"Sacramento is a scary place." (Los Angeles, Oakland: environment, work)

[misterdammit]

I'd just like to clarify that *I* (so far, anyway!) am not scared of Sac. I'm just trying to figure out if I should be. :-)

[mr bolo]

Originally Posted by misterdammit

I'd just like to clarify that *I* (so far, anyway!) am not scared of Sac. I'm just trying to figure out if I should be. :-)

you shouldnt be scared, but you should be aware of your surroundings, always take precautions where ever you go

always be on the look out for anything suspicious, especially when using the ATM at night, lots of robberies at the ATM

[imphe]

Actually, crime has been on a serious upswing and will probably continue as the economy gets worse. We were talking about it on the police candidate thread just below.

I remember always being told certain cities were bad. Memphis and St Louis come to mind. Look up both cities on the FBI reports database. Both cities are roughly the same size and have statistics comparable to ours 2 years ago.

Now Sacramento has always had a reputation for property crime. For years Stockton, Modesto, and Sacramento were always in the top five cities for car theft. The surge in violent crime is new. I really wonder what the 2008 reports will show.

[cityx]

Originally Posted by tande1n5

Sacramento must be the biggest city this supervisor has ever been to... just like any decent sized city in America, some areas are good, some aren't, and the safe areas outnumber the crummy areas. Of the major cities in California, I'd find the crummy areas of Sacramento to be among the tamest.

You know, honestly, I could never take it that far saying the good areas outnumber the bad. I personally have lived in some bigger cities and I always thought, in my opinion, that for the size of Sacramento it just seems that there are a disproportionately high number of rough neighborhoods compared to other cities of similar size. Don't know for sure if that is truly the case, but when you drive around the city proper it just seems that way. You see plenty of despair and decay almost everywhere once you drive out of the somewhat insulated Midtown, East Sacramento micro-cosmos. It seems that the "undesirable" people and other negative characteristics of the ghettos spill out and pepper almost the entire region. I know Sacramento crime and destitution could never be compared to Detroit, ( well, maybe), but I wouldn't exactly call the worst areas here "tame" either. All you read and here about on the news is the horrific crime here, all the time. You can't sugracoat or discount the facts. Like Mr. Bolo said, it just seems like there is a lot of crime here for a city this size - and I lived many years in L.A. county, Pico Rivera, to be exact.

[garya73]

I've lived here in Sac since Jan. of 2007, & yes, some places ARE scary.....like some places in Rancho!! But like every big city, there are some "scary" places. Personally, I try & stay away from the South Sac areas of fruitridge, meadowview, & the like because every time I hear about a shooting, robbery, etc. it always seems to happen in South Sac......Don't get me wrong...there are some quiet areas in South Sac

[GLS]

Familiarize yourself with the "tougher" areas of Sacramento and try not to live, work, or shop there. As far as the entire city being "scary", as other posters have pointed out, this is a very subjective term. To some, it's so boring it's scary.

However, in terms of avoiding danger, look at all the news stories of rape, kidnapping, child molestation, and murder coming out of "peaceful" rural areas such as Maine, North Carolina, etc. WHEREVER you are, city, country, or Sacramento, be alert to your surroundings and always have an escape plan.

[Terran]

Depends where you go to, Sac is a big enough city to where you have many square miles of safe areas, and many square miles of hoods as well. Walking through North Highlands, Del Paso Heights, Gardenland, Southside Park, South Land Park, Oak Park, Fruitridge, Florin, Meadowview, etc. etc. etc. might reveal that it's a bit Comptonish rather quickly, and yes I've been through Compton, as well as the Bayview District, Potrero/Mission Districts of San Francisco, the list goes on and on. Sac can be a scary place, trust me. But if you or your spouse has a decent job you could easily afford a decent place in a decent neighborhood with very little crime. There are many safe areas though, 40s and 50s/J St are nice if you can afford it, as are the neighborhoods along Fair Oaks Blvd (from Sac State all the way to Arden Blvd at least), some parts of Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Folsom are nice. Most of Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln is just fine & dandy. Although with gas as it is, Lincoln may be a bit too out of the way, it is in my opinion anyways. But don't let anyone downplay how crazy sick and mental Sacramento can be, in those areas I mentioned above it is just nuts all the time, and I've walked through East Palo Alto (murder capital of America in 1992) a hundred times, Sacto does compare, much like City Heights in San Diego or Peoria in North Tulsa, the crazies are everywhere but I still love this area after all the travelling I've done.

[B to the T]

12th Ave just a couple of blocks east of Hwy 99... not a place ya ever want to break down... unless ya got a gun, a knife and a dog...

[Terran]

Agreed about 12th ave, and to the people who are downplaying the craziness on this forum (Real Estate Agents maybe?), no offense intended but, try a nighttime stroll, might I recommend east on Broadway, south on Martin Luther King Jr, East on Fruitridge Rd, South on Stockton Blvd, W on 47th Ave, S on Franklin Blvd, E on G Pkwy, go ahead and sit down there for a bit and talk about how "this aint got nothin on L.A." ~~~~~> "God Bless Ya" -- Hey, look at the bright side, it might not even be such a boring time you'll be having, be sure to let us know how it went.

[DevilDoll]

Define scary.... Because some people would find living in a right-wing cookie-cutter community, lined up with S.U.V.s to be scary. It's just like the "ghetto" thread, one person's ideal environment could be another's hell. But in general in my opinion Sacramento is a nice place to start a family, have the ability to own a home at a reasonable price, lots of different places to visit all within a 2 hour drive. Friendly people, intelligent people, lots of good restaurants and shops. And yes I am aware of the crime rate and the homeless population but I challenge anyone to name a large state that does not have these same issues.