Sacramento and San Francisco (Los Angeles, Folsom: apartments, home, neighborhoods)

[sponger42]

Hello All, looking for your thoughts.

We're a couple in our early-30's doing a job-based move to Sacramento. Very excited about the work, lots of questions about the Sacramento area. We've lived in various spots around LA, in Taipei (Taiwan), and nowhere's-ville USA in the Midwest. We prefer big cities near the ocean with a metro and walkable areas. We REALLY like SF, and are hoping to split our time between work in Sacramento and free-time somewhere on the SF peninsula as our schedule will give us quite a few long weekends and such.

What's your opinion? Is it possible to work in SAC and play in SFO, (not willing to do a 2+ hr commute every workday) with some creativity in housing/apartments, or are there lots of great things about Sacramento that we'll discover after moving to town, so that we'll only want to make the rare trip to SF, LA, or SD?

Thanks!

[Mr. Ozo]

Yes you can go to SF on the weekends.

[Bulldogdad]

You'll be fine. Now get your arse in gear, get up here and start contributing to the tax base. Oh ya I forgot, all new residents to Sacramento are obligated to buy a Kings season ticket for the next year. LMAO.

Good luck.

[Aquaboy]

Originally Posted by bulldogdad

You'll be fine. Now get your arse in gear, get up here and start contributing to the tax base. Oh ya I forgot, all new residents to Sacramento are obligated to buy a Kings season ticket for the next year. LMAO.

Good luck.

Funny man! The Kings will most likely leave after next season.
Yes, you can play on days off. We often visit the Marin or Sonoma coast. With no traffic tie ups you can be there in 90 mins.
Lake Tahoe is 90 mins.
Folsom Lake is right in the Sacto area with boating and swimming.
Lots to do and visit here. After 35 years I've only scratched the surface!

[KC6ZLV]

Sacramento is close enough for day trips to San Francisco. However, it is getting expensive. If you are driving figure in $10.00 for bridge tolls and gas. That is probably $40.00 each time you go there. Then add in what you will spend eating out and for other activities.

Of course, it is much more expensive to live there.

[NewToCA]

We go to San Francisco a few weekends each year, in fact we were there this past weekend. When we go, we usually spend a couple of nights, never have had a bad time.

[wburg]

San Francisco is close enough for day or overnight trips--personally I prefer taking Capitol Corridor trains to driving, given the price of gas, tolls and parking. I normally go to SF maybe 6-8 times a year. But there is a lot to do here in Sacramento. There's a stereotype that Sacramento's main advantage is its proximity to other places (a local band writing about Sacramento uses the line "just a couple hours from where you'd rather be!") but we have our own set of amenities--bike trails, rivers, live music, restaurants, museums, tree-lined historic neighborhoods (from 1800s Italianates to Mid-Century Moderns), film festivals, art walks, cultural events and a lot of great places to get burgers.

[sponger42]

Ha! I'm here now, and just had my first in-n-out since leaving LA. I saw bike lane, and got re-acquainted with weaving through 6 lanes of traffic (squeezed down to 2 by some unnecessary roadwork). Ahh, California. Feels like home.

I also saw a metro (!) Does it work, or is it like LA's: works just fine if your home and your destination are on the same line, otherwise budget three to four days for tranfers.

Are the trains between SF and SAC worth it? Seems like a good option, since I hate driving, and cars are useless in SF anyway.

Bike lanes? Are there lots?

I'm glad to hear people so positive on Sacramento. I kinda thought it would be pretty blah, like Indianapolis in California. Flying in over Tahoe and then the rice(?) fields makes me think I might be mistaken.

I am trying to come to terms with the idea of living inland, though. I used to surf 2-3 times a week (when it was good), now I'm probably looking at more like 2-3 times per month. *sigh* relegated to Weekend Warrior status. Well, better than living in the Midwest, at least.

One of my other options is Boston, but considering that it's flat in the summer, and -10 degrees F in the winter, I think I might get just as much water time living in Sacramento as being on the north shore of Mass.

[wburg]

Light rail (that's what we call our "metro" always works like that--they travel in straight lines, and it helps if where you're going is close to the line. It's less complete than Los Angeles' newly-upgraded system and because of budget cuts it stops operating at 9 PM.

There are some bike lanes, and also some bike trails (recreational trails along the river that some bike riders use for commuting.) Not a ton of them, and not many outside the central city, but more of them.

I think the trains are worth it, especially if you are going solo. You can kick back on the train instead of getting all stressed out on the way there and back.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by sponger42

I think I might get just as much water time living in Sacramento as being on the north shore of Mass.

Besides ocean surfing, keep in mind that there is great waterskiing in the Sacramento River Delta, as well as wakeboarding and jet skiing on Lake Tahoe!