Moving to Sacramento (San Diego, San Francisco, Roseville: best city, house prices, job market)

[GuyfromBoston]

Hey all, I know this generic question has been asked before but I am a recent college grad living in Boston and my roommates and myself are looking for a West Coast experience. All four of us grew up in Boston and are looking to move to Sacramento. We are all outdoors people and Sacramento is the perfect spot between Lake Tahoe and the beach so we are going to set up shop in the area. So I have a couple questions for people from the area.

1. How is the job market out there? We all have degree's and want jobs that allow us a pretty nice place and some extra spending money.

2. Where do we live? Are there "young" parts of Sacramento? (We are all 23-24)

3. How is the public transportation situation? Stay away from it? Live near it?

4. Any and all general hints or tips about the area would be greatly appreciated!

[CityGirl72]

1. How is the job market out there? We all have degree's and want jobs that allow us a pretty nice place and some extra spending money. From what I notice there is a bit on an unemployment problem right now - so jobs are a bit scarce - but in all I've found it to be fine. But Sacramento does pay much less then most cities. I make double in Seattle what I did in Sacramento, fo the same work.

2. Where do we live? Are there "young" parts of Sacramento? (We are all 23-24) Midtown www.midtowngrid.com

3. How is the public transportation situation? Stay away from it? Live near it? I prefer to stay away from it, but Sacramento is a commuter city, and i'd say 85 to 90% of everyone uses there car

4. Any and all general hints or tips about the area would be greatly appreciated! This would all depend on what you are looking for, in a generalization I'd stay away from South Sac, North Highlands or anything by Rio Linda

[wburg]

Sacramento isn't so much a West Coast experience as a Midwest experience...if you come expecting sun-tanned people with blowdried blonde hair walking around in beachwear, expect disappointment. We're about an hour and change from the coast, so you don't see many surfers around these parts.

Western cities in general tend to have very bad public transportation, because those cities are so spread out it's pretty much impossible to provide public transit that goes everywhere. Older cities that already had developed central cores (like Boston and New York) are far easier to serve with transit, because they're so dense, but no cities on the west coast are that old. There are a few exceptions (San Francisco, to some extent Portland and Seattle) but for the most part unless you live close to the central city, public transit isn't that great. In Sacramento, public transit is pretty good in midtown and downtown, okay in the surrounding neighborhood, and marginal everywhere else--where it exists at all.

If you have degrees, it really depends on what your degree is in...a degree in underwater basket weaving isn't much help. Sacramento is a government town, and the ease of getting a state/federal job depends on the economy. The economy is in awful shape right now, so unless you're very qualified for a particular job with the state it can be a tough haul.

[GuyfromBoston]

Thanks for the replies!

@CityGirl-Does the lower pay reflect the cost of living? Living in Boston costs an arm and a leg. As far as the hints and tips are concerned I am just interested in any information that locals may have about the area that could be of use to someone who is going to be new to the area, and absolutely clueless about the surroundings.

@wburg-We all have different degree's, engineering, accounting, Supply Chain, and Criminal Justic-No fluff degree's here. Are there any significant manufacturer's/biomedical outfits in the area? I have a biomedical and manufacturing background (a whopping 4 years experiece) so I would like to stick with it.

[CityGirl72]

No Sac is pretty expensive - try a cost of living conversion on CNN Money. Boston is sure to be more expensive...

But the State taxes on paycheck and the property taxes are what kill you

Luckily house are about 40% less then two years ago...

FOr me to move from Seattle to Sac, I'd need to make $15K MORE

[wburg]

Not much around here in the way of manufacturing--we stopped building locomotives here in the 1940s. There are some biotech firms and a lot of medical facilities.

Sacramento is considered pretty cheap for California, although I have no idea how it compares to Boston. I think Philadelphia might be the best city in the east to compare it to (at least I have been told this): we're mid-sized, generally very overshadowed by the bigger and more glamorous cities on the coast, and are comparatively cheap but we don't have a whole lot of easy-to-get high paying gigs.

I really, really, really recommend taking a trip out here. There's no substitute for being on the ground. And if you come soon, you'll find out how well you can stand Sacramento's legendary 100+ degree summer days!

[caldreamin]

I moved to Middle Tennesse, from Roseville, almost 3yrs ago due to the high cost of housing. I "wanted" a bigger house and a less stressful job. Well for the last 3 yrs all I have thought of is moving back. My husband has finally agreed that Tennessee is not for us. Fortunately, I sold my house at the peak of the market, bought well here and hopefully can get something nice at a reasonable price in Roseville or Folsom area.

My advice to anyone considering a move to Tennessee or anywhere else is don't just visit for a week, see the great house prices and jump.....things are not always as they seem. California is very tolerant, not all states are the same.

[serendipitous]

Amen to caldreamin. I moved to the east coast and regret it even though I grew up there. I'll head back as soon as I find a job there. Sacramento isn't bad. Yeah, it gets hot there. I don't think the incomes are real low but everything is relative. The cost of living is a lot lower than say San Francisco where incomes are higher. When do you plan on moving. I'll be looking for a travel buddy, perhaps in late August 2008.

[Alicia64]

Wburg knows his stuff, but not about the heat. It took me years to adjust to our Sacramento summers. In the beginning, I thought everyone was nuts to live here. But last September, I was probably the last of my friends to stop wearing flip flops. I was so sad to see the start of Fall.

I'm totally good with the heat now. My point is that a visit won't help you acclimate.

Sacramento is a wonderful place to start as a young person if you want to get into California. I came here to go to college and never left.

[justducky2]

The degrees you mentioned, you'll find jobs easily here, especially with the engineering degree. I agree with other posters - midtown Sacto is for you. I love the vibe there, people on bicycles, going to the indie coffee houses and tea houses and dessert places. It's where I would choose to live if I didn't have a kid and had to worry about schools! As another said, transit is good downtown/midtown, but beyond that, pretty flaky. You can get to Tahoe or San Francisco by mass transit though.

Expensive to live here? I've got family in the Boston area, and frankly, I think that Sacto is cheaper than Boston. If you were talking LA or San Diego, I don't know. But as far as housing, I think you'll do fine.

Good luck!