So You're 'From' Sacramento: Boundaries. (Los Angeles, San Francisco: neighborhood, live in, mall)

[Mr. Opinionated]

I saw similar thread about this in Chicago and Los Angeles.
And I thought it would be interesting to share one here. I hope it's not redundant, as there have been times where I've been asked if I am from Sacramento.
And in my case too, the strange part is that it's been people from L.A! So, I'm wondering what's your opinion on the boundaries of Sacramento City proper, or
should it matter as long as you're within the county?

[sacramento916]

The Sac metro region to me spans from Davis in the West to Placerville in the East. From Galt in the south to Auburn in the north.

[Mr. Opinionated]

Originally Posted by sacramento916

The Sac metro region to me spans from Davis in the West to Placerville in the East. From Galt in the south to Auburn in the north.

That sounds good to me! Thanks!

[K-Luv]

Well, I grew up in the Arden/Arcade area, so I am from Sacto. I had friends who would say they were from Fair Oaks or Folsom or Rocklin or Davis or Rancho Cordova or West Sac, but not from Sacramento. Yet, I had other friends from Citrus Heights, North Highlands, Carmichael, Tahoe Park, Mid Town, etc. who would say they were from Sac.

It seems to be a mixed bag, but personally I wouldn't consider someone as being from/lining in Sacramento simply because they are within the county boarders. And, I can't think of one person who was born here would consider Auburn to be a part of Sacramento.

[wburg]

Technically the Sacramento metropolitan area includes all of Placer and El Dorado County all the way to the Nevada border:

Sacramento metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I grew up in various suburbs of Sacramento, but when I moved away people didn't recognize the names of the funky little suburbs I mentioned, so I just said "I'm from Sacramento" and at least they had a rough approximation of where I was from. I figure if someone lives in, say, Contra Costa County, they're more likely to say they're from the Bay Area than that they are from San Francisco. Similarly, a lot of folks in the six-county "Chicagoland" area tend to claim Chicago. I'd wager that folks who live on the fringes of our MSA don't necessarily claim Sacramento if they don't have much personal or economic connection with the city or its environs, but considering the number of people in Roseville or West Sac who work in Sacramento proper, or come here for recreation, I wouldn't be surprised if they mentioned they're from Sacramento or the Sacramento area.

The city limits are the city limits, they aren't a matter of opinion. What maybe should (or shouldn't) be in the city limits is a matter of some strongly held opinions.

[Mr. Opinionated]

Originally Posted by wburg

Technically the Sacramento metropolitan area includes all of Placer and El Dorado County all the way to the Nevada border: Sacramento metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The city limits are the city limits, they aren't a matter of opinion. What maybe should (or shouldn't) be in the city limits is a matter of some strongly held opinions.

Actually, in that context, as far as this thread is concerned, they are up for debate. Im not seeking technical documentation here. And since signs like the one in the photo dont greet every intersection and interchange, I have heard some widely varied yes, opinions as to where the city ends or begins, which I find interesting for the sake of conversation. Hence, the intent of the post.

[CeJeH]

This topic is interesting because a significant portion of the population of Sacramento county lie in unincorporated areas that identify as Sacramento but aren't in the city limits. If you add up all of these communities (Arden-Arcade, Parkway-South Sacramento, Florin, Vineyard, Rosemont, La Riviera, and I'm sure I'm missing more) that adds up to around 250,000 people that have Sacramento addresses yet aren't in the city limits! That's like a whole separate large city in and of itself! IMO, all of these areas are Sacramento. Growing up in Florin I had no idea that I didn't actually live IN Sacramento until I was a teenager.

If you live in Auburn or Davis or Roseville or whatever, that's not Sacramento but they are close enough and not famous enough to really hold their own weight, so I have no problems with people from these places claiming Sac to people from outside of the area. But, nobody here would ever mistake Placerville for Sacramento. However, how many people from Downey would ever claim they are from Downey to someone that doesn't live in LA? I'm pretty sure they would just claim LA, so it makes sense that if someone from Elk Grove was describing their hometown to someone from San Antonio they would probably just say Sacramento to make it easy.

[sacramento916]

Let's put it this way.

For someone who is from Auburn, who is asked where they are from:

In Citrus Heights: I'm from Auburn

In San Francisco: From Auburn, near Sacramento

In Kansas City: I'm from Sacramento

In Pune, India: I'm from California

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by CeJeH

This topic is interesting because a significant portion of the population of Sacramento county lie in unincorporated areas that identify as Sacramento but aren't in the city limits. If you add up all of these communities (Arden-Arcade, Parkway-South Sacramento, Florin, Vineyard, Rosemont, La Riviera, and I'm sure I'm missing more)

Yeah, I thought about this after I typed it....Arden Fair Mall is in Sacramento, but cross Ethan and you are in Arden-Arcade, outside of the city limit. Get off 80 at El Camino, and you are in Sacto. Go the short distance (once again to Ethan), and you are now outside of the city. What has changed? What is the difference between one side of Ethan and the other? They are the same municipality, right? Heck, they don't even have signs posting whether you are entering or leaving the city limits!

IIRC, there is a sing on Howe Ave near Fair Oaks Blvd indicating, that you are entering North Sacramento, so I always thought that Arden-Arcade was a neighborhood in North Sacramento. I just checked a boundary map, and it looks like that was wrong, too.

Ugh, I am a man without a city.

[wburg]

You can look up the specific city limits on the City of Sacramento website, City of Sacramento, California, USA - Municipal Government , and no, often there is no clear way to tell where the city ends and the county begins. This is because the city has grown over the past century, from 4 square miles to about 98 square miles, by annexing suburban developments outside the city limits.

Also, I think the population of the "uncity" (unincorporated areas around Sacramento but not in the city limits) are closer to about 400,000. If we were to annex the unincorporated county between Sacramento's current city limits and the area out to Elk Grove, Folsom and Citrus Heights, Sacramento would have a population bigger than San Francisco.