Newport Beach, OC to West Sacramento (San Diego, Santa Monica: real estate, houses, neighbourhoods)

[AmyM]

Hi, I might be moving to West Sacramento next year. I'll be visiting there in a couple of weeks.
I was wondering what kind of neighbourhoods are in the area, and if anyone has any recommendations?
I also enjoy alot of art/coffee houses/museums and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for my visit.
Thanks in advance

[CityGirl72]

You are from the Newport beach/OC area? And moving to West Sac?

It's drastically different.

Been to the INland Empire lately where it gets ultra blazing hot? Okay - it's like that. (BTW I love Sac, but I also grew up in Santa Monica so I know you are going to have some culture shock)

[wbsacto]

it took me about a year to adjust to the change. Sacto's claim to fame is that its "90 minutes" from everywhere. That may have been true years ago, now the traffic and congestion make it 8 hours from everywhere at times. The recent media coverage of West Sacramento is all about gangs, drugs, shootings and hoodlums ruining life for everyone else. Check out the following site.

Welcome to West Sacramento, California

[Beth26]

I live in West Sac. The more tricky part of town is on the north side of the freeway. I have had no problems on the Southport (south side) of town. It is a very suburban area. Quiet and no major problems. This side of town is still growing, so we don't have a lot of diverse shopping yet. So when you see headlines of a gang problem, this is kind of like saying there is a gang problem in Land Park since it is so close to Oak Park(Land Park is a very nice part of town).

West Sac is very close to downtown Sac. There are great restaurants and museums there. Crocker Art is great and there are some nice art galleries on J Street. There are some good places to eat on the river too.

[cityx]

Originally Posted by AmyM

Hi, I might be moving to West Sacramento next year. I'll be visiting there in a couple of weeks.
I was wondering what kind of neighbourhoods are in the area, and if anyone has any recommendations?
I also enjoy alot of art/coffee houses/museums and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for my visit.
Thanks in advance

Coming from Newport Beach, you will be horrified in what you see in Sacramento.

[tande1n5]

Whenever I fly into Sacramento from San Diego to see my parents after not being back in a while, I always feel like I'm in the country... so that may be your first impression too. Sacramento is similar to OC in the fact that the sprawl is done in a single family suburban manner with high speed parkways and strip malls, so driving around the suburbs, it's actually not so different. The difference lies in 1) the natural surroundings/scenery and 2) the city itself. For coffee houses, I recommend Starbucks. That's the type of place seen in the communities of West Sac mostly. The funky places are all downtown.

[Kingsnkali]

Drink your fancy coffee in downtown Sac/Old Sac/Midtown or over in Davis.

There may come a time when the north part of West Sac (Broderick) gets cleaned up and gentrified. Probably the next up cycle in real estate. The location is just too good.

[CityGirl72]

PS - I say if you don't mind commuting to West Sac MOVE TO MIDTOWN - you'll like it much better

And it's 15 minutes to west sac

[md1359]

Sacramento isn't bad--lots of shopping, some museums, lots of cafes, restaurants, coffe houses, close to Bay Area, Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley if you need to get away..I have lived here for 20 yrs and love it! Newport Beach is beautiful though!

[AmyM]

Originally Posted by cityx

Coming from Newport Beach, you will be horrified in what you see in Sacramento.

Depends on your take of what 'horrified' for you means.
I've only been in Newport for 8 months. I've lived in all different types of cities, I like variety, I don't expect anywhere I live to be 'perfect'. I keep an open-mind.

For everyone else, thanks for the info! I'm looking forward to my trip to Sacramento