Portland Vs. Sacramento (living, cost, state, better)

[Clevelander216]

Which city do you guys prefer?

Factor in the following:

-cost of living
-weather
-quality of life
-public transportation
-walkability
-crime(most safe)
-nightlife/entertainment
-food/restaurant scene
-music scene
-dating scene
-nature scenery/outdoor activities
-culture/diversity
-economy

[orzo]

Originally Posted by armstrong

Which city do you guys prefer?

Factor in the following:

-cost of living
-weather
-quality of life
-public transportation
-walkability
-crime(most safe)
-nightlife/entertainment
-food/restaurant scene
-music scene
-dating scene
-nature scenery/outdoor activities
-culture/diversity
-economy

I know both well. Portland is far more walkable and has better public transit, has a lot more bars and restaurants, has more distinct neighborhoods, better music and art scenes, generally a much more human scale city. Sacramento outside of Downtown, Midtown, and immediate surroundings is pretty sprawled out. I think cost of living is somewhat similar but Sacramento may actually be cheaper now.

[Clevelander216]

Originally Posted by orzo

I know both well. Portland is far more walkable and has better public transit, has a lot more bars and restaurants, has more distinct neighborhoods, better music and art scenes, generally a much more human scale city. Sacramento outside of Downtown, Midtown, and immediate surroundings is pretty sprawled out. I think cost of living is somewhat similar but Sacramento may actually be cheaper now.

Would you say that midtown Sacramento is similar to parts of Portland?

[orzo]

Originally Posted by armstrong

Would you say that midtown Sacramento is similar to parts of Portland?

I'd say it reminds me more of Portland than anywhere else in Sac. The area around K and 20th and immediate environs definitely has a NW Portland-type vibe, as does much of J Street. Actually, scratch that, it looks more like NW (minus the condo towers), but feels more like SE. Sort of a hybrid of different sections of Portland. But it is only one neighborhood, and nowhere else in Sac (aside from maybe Downtown Sac having a very remote resemblance to Downtown Portland) is much like Portland.

Don't get wrong, I like certian aspects of Sacramento a lot, but Portland offers a lot more citywide, in my opinion, and is much more consistantly walkable and human scale.

[TheFlats]

Being a Sacramento homer I tried to suppress bias:

-cost of living: Sacramento has lower housing costs but California taxes.
-weather: Sac hands down.
-quality of life: Too subjective.
-public transportation: Portland decisively, but Sacramento does have light rail and will get a streetcar.
-walkability: Tie in the inner core, PDX across the metro.
-crime(most safe): Portland.
-nightlife/entertainment: Lean Portland.
-food/restaurant scene: Lean Portland but Sac is no slouch (diversity and central valley agriculture).
-music scene: Portland. The Bay Area steals all of Sacramento's promising musicians.
-dating scene: Gonna say Sacramento but this is pretty subjective.
-nature scenery/outdoor activities: Lean Sacramento depending on the radius of activities.
-culture/diversity: Sac has under the radar culture but I'd give culture to PDX and diversity to Sac.
-economy: Lean Portland

All things considered I'd personally take Sacramento for the fringe benefits of living in California, but look up to Portland as a role model for the city in many ways.

[portlanderinOC]

-cost of living: I think they're about te same
-weather: It gets really hot in Sac during the summer, and it can be quite dusty. However, Portland you put up with 8 months of clouds/rain
-quality of life: I would assume Portland
-public transportation: Portland
-walkability: Portland
-crime(most safe): Not sure, I'd guess Portland
-nightlife/entertainment: Portland
-food/restaurant scene: Portland but Sac is not far behind
-music scene: Easily Portland
-dating scene: Not sure, subjective
-nature scenery/outdoor activities: Both are reasonable distance from lots of outdoor activity, but I'd say Portland because there's more to offer in the city itself.
-culture/diversity: Sac is more ethnically diverse but Portland feels more cultural
-economy: California and Oregon both have the worst job markets at the moment sadly.

I personally prefer Portland as it is my hometown, but I don't like how dusty and dry Sac can be. Sac feels more like an Anytown USA place, while Portland seems to be more unique.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by TheFlats

Being a Sacramento homer I tried to suppress bias:

-cost of living: Sacramento has lower housing costs but California taxes.
-weather: Sac hands down.
-quality of life: Too subjective.
-public transportation: Portland decisively, but Sacramento does have light rail and will get a streetcar.
-walkability: Tie in the inner core, PDX across the metro.
-crime(most safe): Portland.
-nightlife/entertainment: Lean Portland.
-food/restaurant scene: Lean Portland but Sac is no slouch (diversity and central valley agriculture).
-music scene: Portland. The Bay Area steals all of Sacramento's promising musicians.
-dating scene: Gonna say Sacramento but this is pretty subjective.
-nature scenery/outdoor activities: Lean Sacramento depending on the radius of activities.
-culture/diversity: Sac has under the radar culture but I'd give culture to PDX and diversity to Sac.
-economy: Lean Portland

All things considered I'd personally take Sacramento for the fringe benefits of living in California, but look up to Portland as a role model for the city in many ways.

-cost of living: They used to be on par, but recently Portland rents have skyrocketed, so Sac wins this one

-weather: Subjective. Most would say Sac, but Portland has way better summers and some do prefer cooler weather.

-quality of life: Too subjective.

-public transportation: Portland, but Sac is underrated here.

-walkability: Portland is far more walkable in the inner core and throughout the rest of the City than Sac. While Downtown and Midtown Sac are certainly walkable, the NW and SW quadrants of Portland take it to another level. I can think of very few other urban environments in the US that provide a better experience for pedestrians than SW and NW Portland. In terms of the cities outside of the inner core, it's freeways and 6-lane boulevards (Sac) vs. human-scale neighborhoods and walkable commercial districts (Portland).

-crime(most safe): Portland.

-nightlife/entertainment: Portland and it's not even close. Midtown Sac has an increasingly cool bar scene, but Portland's is so much better across the board and I'd venture Portland has at least four times as many bars as Sac (no exaggeration). One thing people don't seem to recognize is just how many bars there are in Portland - it feels like there's at least one on every block throughout the City. A lot of them are low-budget neighborhood bars, sure, but there's just a ton of places to choose from.

-food/restaurant scene: Overall, Portland. For Mexican, Sac is much better (especially Taquerias). Also, Chinese and Indian food in Sac is probably better. Overall, though, Portland has a superior, more varied, and much more consistent restaurant and food scene. Tons of awesome places to get innovative, fresh, delicious food at surprisingly affordable prices, great pub food, and a surprisingly high number of good ethnic eateries (especially Southeast Asian). Sac does have better ethnic markets, though.

-music scene: Portland.

-dating scene: Really depends on the type of person you are.

-nature scenery/outdoor activities: Portland has more cool stuff within a closer proximity, but in Sac you aren't too far from Tahoe or the beautiful Northern CA Coast.

-culture/diversity: Portland for culture, Sac for diversity.

-economy: Both have struggled in recent years. Portland has a lot more bars and restaurants so there are more service jobs available, but the presence of State government in Sacramento really helps support the economy there. I'd call it a push for now.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by TheFlats

Being a Sacramento homer I tried to suppress bias:

-cost of living: Sacramento has lower housing costs but California taxes.
-weather: Sac hands down.
-quality of life: Too subjective.
-public transportation: Portland decisively, but Sacramento does have light rail and will get a streetcar.
-walkability: Tie in the inner core, PDX across the metro.
-crime(most safe): Portland.
-nightlife/entertainment: Lean Portland.
-food/restaurant scene: Lean Portland but Sac is no slouch (diversity and central valley agriculture).
-music scene: Portland. The Bay Area steals all of Sacramento's promising musicians.
-dating scene: Gonna say Sacramento but this is pretty subjective.
-nature scenery/outdoor activities: Lean Sacramento depending on the radius of activities.
-culture/diversity: Sac has under the radar culture but I'd give culture to PDX and diversity to Sac.
-economy: Lean Portland

All things considered I'd personally take Sacramento for the fringe benefits of living in California, but look up to Portland as a role model for the city in many ways.

I did forget to mention, though, that proximity to the urban centers of the Bay Area is a big plus for Sac. Not enough to overcome other areas where I feel Portland is stronger, but definitely worth considering.

[pistola916]

I got mad respect for Portland. I have thought as Sacramento as the Portland of California minus the topography and gloomy skies. Sacramento is a fairly underrated city who should take a page from our friends in the PDX. Sac is 10 years behind Portland in terms of urban development -- we're now seeing a lot of infill development in our urban core (Downtown/Midtown), residential projects, restaurants, bars, and arts and entertainment but Sacramento's historic and older neighborhoods are mostly residential with very little forms of entertainment.

[patrix542]

I would choose Portland over Sacramento... but I like Sacramento's climate more