More questions about Sacramento (Davis, Rancho Cordova: rental homes, homes, primary schools)

[lukeache]

Hi all:

I guess I have a few more questions about Sacramento and if anybody could answer honestly, I would appreciate it.

1)Is the city walkable? -I really like to use public transportation versus driving if a can. I was wondering if Sacramento is the kind of place where you can get off any LR station and walk around, go shopping with no trouble. Dallas has an OK LR system but many of the stations are surrounded by highways which sucks, near to impossible to walk around

2)Is the city bike-friendly!?Same type of question. I was wondering if it possible to jump off and on the light rail with a bicycle.

3) Is the area called Rosemont a good area? I found a reasonably price apt around S Watt Ave/Kiefer Blvd just south of Watt/Folsom, I guess that is close to the Manlove station. Any thoughts on this area?!

Thanks a lot!

[CityGirl72]

Those answers will depend on where you live. I will tell you - it's a commuter town. Most everyone has a car. Because you can live one area and need your car to drive to your job 45 minutes away.

The bus transit system sucks - and is not the safest. Which leads to the light rail system - which has seen much expansion - but still not the safest and cleanest people. I avoided it at all costs.

I lived in midtown for 10 years. And biked around alot, Davis is more walkable and bikable. I always used my car in Sac. Can't live without it. I once (before car) had a job interview that would have taken 30 minutes to get to by car, but with buses, and light rail it took over two hours to get to!

Rosemont is in the eye of the beholder. For me- I wouldn't live there if you paid me, too run down for my tastes, lots of rental homes not kept up, and WAY too close to the crap in South Sac/Rancho Cordova area...but that's just my opinion.

[CityGirl72]

PS the Manlove area is okay.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by lukeache

Is the area called Rosemont a good area? I found a reasonably price apt around S Watt Ave/Kiefer Blvd just south of Watt/Folsom, I guess that is close to the Manlove station. Any thoughts on this area?!

Thanks a lot!

Well any area that has a station named ManLove mustn't be good.
What were they thinking? Trying to attract wealthy, well-heeled men I guess.

I live in midtown 15th and P.

It's walkable. There are restaraunts, museums and a few micro-breweries about
30 minutes walk from my home. Don't expect jazz bars though they may come
later. Be warned that Sacramento because some what of a ghost town after 5pm.

It is bike-able, but not great, many city streets do not have bike-lanes and drivers
are not accustomed to bikers so I'd say you chances of getting hit are fairly good.

[Tim Currie]

1) No.

2) No.

3) No.

The quick answer

[cw68]

Sacramento Midtown/downtown/East Sac/Land Park areas are bikeable. Same if you live close to the American River Parkway because you can hop on there and get downtown. Believe it or not, though part of it is the crowd in which I hang, I know a number of people who bike from Folsom to Sacramento for work daily. Outside of the downtown areas, it's much more difficult. The Midtown area is very walkable, so if you live within walking distance of there, you're good.

Regarding the light rail, it's not uber-developed, but basic enough. Your opinion of it will vary depending on where you're from. Californians generally hate it, but after riding public transportation in many towns, I don't think it's as bad as it's made out to be.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by Tim Currie

1) No.

2) No.

3) No.

The quick answer

Answering No to 1) I think is way of the mark. Having lived in midtown
for a few months, I don't need my car at all. I can walk to Safeway,
restaurants, parks etc. If I need to go further into downtown (say Old Sac)
I take the light-rail which only cost $1 per ride and is very frequent.
If the question was: "is downtown/midtown nice to live in?" then the issue
of homeless would have to be raised, but that wasn't the question.

I agree with your answers to 2) and 3) though Rosemont is a bit of
a mystery to me. It has two excellent primary schools that have rated
8 on the API state wide comparison and 10 on similar school comparisons
for the last 3 years which is outstanding but no quite in the same league
as elite schools like Dideon and Hearst but not that far off (both rate 10/10 for
last 3 years). Remember a rating of 8 means its in the top twenty percent of
schools state-wide.