Is Sacramento (or east Orange County) a better fit for me? (Oakland: fit in, theater)

[merchie]

Hello!
Thanks for looking at my question. I am a 30 year old single, multicultural, black female professional. I currently live in Washington DC, where I am from. I lived in Southern Cal for school (SD area) and loved it but preferred LA because it was more diverse. Anyway, I have been trying to get to LA (manhattan, venice beach, santa monica or south bay area) or even the Oakland/Berkeley area in northern cal for years now because I feel those areas are the best since they are major cities where my profession exists and they are very chill, laid back and liberal, which is important to me. I make a decent salary (low six figures) and enjoy nature, good weather, working out, travel, meditating, etc. I am single and also want to be able to date diverse individuals who are open minded and well rounded.

Well I just have two potential opportunities through my company that can place me in Moreno Valley or Sacramento. I am trying to decide which of the two, if any, are a better fit. I certainly would not want to live in Moreno Valley or Riverside, however, because I would be going the opposite of traffic I figure I would live in eastern OC like Fullerton or Anaheim Hills and commute about 30-40 minutes to work in the Moreno Valley location. This would also put me about 30-45 minutes to a nice beach and an hour or so to LA for weekends. The other option would be to go to the Sacramento location and simply live in the city of Sacramento. I've been to Sacramento alone for a meeting once and found it to be pleasant with friendly people but it lacked a lot of the appeal that California has to me. However, it was affordable, I enjoyed the restaurants in midtown, and its close to more desirable locations like SF, Napa, Berkeley, Tahoe etc. However, I worry that my day to day would be in this small town that seemed to have limited dating options for me. I like Oakland/Berkeley but cannot imagine commuting from there to Sacramento for work. I also worry that I would feel isolated living in OC and commuting to MV for work everyday. If I could describe the perfect location for me, where I really fit in, it would be Seattle (with better year round weather) or even Oakland (without the astronomical cost of living).

So all in all, given this info, which location is the better fit for me?

Thank you!!

[sacite]

I seriously doubt you'd have an easier time dating in LA V Sac. In fact, I don't have too many friends in LA or SF that rave about how easy it is to meet girls lol. I usually hear the opposite complaint.

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by merchie

I've been to Sacramento alone for a meeting once and found it to be pleasant with friendly people but it lacked a lot of the appeal that California has to me. However, it was affordable, I enjoyed the restaurants in midtown, and its close to more desirable locations like SF, Napa, Berkeley, Tahoe etc.

So all in all, given this info, which location is the better fit for me?

First of all, only you can determine which location is a better fit for you.

Your observations of Sacramento are very common, and many people move here because it's "close" to other more exciting places.

Maybe you can explain what specifically you are looking for in California since Sacramento doesn't have it.

[merchie]

Thank you both for your answers.
What I like about parts of LA or even Seattle is the rather mild weather year round, scenery, access to nature, availability of medicinal MJ, and the overall laid back nature of these places. In DC people think I'm a hippy although I'm a pretty reserved working professional. It's hard finding a place that has all my needs. I have been trying to relocate to LA and Seattle for some time now and the availabilities of good jobs in my field are very few there so it can take many years for something to pan out. This opportunity in Sacramento is as good as my current gig and would pay the same, I know cost of living is a lot lower in midtown compared to my city and LA, Oakland etc. I'm hoping that being in Cal will make me more desirable to employees on the west coast if I decide I don't like Sacramento.

[wburg]

If you like a laid-back place, Sacramento might suit your needs. The weather might be warmer than you are used to in the summer, but even that's not so bad with a cold drink and the Delta breeze. The key to enjoying Sacramento is taking the time to find the interesting/cool/appealing things that are here, rather than simply assuming they are not present and being bored. Obviously if you're an outdoorsy type, we don't have mountains or ocean immediately accessible, but the American River Parkway is like having a bit of wild forest right in our backyard. If you decide to live in Midtown or nearby, it's a short bike ride from home. If you're a city person who likes great food, coffee, beer and wine, theater and dancing, you don't have to leave town for that either.

If they consider you a hippy in DC but you're a professional working person, you'll fit in fine in Sacramento itself, which is a relatively liberal city, as opposed to the surrounding cities that tend to be more politically conservative (except for Davis.) Medical MJ facilities are all over the place here.

[caligirlz]

I believe you will be able to find those things in Sacramento, except for the mild weather. The summers run an average of 90's, and there are usually 100+ heat waves for either a day or two, or for several weeks. Thankfully, a/c is pretty common except in the older buildings. But, if you can handle D.C., our heat will probably be very doable for you.

Sacramento definitely has that laid back/causal attitude. The only people I know who have to wear suits are high level corporate management or some state workers. I know people who are still wearing shorts. And it's darn cold right now.

If you are willing to venture out of midtown, there is a lot of nature nearby. Even Tahoe is relatively close. But in addition to the American River Parkway http://arpf.org/pdf_files/ARPmap.pdf (which is awesome), there are many other parks of all sizes & lakes nearby. Sacramento County Regional Parks There are tons of exercise options...every type of gym or workout studio you can imagine, running clubs, corporate gyms, small/local specialized gyms. http://www.everytrail.com/best/hikin...nto-california

I'd say Sacramento would be worth a try. It would certainly be a good place to start exploring the rest of California.

[HILife09]

Moving to Sac would be a huge shock to you coming from DC. There are far less things to do here, and it can be a very depressing place to be at times for a younger person. I would definitely stay in DC or go to so cal (for the nice weather). It gets very hot in sacramento in the summer and can be quite cold in the winter. I hope to be moving to so cal very soon as well. Best of luck in your decisions.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by HILife09

It gets very hot in sacramento in the summer and can be quite cold in the winter. I hope to be moving to so cal very soon as well.

Such a tired characterization of Sacramento, fact is, Sacramento has some of the best weather in the nation.

By national standards Sacramento has very mild winters, only Florida, Hawaii, SoCal is actually warmer.

Sacramento summers have one of the coolest evening, nighttime, and morning temps in the nation. High heat rarely lasts long and is almost never humid. More than 3/4 nation has higher heat index temps than Sacramento. Florida and the Southwest are much much warmer in the summer.

[HILife09]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

Such a tired characterization of Sacramento, fact is, Sacramento has some of the best weather in the nation.

By national standards Sacramento has very mild winters, only Florida, Hawaii, SoCal is actually warmer.

Sacramento summers have one of the coolest evening, nighttime, and morning temps in the nation. High heat rarely lasts long and is almost never humid. More than 3/4 nation has higher heat index temps than Sacramento. Florida and the Southwest are much much warmer in the summer.

I'm not talking about national standards, I'm discussing CA standards. In comparison to CA weather, Sac summers are very hot and oppressive. The cooler evening and morning temps are meaningless since the majority of people are working or sleeping during those times (countless days in the summer temps are near 90 until 8-9 pm). Winters are cold, it was 34 this am... that's cold anywhere. Yes DC summers are more oppressive than Sac, but DC is a much more entertaining and lively city. I'd rather live in a great city like DC than enjoy a slightly cooler summer in a CA city with much less to do.

[pistola916]

Originally Posted by HILife09

I'm not talking about national standards, I'm discussing CA standards. In comparison to CA weather, Sac summers are very hot and oppressive. The cooler evening and morning temps are meaningless since the majority of people are working or sleeping during those times (countless days in the summer temps are near 90 until 8-9 pm). Winters are cold, it was 34 this am... that's cold anywhere. Yes DC summers are more oppressive than Sac, but DC is a much more entertaining and lively city. I'd rather live in a great city like DC than enjoy a slightly cooler summer in a CA city with much less to do.

Like I mentioned on another thread, the hot summer weather is overblown. It drastically cools off after sunset. It is quite pleasant to have dinner by the patio or drink a cold beer at night which you can't do in SF. I lived in SF for seven years, and the summers were so bad for outdoor eatry. The winters are cold but so is much of Northern California. Just imagine living on the East Coast with snow storms and frigid temps. Our weather may be boring and predictable but it is rated as one of the best climates in the world. I much rather have hot sunny weather than deal with monsoon thunderstorm, humid temps, tornados and hurricanes in the summer months.