramento that's on the nearside of Oakland or Santa Clara?

Depends on what you consider affordable, or nice.

are there areas not so susceptible to flooding? and by flooding, do they mean flash flooding or just general flooding?

In general no. But depends on the location.

thanks for any info!

No problem.

[ashesleeps]

While trying to scavenge for information on housing (moving to Midtown in May-ish), I've realized that for something nice for a couple with no kids, expect somewhere between $900 and $1100 per month to be the minimum if you're going to live on the grid. If you're single or a bargain hunter, you can probably skirt by with a good bit less, but you may also have to sacrifice some things (location, square footage, closet space, being able to have a dog (which irritates the mess out of me) or non-communal laundry).

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by famlife

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Santa Clara on a Sunday?

It really depends on what part of Sacramento and to what part of Santa Clara you are coming/going from. Also, Sunday is very variable. In the fall there isn't going to be a lot of traffic going toward the Bay Area on Sunday because people in the Bay Area aren't coming here to do much. Later in the winter traffic backs up on the freeways here due to people heading back home from the ski parks. Likewise, in the summer traffic can be dense from people heading home from their weekend trips to the Gold Country.

how long does it take to drive (with traffic) from Sacramento to Oakland on a Sunday?

See the above post. However, Amtrak is an alternative between Oakland and Sacramento.

is the Sacramento area much affected by large earthquakes elsewhere?

Sacramento is one of the least likely locations to be impacted by an earthquake. The Loma Prieta Earthquake was widely felt here, but didn't do any damage. If an earthquake of the same magnitude occurred on the San Andreas Fault directly west of San Francisco or Marin County, it would have been stronger here. There are several faults in the East Bay which are closer, thus an earthquake from them would be considerably stronger here. There are faults along the foothills which have the potential to generate 5.0-6.0 earthquakes, but that fault doesn't slip much. Probably the most important fault that could have an impact is between Vacaville an Dixon An earthquake occurred from this fault in 1892 and caused extensive damage to the surrounding towns and was rated as a 7 on the Mercalli intensity scale, which is rated by what people feel and the effects of the earthquake. An important thing to remember is there wasn't much around here in 1892 and if that earthquake occurred today it probably wouldn't topple any buildings in Sacramento, but it would surely cause some damage to the old brick and mortar buildings downtown. There are few accounts of that earthquake in Sacramento in print. The only one I read was a reference to it in a government publication wherein the streets of Downtown (which is Old Sacramento today) suddenly came alive with people running out of buildings and shelters. So, at the very least it was more than enough to scare the crap out of people here.

At any rate, I wouldn't lose sleep over the possibility of a damaging earthquake in Sacramento. I posted this information because any place in California is subject to the effects of a surprise earthquake.

Vacaville - Winters Earthquakes...1892 - State of California

is it easy to get local, organic foods in the area?

Yes. Easy to grow your own too.

is there much local business or is it mainly big box stores?

This is variable by area, but even the most dull and bland places seem to have a healthy local economy.

how bike-able/walkable is the city, is it convenient and safe?

This depends on individual perception. Some people think walkable means a grocery store at the nearest corner. Others, like myself, don't mind walking a mile. Generally, two=thirds of a mile or less is considered walkable. I also consider quality of the businesses in walkable distance. It really does me no good if the nearest walkable grocery store only sells 40-ouncers, tobacco and Doritos because I don't buy any of those items.

does it have a fun city atmosphere?

You have to decide that for yourself. I usually find that boring people are usually bored out of their minds here because they don't have the motivation or ambition to seek out whatever entertains them. And, in Sacramento, there is plenty to do, but it doesn't slap you in the face like it does in other areas. This is probably one of Sacramento's quirks, but I can't really say it is good or bad.

what are nice, affordable areas in Sacramento that's on the nearside of Oakland or Santa Clara?

Affordable is relative. I like Curtis Park and Land Park. However, I don't think $389,000 for an 800 sq ft home is affordable or reasonable by local standards.

are there areas not so susceptible to flooding? and by flooding, do they mean flash flooding or just general flooding?

Of course. Generally, the center of the metro area (Carmichael, Fair Oaks, parts of Citrus Heights) doesn't have flooding issues except along creeks. Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rio Linda all of severe flood potentials in most areas.