Is Sacramento a boring city? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: crime rate, houses, unemployment)

[NiceJohn]

Want to relocate. Is sacramento good for a family with two kids. Are there a lot of activities for kids? Is Sacramento a pretty city? Thank you.

[Mach50]

I am interested in this too.

I have been to Sacramento many times and every time I am there I meet someone who used to live in the Bay Area or SoCal and they say "don't move here it is boring".

Sac looks pretty to me and in a good location close to Bay, Tahoe and Yosemite. Houses are affordable, but from what I have gathered even the people who live there say it is a boring city.

It seems people just move there to buy a 300k house in California, but there has to be something to do there besides just live?

[CityGirl72]

Boring to one person can be wonderful to another

Sac (actually the suburb around Sac) is a GREAT place to raise a family. The weather permits year round outdoor activities, and the famiy areas are 24/7 family stuff, plus all the historical places within Downtown/Midtown Sac are great (like train museum, sutter's fort, and let's not forget Fairy Tale Town )

Maybe the people from So Cal, are so used to having so much stuff - that the easy going life in Sac is boring because it doesn't have the hustle or bustle. Maybe the people that find it boring are people without kids - and they want Night Life like in San Fran, and I say if that's what you want - well just drive out there, it's only like 90 minutes away.

I live in a big city, Seattle. I grew up in Los Angeles. And I LOVE Sacramento, and darn it - I WILL be moving back (just got ANOTHER interview - yeah!)

[AuburnJack]

Originally Posted by Mach50

I have been to Sacramento many times and every time I am there I meet someone who used to live in the Bay Area or SoCal and they say "don't move here it is boring".

Well, the explanation for that is simple: you are talking to idiots from the Bay Area or SoCal who expected Sacramento to be the same as where they came from.

Sacramento is not as "urbane" as San Francisco or Los Angeles, this is true. If you need that sort of environment in order to feel stimulated, then yes, Sacramento will seem boring to you. But I've found plenty of things to do in the year I've lived here... there's plenty of culture activities here (theatre, music, art, etc.) if you look for them, there's a burgeoning nightlife in downtown and midtown for those that are into that sort of thing, and there's plenty of opportunities for those into outdoor sports, hiking, watersports, etc. And yes, we moved here to by a house for under 300k in California... boring though it may be, if you do your research when coming here, I think Sacramento is a great place for settling down and raising a family.

Of course, there is always the old standby response, too: if you're bored in Sacramento, you're a day-trip from San Francisco, Tahoe, Wine Country, the Central Coast... cop-out though it may be, it's still true.

[Mach50]

I like Sacramento, it doesn't seem boring to me, but people who I have spoken to there always seem to say it is boring.

You say there are cultural things to do, that's cool, do people hang out in parks, cafe's and museums there? Or is it more of a hiker and biker town?
On a regular weekend what would you do in Sac area? I am just trying to get an idea of what people do for fun, besides day trips.

I have a 10 month old daughter, but that doesn't mean we are ready to spend our days shopping strip malls and making cakes in the house.

Is Sac more like a "Leave it to Beaver" episode? Are people intelligent, liberal, conservative?

Sac is just a mystery to me, people always down it, prices are low...yet it seems so nice, something must be wrong (or maybe be too Right) with it .

[CityGirl72]

Originally Posted by Mach50

You say cultural things to do, that's cool, do people hang out in parks, cafe's and museums there? Or is it more of a hiker and biker town?

It's BOTH! IN Downtown or Midtown, you have cafes - art walks, concerts in the park, music clubs, martini bars, dance clubs, resturants of all sorts...Sacramento has a local orchestra, or the Broadway Series, or Musical Circus - plus local theatre - try B street Theatre!

Go to a River Cats game!! And there is ALWAYS something at Cal Expo (Dude, do they still do the Guns & Dolls show? - that was just freaky!)

Or if you an outdoorsy person - there are hikes everywhere - Tahoe nearby, the foothills for skiing etc, there is the American River Bike trail 34 miles from Folsom lake through nothing but nature!



look at meetups.com, it will help you find a group of people who love doing WHATEVER you do!

[CityGirl72]

The only problem I really have with Sac is the bad crime ridden areas - so I don't like it seeping into the areas I'd like to live.

My husband and I are college educated, pretty much liberal (although I'm fiscally conservative, a Monetarist) and environmentally promotive. Seems like Seattle would be a good fit eh? Well, just like being TOO conservative - a place can be TOO liberal...darn Seattle Crazies!

Sac has liberal areas (Midtown, East Sac, some of Land Park) but you'll notice the outlying suburbs are more conservative.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

The only problem I really have with Sac is the bad crime ridden areas - so I don't like it seeping into the areas I'd like to live.

My husband and I are college educated, pretty much liberal (although I'm fiscally conservative, a Monetarist) and environmentally promotive. Seems like Seattle would be a good fit eh? Well, just like being TOO conservative - a place can be TOO liberal...darn Seattle Crazies!

Sac has liberal areas (Midtown, East Sac, some of Land Park) but you'll notice the outlying suburbs are more conservative.

Bad crime, so that does that mean there is a lot of racial tension with hispanics and black people there?

We are an educated liberal hispanic american family, do you see that being a problem there?

I agree with the TOO liberal places..San Fran and Boulder are too liberal for us, we have tried.

[Mach50]

To me Sacramento sounds a lot like Denver. Davis is Sacramento's Boulder .
Not sure if you know these 2 places to say if they are comparable or not.

[simplygib]

Whether you'd find it boring or not depends on what you like to do.

Positives:
1. A great paved multi-use trail (bike, roller blade, run, walk) along the American River for 32 miles
2. Two hours to SF, ocean, Tahoe, 3 hours to Yosemite, lots of great gold-rush era communities nearby
3. Less expensive than Bay Area or LA
4. Government jobs with pensions, lots of private industry (but current unemployment rate is over 7%)
5. Very multi-cultural, lots of ethnic restaurants
6. Downtown and midtown nightlife, restaurants, shopping
7. Two rivers, Sacramento and American, and Folsom Lake for water sports, fishing, etc.
8. Several colleges - Sac State, Sac City, American River, Consumnes, close to UC Davis, and several extensions
9. Good amount of common interest clubs - biking, running, rafting, hiking, singles, etc.
10. Two hours from some great snow skiing and lots of resorts to choose from
11. One hour from the most popular whitewater run west of the Mississippi, and lots of others

Negatives
1. Population overwhelms infrastructure (traffic especially)
2. High number of aggressive, reckless drivers
3. Suburban sprawl - this is very much a car-oriented community
4. Air quality issues, mainly in summer (spare the air days, burn restrictions, including wood heat)
5. Crime rate for general Sac area is about double the national average
6. Gangs, gangs and more gangs, but mostly in certain areas (south, north, fewer east and west)
7. Winter fog can sometimes be downright dangerous (very limited driving visibility)
8. A/C is a must in summer, sometimes 30+ days over 100 degrees
9. Seems every time you need to run errands, it requires miles and miles of driving
10. Lots of homeless, especially downtown, midtown, but also in other areas
11. Spring allergies