Advice on Where to Live in Sacramento? (San Francisco, Union City: apartments, rental)

[Copperchain]

My husband and I are moving from San Francisco to Sacramento for his new job (located in/around the Capitol Mall area). We'd really appreciate some advice on what neighborhoods might work best for us.

We're early 30's professionals, no children, so rental price is pretty flexible. To give some idea of our previous neighborhoods, we currently live in Cole Valley in San Francisco, and we previously lived in Back Bay in Boston. We have a dog that we need to walk nightly, so safe walking at night is a top priority (as a small female, it would be great if there was a neighborhood free of crime and people sleeping on the street). We'd like to live in a semi-urban environment, walking distance to bars/restaurants and a park (for the dog). I work from home, so city life helps me feel less isolated during the workday. We're not really ready for the suburbs, but we probably have more in common with young urban families than kids straight out of college at this point in our lives. We've visited Davis, which has a lovely downtown, but are wondering if there are any similar or slightly more urban neighborhoods in Sacramento.

Also, will we need to buy a second car, or will my husband be able to use public transit to get to the Capitol Mall every day? He comes home late, so transit would have to be safe at night.

Thanks for your help!

[sacramento916]

East Sacramento and Land Park would be great.

[wburg]

Light rail is no less safe than SF Muni, but it only runs until about 9 PM (although they're planning to extend service back to 11 PM in a few months.) You might look at the eastern half of the central city (generally called "Midtown") which is not crime-free (no neighborhood is) but comfortably safe, there is a lot of dog-walking at all hours around here. It's close enough to Capitol Mall to walk to work, and the walk is quite safe even at night--the walk goes through the restaurant/entertainment district which gets a lot of evening pedestrian traffic so there are lots of "eyes on the street"--and lots of after-work dinner options!

Another possibility would be a condo or apartment south of Capitol Mall--there are a bunch of complexes like Governor's Square and Capitol Towers, both apartments and condos. It's a bit quieter than Midtown but immediately adjacent to Capitol Mall and still an easy walk to Midtown, Downtown and Old Sac and right next to the Sacramento River and Southside Park, very convenient for the Sunday farmer's market in Southside.

[ryuns]

I'll second wburg. Midtown and downtown are probably the best choices. Both are quite safe, though Midtown, I'd say, *feels* safer because there's generally more nightlife, more residents milling about, etc.

If you don't mind a more residential feel, you can consider some of the first ring suburbs in your search. Land Park and Curtis Park are great and a light rail line splits the neighborhoods. (Though biking and even walking to work is a real option too.) "Sierra School Park" in Curtis Park neighborhood is off leash for dogs in the morning and evenings, which is great. Light rail also runs along the southern end of East Sac, making it slightly less convenient to much of the neighborhood, though are there some high-frequency bus lines running from downtown to Sacramento State that run through East Sac.

Again, bike commuting is a good option from East Sac too. Not sure how the Capitol is, but where I work, it's highly encouraged and I get the feeling it's culturally pretty well-accepted in state government. (Sac is #7 in the rate of bike commuters in the country. America's top 20 cities of bicycle commuters - @TBD On Foot | TBD.com)

[Copperchain]

Wow, these all sound like great options - especially Midtown and Curtis Park. Looking forward to checking them out soon. Thank you all so much for the advice!

[Armando LaO Sr.]

Originally Posted by Copperchain

Wow, these all sound like great options - especially Midtown and Curtis Park. Looking forward to checking them out soon. Thank you all so much for the advice!

Hi,
Just let me know if you have question where to live. I know Sacramento very well. I lived here since 1990. I used to visit here in the late 80's and got hooked buy the nice people around here. I used to live in Union City.

[Armando LaO Sr.]

Originally Posted by sacramento916

East Sacramento and Land Park would be great.

This one of your best bet