where to live? philly --> sacramento relocation for late 20s professional (West Sacramento: apartments)

[heather1098]

hey - I need help figuring out where to live. I am in Sacramento visiting - what neighborhoods should I check out?

about me: California native who has been in Philly for about a decade. Now moving to Sacramento for an awesome job. I am in my late 20s. Not into the bar/club scene, but do like doing things in the evenings like arts (music, local theater, arthouse movie theaters, etc.). Liberal. Walking/outdoor enthusiast. Here are my specs:

- Renting
- Budget: $800-$1200
- Working for the state (downtown)
- No kids or pets
- Want walkable neighborhood
- Need public transit - will not have car (at least not at first)

Perks:

- Near ZipCar
- Near bike trails
- Neighborhood with others in similar age range
- Near good ethnic restaurants

thanks!

from reading the forums, it seems like midtown might fit the bill, but I am also interested in exploring other areas.

[Majin]

1801 L Street

[ryuns]

Congrats on the new job Heather! You'll probably be looking at midtown or possibly downtown. If you're not in to the bar scene, you'll just have to make sure you don't end up too near the louder areas.

As long as you're out here and searching around, I'd include Land Park, Curtis Park, and East Sac. Rentals are a little harder to come by, but the neighborhoods certainly fit all of your criteria, except that you'll have a slightly longer bike ride to get to some of the places you'll want to go. Zipcar is concentrated in downtown and midtown, and you should have access to a car near your work. The selection and availability isn't always perfect, but they're apparently adding more cars. (Our own cars are tiny, so we'll occasionally snag a Zipcar if we need to pick something up, etc). The north end of midtown, neighborhoods like Boulevard Park and New Era Park will put you extra close to the American River Bike Trail, which runs some 35 miles. (There's also a great, lesser used bike path that runs north/south along the Sacramento River.) Sacramento parks are great, for the most part, so most of your neighborhoods will put you in close proximity to something.

West Sacramento doesn't usually get talked about much on this forum. It's a bit gritty and industrial as a whole, but you might consider checking out the neighborhoods just on the other side of the river from downtown. You'll have quick access to downtown but your money will go further. Arguably not as charming, but it's coming along. Worth a look anyhow. They're getting their first nano-brewery next year, so my opinion of the area is improving

Public transit access in the center city is pretty good, but its overall usefulness depends a lot on what you plan to do with it. Our house in the Curtis Park neighborhood is super close to a light rail stop, and I assumed that I'd be using it a lot to get to work or anything else downtown. But, honestly, the weather's so mellow here for biking (regardless of what anyone tells you!), and once you figure out the best routes to ride on, it's pretty easy to bike anywhere within a 5 mile radius and generally cheaper and faster than transit. Nowadays, we only take public transit when there's alcohol involved, like to get to the annual downtown wine festival. We do have a car though, so things like major grocery store trips get handled with that. Your mileage may vary, but I thought I'd give you that perspective.

By the way, here's a map of local neighborhoods to help with terminology. People are pretty relative about these (especially in how they use the term "midtown", which has cachet as a hip neighborhood) but it's a pretty helpful guideline. http://www.cityofsacramento.org/gis/...borhoods_E.pdf

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by Majin

1801 L Street

Those are really nice apartments in an ideal spot for a state worker on foot. The studio model would fit the OP's budget.

[webdev]

Midtown is for you.