Moving to Sacramento from Northwest Louisiana

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by coolgeek

We would like:

- a safe area with a good home school co-op
- to keep our rent under $2K, but we are willing to go higher if the house/area is great
- an area that is hopefully minority friendly
- things to do for date night aren't too far away

Thanks for any advice.

All of the suburbs that meet your qualifications (Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova/Anatolia, Gold River, Carmichael, Roseville/Rocklin) are within a 30 minute drive to Midtown....essentially the entertainment district. Neighborhoods like Land Park, Curtis Park are really close to midtown & have beautiful mature landscape & tree coverage.

All of the suburbs are diverse, but but perhaps not as much as midtown. A lot of "friendliness" depends on the individual's attitude. Many people say midtown is more diverse & friendly than the suburbs, diverse yes, friendly not necessarily. At least, that was my experience. You will find a place where you fit.

I would suggest the following rental websites to get a feel for what is available: 1 and 2 bedroom house for rent sacramento ca california rental house, Sacramento Rental Property Management | Home Run Property Management

[wburg]

Midtown isn't the only neighborhood in Sacramento--nor is it the most diverse. I'd point them towards Pocket or Little Pocket, nice places to live on the edge of the Sacramento River, just on the edge of California's "delta" lifestyle.

[caligirlz]

^^^ those of us who moved from east sac to the 'burbs, now consider all of that area "midtown"...even though I realize it isn't technically correct. I knew you'd clear things up

[wburg]

They consider all of Sacramento "Midtown"? Whoa, that's really stretching the boundaries! And here I thought only us Midtowners considered Midtown the only part of Sacramento worth knowing about...

[caligirlz]

No, not ALL of Sacramento. That is stretching the boundaries!

[Chilly Gentilly]

My wife and I are also moving our young AA family to Sacramento from NW Louisiana...with questions like my friend Coolgeek.

Whats a realistic expectation for commute time from Sac to SF on a typical day?

Is Sacramento open-minded regarding different religious beliefs? We're openly agnostic and are itching to leave ignorant christian fundamentalism...Goodbye DogmaVille!

Also, is Sacramento a very entrepreneurial friendly town?

We're big into jazz music and culture. What is the music/arts scene like there? Some recommended venues?

[wburg]

Commuting from Sacramento to San Francisco is not reasonable. Minimum 2 hours each way. If you have a job in San Francisco, find a place to live closer to San Francisco--only a handful of "super-commuters" do that run regularly, typically because they have spectacularly high-paying Bay Area jobs but really want to live in Sacramento for some reason.

Sacramento is pretty open-minded regarding different religious beliefs. California in general is a lot less in your business about such things. Sacramento is home to the seventh-largest gay/lesbian community in the country, the oldest Moslem mosque and second-oldest Buddhist congregation on the west coast.

Business-friendly, well, it kind of depends. We're a government town and kind of notorious for red tape. But there is a lot of opportunity for small business here, if you can work through the system.

Jazz is as much a Sacramento tradition as hot summers and lots of trees--we're home to a jazz festival with a legacy going back 40 years, but it's going through a bit of a personality crisis because it traditionally focused strictly on Dixieland with little notion that there are other forms of jazz. Last year they renamed it the "Sacramento Music Festival" but some folks are hoping to change the name back--and open up the Festival to a lot of the other sorts of jazz that have flourished in this city. Monday nights at Luna's Cafe are legendary for jazz jams, the Shady Lady on R Street, the Torch Club for blues, and look out for other jazz events like Ross Hammond's "In The Flow Festival" or Harley White Jr.'s "White Noise Festival." There are a whole lot of rock venues and a lot of electronic dance music these days, most local bands perform original material but there are a few cover bands in town too.

Once a month we have this big ol' art festival/street party called Second Saturday. Things have kind of scaled back after a high-profile shooting a couple of years ago, which means now you can actually walk around and see the art instead of just the backs of people's heads crowding the galleries. But in addition to the artwork there are generally a bunch of public events like music, dance, spontaneous conga lines or parades of people wearing Snuggies, just kind of out on the street. The big art gallery is the Crocker but there are dozens of small ones, if not hundreds, throughout the city and region.

Oh yeah, I heard an old joke about Sacramento. A Sacramentan shows up at the gates of Heaven. Saint Peter tells him, "Well, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is, you have been consigned to eternal damnation in the scorching fires of Hell. The good news is that you'll hardly notice it--it's a dry heat."

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by wburg

Commuting from Sacramento to San Francisco is not reasonable. Minimum 2 hours each way. If you have a job in San Francisco, find a place to live closer to San Francisco--only a handful of "super-commuters" do that run regularly, typically because they have spectacularly high-paying Bay Area jobs but really want to live in Sacramento for some reason.

...

Business-friendly, well, it kind of depends. We're a government town and kind of notorious for red tape. But there is a lot of opportunity for small business here, if you can work through the system.

Only thing to add is that the only folks I've come across who do that commute only do it 2 to 3 super long days a week and then enjoy extra time off or telecommuting, like folks with small children for whom half a week of telecommuting/babysitting is a nice benefit. The train (Amtrak Capitol Corridor) is a good option IF it allows you to get extra work done, but it's still makes for a ridiculously long day, so not reasonable for 5 days a week.

On business, I'd agree. While the reg's can be onerous, it's a lot less competitive and less costly to do business than the Bay Area.