Denver v. Sacramento (Long Beach, Napa: home, neighborhood, theater)

[mdattaray]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Interesting, while Denver and LA may be your points of reference I don't think you are going to find Sac to be like Denver. We lived in the Springs and have relatives in Denver and its just so different from CA in so many ways. You are right about the food scene being much better in CA. There is just way more ethnic diversity in the major CA cities than Denver which is very insular by comparison.

I also spent summers as a kid in (and frequently still travel to) S.F. Also, I have traveled extensively throughout the U.S. Although, I have only "lived" in L.A. and Denver.

That being said, I've been to Sacramento before for conferences. I liked it; but when you are a tourist you only see a part of a city.

I guess what I'm really trying to capture is the easy going life while still having some sense of cosmopolitaness (sic). What I liked most about Denver is that it is an easy city to live in. With the option of returning not on the table, where else in CA can I find that ease without moving to the exburbs?

Besides Diego, as one poster mentioned above, because my wife hates it for whatever reason. The other draw-back to Diego is that houses are expensive compared to Sac.

[Josseppie]

Denver isolated. I have been thinking about this and I get what you guys are saying but there is a lot of diversity on the front range, from Pueblo to Fort Collins, then you have the great mountain towns, from Aspen to Breckenridge to Salida. On top of that this being the jet age I actually feel in many ways Denver is less isolated then your west coast cities. I went to grad school in San Diego and sure I would drive to LA but to San Francisco it was like a 8 plus hour drive, much easier to fly. Then when I wanted to travel to the east coast or mid west the flights were longer and the time difference made it a entire day to travel. With DIA Denver has non stop flights to many of your major cities all over the nation and since Denver is in the middle of the country the flights are never more then a few hours. Even going to Europe its easy with non stop flights to Frankfurt or at most 1 stop in DC or Chicago. Same going to Asia and Australia with one stop in LA or San Francisco. All in all I think Denver is much less isolated then people give it credit for but maybe I am just use to living in Colorado.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by vdy1985

That is the sense I get about Sac. It seems like a great town, and they def have proximity to other destinations. If we compare Denver to Sac, I think Denver offers more overall in terms of city living and having a real urban/downtown experience (ie. Downtown Denver is a lot more put together than Sac, not a slam at Sac, but it is what it is). But Denver is so ISOLATED. That is the thing that gets to me about relocating there. Sacramento has the whole Bay Area within reach, which is a plus for me, as a lot of my family is in the Bay Area. Also the Bay Area has so much to offer, which is all within reach of Sacramento.

See, I don't get this. If someone wants the Ocean all the time they should just move there. In Denver there are so many Cities along the ridge of foothills. The Pueblo all the way to Collins. Boulder is way cool. The many Mt towns are what makes it really rock.

The reason I live in SD is so I can have both. I live at the beach and hit it almost every day. When I want Mts it's a mere 40 minutes East depending on what I want for elevation. To me Sac is kind of like Denver but way the heck out East near Kansas and Nebraska. To me the drive is not worth it. Driving from Kansas to Denver is just taxing. Driving from Sac to the beach? The same. Both are great places to raise kids. Once your kids get out of HS they will skate out of Sac imo. Denver is a destination for the younger set.

[mdattaray]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

With DIA Denver has non stop flights to many of your major cities all over the nation and since Denver is in the middle of the country the flights are never more then a few hours. Even going to Europe its easy with non stop flights to Frankfurt or at most 1 stop in DC or Chicago.

I will give you DIA. Probably the easiest BIG airport to get in and out of in the U.S., including TSA line (even with kids and strollers). The absolute easiest being SLC Int'l, 15 minutes from deplaning to Downtown at my desk.

And, I will give you the one non-stop Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, but driving -- 6 hours minimum in any direction to the next biggest city (and going North is like going off into the wilderness).

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Denver isolated. I have been thinking about this and I get what you guys are saying but there is a lot of diversity on the front range, from Pueblo to Fort Collins, then you have the great mountain towns, from Aspen to Breckenridge to Salida. On top of that this being the jet age I actually feel in many ways Denver is less isolated then your west coast cities. I went to grad school in San Diego and sure I would drive to LA but to San Francisco it was like a 8 plus hour drive, much easier to fly. Then when I wanted to travel to the east coast or mid west the flights were longer and the time difference made it a entire day to travel. With DIA Denver has non stop flights to many of your major cities all over the nation and since Denver is in the middle of the country the flights are never more then a few hours. Even going to Europe its easy with non stop flights to Frankfurt or at most 1 stop in DC or Chicago. Same going to Asia and Australia with one stop in LA or San Francisco. All in all I think Denver is much less isolated then people give it credit for but maybe I am just use to living in Colorado.

You make some good points regarding flying. But for families jumping on a jet to go visit the coast or another cosmopolitan city is not really a good option. You hit the nail on the head about life in Denver and CO in general being relative. When we lived in the Springs people would visit from the Midwest and tell me they couldn't believe the variety of restaurants we had. For me being from LA I had to chuckle as it was just the opposite experience.

Derek

[mdattaray]

Tend to agree with Mtn. Surfer. For a family of four to buy plane tickets for the weekend is not always feasible even with decent incomes. However, piling into a car and heading out is not as bad an option, which CA allows you to do in any direction and get to another cosmopolitan burg or outdoor recreational possibilities.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

You make some good points regarding flying. But for families jumping on a jet to go visit the coast or another cosmopolitan city is not really a good option. You hit the nail on the head about life in Denver and CO in general being relative. When we lived in the Springs people would visit from the Midwest and tell me they couldn't believe the variety of restaurants we had. For me being from LA I had to chuckle as it was just the opposite experience.

Derek

what we DON'T have out here is a really good bbq joint. You can't find Mex in Denver like we have here. No way. But, once you learn how to make it

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by mdattaray

I also spent summers as a kid in (and frequently still travel to) S.F. Also, I have traveled extensively throughout the U.S. Although, I have only "lived" in L.A. and Denver.

That being said, I've been to Sacramento before for conferences. I liked it; but when you are a tourist you only see a part of a city.

I guess what I'm really trying to capture is the easy going life while still having some sense of cosmopolitaness (sic). What I liked most about Denver is that it is an easy city to live in. With the option of returning not on the table, where else in CA can I find that ease without moving to the exburbs?

Besides Diego, as one poster mentioned above, because my wife hates it for whatever reason. The other draw-back to Diego is that houses are expensive compared to Sac.

If you want urban and affordable Sac is probably the closest thing you will find. The other larger cities in CA along the coast are more expensive for obvious reasons. If you have more Sac specific questions you should probably ask them in the Sac forum. I really don't think it will be like Denver beyond being cheaper, a capital and relatively close to the mountains. But maybe that is enough?

If you like LA, an LA to Sac comparison might be good to consider. Also since LA is so large you have a lot of options there. Although along with those options comes hordes of people, cases to try and ambulance chasers. I used to work insurance claims in LA and what a racket!

Derek

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

what we DON'T have out here is a really good bbq joint. You can't find Mex in Denver like we have here. No way. But, once you learn how to make it

Yeah, every other joint in town was a bbq house or big box chain of some kind. I don't really like bbq all that much. So I wasn't too impressed. And forget fresh fish, fruits and vegatables on the menu. Our kids did like hometown buffet. Although looking at the clientele was a scary look into the future of more frequent visits.

Derek

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

You make some good points regarding flying. But for families jumping on a jet to go visit the coast or another cosmopolitan city is not really a good option. You hit the nail on the head about life in Denver and CO in general being relative. When we lived in the Springs people would visit from the Midwest and tell me they couldn't believe the variety of restaurants we had. For me being from LA I had to chuckle as it was just the opposite experience.

Derek

I give you that but how often is a family going to jump in the mini van for a 8-10 hour road trip to do the same things in another metro area they can do in the one they live in? When I lived in San Diego I would occasionally go to LA for clubs but there was not much I could do in LA that I could not do in Diego, except for Disney. On the front range urban corridor someone from Denver can drive to Pueblo, it has better Mexican food then California in my opinion, or Colorado Springs, the Penrose Room at the Broadmore is by far the best restaurant in the state of Colorado, drive up to Fort Collins or Boulder for the college town experience. Not to mention the great mountain towns of Breckenridge, Aspen, Winter Park etc. If someone really wants to Drive its about 8 hours to Albuquerque with its south west flair. Sure Sac town has its radius of cities that people can drive to for a get a way but to say its better then the cities people from Denver can go to is a stretch, its just different.