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Hi, my wife and I are thinking about relocating to Sacramento after I graduate in May. The main reasons include:
-proximity to SF where we would eventually like to live (once we've $aved enough)
-proximity to beautiful natural features (tahoe, redwood forests, ocean, etc.)
-warm, dry, sunny weather
-culture + resources of a larger city
-relative affordability of a city with all the above
I had a few specific questions about Sacramento based on what I've heard/read:
-CRIME: how bad is it really? Where I come from you know which neighborhoods are more dangerous, and you just avoid them. Is that the case for Scrmnto? Which neighborhoods are appropriate for a young couple on a tight budget without sacrificing safety? Is South Natomas (Jefferson School Park Area) safe?
-WATER/AIR quality: any thoughts...I've heard bad things about Davis water and wondered if that carried over.
-WALKABILITY: would you feel safe walking from north of the river to the downtown area? Discovery Park/American River Park/River Parkway all seem like a great resource, but are they a place you'd feel comfortable jogging/biking alone?
apart from those things, I'd also be really interested in your thoughts in general, if you've lived in Sacramento for a while. Thanks!
Our water is pretty good but our water system is very, very old--replacement of the system, some of which is over a century old, has become a recent hot-button issue. Air quality gets pretty bad, we're basically in the bottom of a bowl, and if you are allergic to anything we have it here and it will make you sneeze.
Going downtown from South Natomas is pretty but can be a little sketchy--it requires passing through some somewhat rough neighborhoods, and the parkway area along the American River has a large population of homeless camps when you get close to downtown. It's a great resource, but bring pepper spray. If you are planning on working in downtown Sacramento, you might look at buying or renting in the central city or neighborhoods just south or east, which is an even shorter commute and a safer walk or ride.
On the bright side, we just made #3 in a nationwide survey of fastest-growing markets for tech jobs:
And while it's seriously underrated, I recommend adding the Sacramento River Delta to those beautiful natural features--and it's right in our backyard.
I had a few specific questions about Sacramento based on what I've heard/read:
-CRIME: how bad is it really? Where I come from you know which neighborhoods are more dangerous, and you just avoid them. Is that the case for Scrmnto? Which neighborhoods are appropriate for a young couple on a tight budget without sacrificing safety? Is South Natomas (Jefferson School Park Area) safe?
-WATER/AIR quality: any thoughts...I've heard bad things about Davis water and wondered if that carried over.
-WALKABILITY: would you feel safe walking from north of the river to the downtown area? Discovery Park/American River Park/River Parkway all seem like a great resource, but are they a place you'd feel comfortable jogging/biking alone?
apart from those things, I'd also be really interested in your thoughts in general, if you've lived in Sacramento for a while. Thanks!
CRIME: I'd suggest that you check the crime maps. I think they are available for both the sheriff & police depts. http://crimemap.sacsheriff.com/
South Natomas is sketchy, it's what I would call "south sacramento-north". It's ghetto. It's possible that there are nice areas, but they are surrounded. It was once, I'm sure, a nice neighborhood. Be sure to check the crime map.
-WATER/AIR:
I've always heard the water is good here. I disagree. The water in East Sac tastes like chorinated swamp water. Awful. I always bought filtered water when I lived there. Same with Folsom, it's highly chorinated. Awful. I have a built in filter now, and I always carry bottled water.
About the air, if you live in the central city and have any seasonal allergeries at all, be aware that there are LOTS of trees, some neighborhoods are covered with beautiful tree canopies..... therefore LOTS of allergies. The good news is the delta breeze which blows out a lot of the pollutants, and keeps the hot summer nights tolerable.
-WALKABILITY:
I think it's doable if you are male, have company, have mace or a weapon, but certainly not as a female alone. How do you feel about large groups of homeless people? Sacramento has received national coverage concerning their homeless population...it's an ongoing battle between the homeless' illegal campgrounds and the cops kicking them out. Loaves & fishes is located on the south side of the river, between 12th & 16th (main thoroughfares) on I think N St. So there is lots of movement of peoples between that location and the camps.
I just posted the pros & cons of living in Sacramento after 6 years in another topic, here
http://www.city-data.com/forum/sacramento/355602-what-pros-cons-living-sacramento.html
Last edited by caligirlz; 03-16-2012 at 01:24 AM..
Reason: clarification
Being flat, Sacramento is very walkable, and the Midtown area is great for young couples. Lots of people on the streets, great restaurants, bars and shops. South Natomas (even North Natomas for that matter), has some nice streets, but also lots of rentals and crime. A friend of mine has had his cars broken into, while parked in his driveway, while he was home, 3 times. American River Parkway is great for jogging or biking, depending on where you are. The city ousts the homeless every now and then, and they usually get bad press for it. Here's a Facebook worth checking out.
-CRIME: how bad is it really? Where I come from you know which neighborhoods are more dangerous, and you just avoid them. Is that the case for Scrmnto? Which neighborhoods are appropriate for a young couple on a tight budget without sacrificing safety? Is South Natomas (Jefferson School Park Area) safe? There are other similarly prices areas that I would look at before South Natomas (Tahoe Park is a bit more expensive, northern Oak Park is close to midtown, Tallic Village is safer and pretty close in, and there are some reasonably priced places in midtown or near the Old City Cemetary). If you don't need a yard/parking, I think you can find something closer to midtown (assuming that is where you want to be) for a similar price as South Natomas and it will be safer and more convinent. That said, I belive that area does have some very active homeowners group and a neighborhood watch, so I would definitly go "look" at some of the places avaliable.
-WATER/AIR quality: any thoughts...I've heard bad things about Davis water and wondered if that carried over. Water is good, and many of the older neighborhoods are not yet metered. Air quality can be less then ideal, and many people find that they develop allergies due to the sheer number of trees/plants in the area (pollen).
-WALKABILITY: would you feel safe walking from north of the river to the downtown area? Discovery Park/American River Park/River Parkway all seem like a great resource, but are they a place you'd feel comfortable jogging/biking alone? Sometimes, but for the most part I avoid that portion of the parkway. The parkway adjacent to downtown has a very high number of homeless, there are services for them (Loaves and Fishes), shelter along the parkway, and a big industrial park that is vacant many hours of the day. Most of the time they are harmless, but there have definitly been some problems, and I have felt uncomfortable riding in that area alone in the middle of the day (ie you can come upon a group of rather "out of it" looking individuals blocking the path, and you are pretty isolated out there). I would not bike/foot commuite daily through that area, and I choose to cut through more populated areas when I go that way alone. On the flip side, I will ride through Alkalie Flats or Oak Park at night because there is still enough traffic on the arterial streets that you are not as isolated, and I regulary bike,walk, run alone on the parkway east of east Sac. The portion of the parkway just north of downtown is just a whole different world.
Ive heard of numerous assaults and even rapes along the American River bike trail , from the transients or homeless that hang around the wooded areas, bushes
I remember reading about a bicyclist that was attacked by a transient with a 2 x 4 and they took his bike
and also gets very dangerous for female joggers in some areas
Ive been on the bike trail from downtown all the way to Folsom and it gets more dangerous the closer you are to town, more transients, bums, etc
General rule of thumb is you ride the bike trail from folsom all the way to about the Campus Commons Area, at which point you cross over the river and go by sac state and thru east sac. For optimal safety.
The safety of a given part of the bike trail relates to how safe the neighborhood immediately adjacent to it is. You are fine on the bike trail from Folsom to Campus Commons and even from Campus Commons to Cal Expo. The problem at Cal Expo is that Cal Expo is generally empty most of the year and the bike trail gets pretty isolated downstream of Cal Expo. Between Cal Expo and Discovery Park the neighborhoods near the bike trail stop being residential and start being industrial.
In the past there have been some discussions of selling off the current Cal Expo site and moving the State Fair elsewhere. I don't know if that is going to happen any time soon, but I suspect that if it did, and they stuck housing where Cal Expo is currently sited, that part of the bike trail would seem a lot safer pretty rapidly.
CRIME: I'd suggest that you check the crime maps. I think they are available for both the sheriff & police depts. http://crimemap.sacsheriff.com/
South Natomas is sketchy, it's what I would call "south sacramento-north". It's ghetto. It's possible that there are nice areas, but they are surrounded. It was once, I'm sure, a nice neighborhood. Be sure to check the crime map.
South Natomas was, indeed, once a nice area. We almost bought there many years ago but thankfully, the house wouldn't clear title due to being tied up in a divorce settlement. Regretably, the area did begin to attract more unsavory elements, most from South Sac as morem low-income housing was developed and those who could began to buy in the new North Natomas.
Thanks to the requirement for multi-family, low income multi-family housing requirements there and the lousy economy, it too appears to be somewhat in decline.
-CRIME: how bad is it really? Where I come from you know which neighborhoods are more dangerous, and you just avoid them. Is that the case for Scrmnto? Which neighborhoods are appropriate for a young couple on a tight budget without sacrificing safety? Is South Natomas (Jefferson School Park Area) safe?
-WATER/AIR quality: any thoughts...I've heard bad things about Davis water and wondered if that carried over.
-WALKABILITY: would you feel safe walking from north of the river to the downtown area? Discovery Park/American River Park/River Parkway all seem like a great resource, but are they a place you'd feel comfortable jogging/biking alone?
Sacramento has more than twice the violent crime of the US average, and about 80% more than California's average. South Natomas has a lot of property crime and pretty average violent crime for the city as a whole. It's not one of the neighborhoods I would put on the list to really avoid, it's pretty typical of below middle-class Sacramento. It's definitely not posh, but it's not terrible. Just don't park your car on the street. The closer to I-5/80 you are the better, it gets worse as you go east. There's an abundance of apartments in the area that are inexpensive and it has easy access to Sacramento. I lived close South Natomas (Regatta apartments, just off I-80 and El Camino), biked and ran along the American River all the time. There are more problems now since Sacramento things it's more important to play corporate welfare to developers to build new shiny stuff with its money than provide basic city services.
Totally baffles me that people would recommend Oak Park for safety reasons... I mean, it's better than it was in the '80/'90s when you didn't even go in it ever for any reason. North Oak Park, Curtis Park, and Poverty ridge are all cheap for a reason. Most people with the means go to East Sac or Land Park. They've gentrified quite a bit, but they're still rough neighborhoods.
Last edited by Malloric; 03-17-2012 at 11:01 AM..
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