Would I like Sacramento? (Oakland, Sunnyvale: movers, hotel, home)

[cmrubin]

That's rich coming from someone in Davis; since Davis WAS the 'aggie' UC school. It still has the highly regarded Vet school, etc. In fact, I believe (if I remember correctly) that is WHY UC-Davis even exists-b/c of its proximity to agriculture and SAC.

UC Davis was originally the "university farm" for UC Berkeley. For some reason while I was there in the 80s and 90s, they were mildly embarrassed by this and tried very hard to shed the Aggie image. There was even an administrative attempt at one point to do away with the Aggie Mustang mascot.

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by cmrubin

That's rich coming from someone in Davis; since Davis WAS the 'aggie' UC school. It still has the highly regarded Vet school, etc. In fact, I believe (if I remember correctly) that is WHY UC-Davis even exists-b/c of its proximity to agriculture and SAC.

UC Davis was originally the "university farm" for UC Berkeley. For some reason while I was there in the 80s and 90s, they were mildly embarrassed by this and tried very hard to shed the Aggie image. There was even an administrative attempt at one point to do away with the Aggie Mustang mascot.

Yeah, I'd wager UC Davis's biggest impact is in agricultural technology (the first EVER genetically engineered food was from a Davis company), brewing and viticultural, and veterinary medicine. All of which are ag and cow related. Their med school, probably their largest department outside of the ones mentioned, isn't even located in Davis, but is in the "cow town" of Sac.

[ryuns]

Not sure if the OP is still paying attention, but in terms dating pool for gay couples, Sac apparently has the fourth- or fifth-highest gay population per capita at around 9%.

[jmgloss]

Raised in So Calif and lived in the North Sacramento area. Sacramento might be cheaper than LA or SF, but there is a reason. High crime areas and hard to determine where those are without being there. Lot's to do as in ANY big city and a Liberal would find most any place in CA comfortable. NO seasons in hardly any places in CA, not like you are used to and Sac is VERY hot in the summer. Easy drive to Lake Tahoe or any place in Gold Country. I would move back to the northern area if we could afford it, but then CA is "home" to us.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by wburg

Actually, those boomers did embrace a walkable urban core--the population of the central city went up 10% from 1970-1990 and that's when "Lavender Heights" first emerged. The first infill was built during that era--including the first mid-rise condo housing. It was mostly the pre-Boomer generation who was dead set on finishing the job of demolishing downtown, the Boomers were the first ones to start reversal of the trend. But downtown developers got too greedy in the 1990s and choked off a wave of residential development to build the rebranded Downtown Plaza and Sutter Galleria, and the GenX generation was too small to keep the trend going.

I think you are giving the Boomers to much credit regarding living in denser living environments and returning to the core of cities, especially in the west. The boomers were mostly hypocritical when it came to development. Once they bought their brand new 3,000 sq foot home, depended on freeways to get around; they were the first to cry fowl when the next development or roadway was going up, and the first to deplore any type of dense urban living. Given the huge explosion of growth in the last 35 years in suburban, low-density environments where exactly did boomers build more density than less?

Exactly where in the west, did Boomers embrace urban living in dense urban cores, shy of SF. A nod to Berkeley or Venice(LA), maybe.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by Westbound and Down

Parts of every city with a population greater than, say, 200k, are ghetto-ish.

The coastal folks will alway trash-talk Sacramento. (Not intended for mystictiger). As if the Bay doesn't have its ghettos: Richmond, SF's Tenderloin, 1/3 of Oakland, parts of east bay cities. Huge parts of LA and Orange County and Inland Empire.

Truth is, California is aging all over from suburbs to cities to freeways. This just means more opportunity for renewal, and it's happening in the central cities and will extend to the older suburban areas too.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by Westbound and Down

If that is your definition of the "cow town thing" then I believe your fears of Sacramento are misplaced. I didn't get any "cow town" vibe, even though I had talked to a friend who lives in Davis who looked down her nose at Sacramento and used the term "cow town." I didn't see it at all...YMMV.

Mind you, I am not from there, and I don't live there (yet), but I did visit for a few days on a job interview, and I found Sacramento kind of charming; I definitely came away thinking that I could be very happy living and working there.

At some point, you have to get off the internet and actually visit places - as much valuable info as one can get from forums like this, there are real limits to those opinions, too. You are at that point right now. Go see for yourself.

Good advice. Sacramento is charming, maybe not in a knock your socks off kinda way, and it takes walking around, biking, hanging out at bars and restaurants, excepting that it's not some perfect, clean, newly built manacured suburb, nor an ultra rich cool dense large city, with fortune 500 companies, venture capitalists, and trust fund gen-Xer's pumping money into the economy(SF). Would be nice though.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by wburg

Actually, those boomers did embrace a walkable urban core--the population of the central city went up 10% from 1970-1990 and that's when "Lavender Heights" first emerged. The first infill was built during that era--including the first mid-rise condo housing. It was mostly the pre-Boomer generation who was dead set on finishing the job of demolishing downtown, the Boomers were the first ones to start reversal of the trend. But downtown developers got too greedy in the 1990s and choked off a wave of residential development to build the rebranded Downtown Plaza and Sutter Galleria, and the GenX generation was too small to keep the trend going.

The Plaza was very successful for 15 years, what killed it off it is the worst recession(depression) in the last 80 years, in conjunction with a brand new mall in Roseville, and a major upsurge in internet purchasing, costco and bigbox retail. You can thank the plaza for bringing folks back to downtown that would never have thought of it before.

The population went up 10% in Lavender Heights(LH), but it went up 50% in the suburbs. It went up 10% in LH in the 70-90's because it was cheap, dirt cheap. Likely the population will surpass the 10% you seem to cherish, 2015, 2020 will be big numbers.

[wburg]

Downtown Plaza's reboot was in 1993, America Live closed within 3 years and Roseville Galleria opened in 2000--people were already writing about how dismal Downtown Plaza was getting by the late 1990s. I don't really think it made a bit of difference in terms of people moving to the central city--what drew people (and prevented further out-migration) were the cultural institutions those Boomers and GenXers made in Midtown, from art galleries, music venues and local businesses to fixing up old houses. And we have gained 1000 new housing units since 2010, so theoretically we're probably back up to 31500-32,000 central city population again. That's great, and there's more coming--but the idea that nothing happened in the central city until the Millenials came along is just ridiculous.

The Metro Chamber, the same one sponsoring that "emerging professionals" event, have never been particularly enthusiastic about people living downtown--they were the ones trying to push even more office buildings downtown in the 1990s, with no thought at all to downtown residential. Even now, they're still pushing a "regional economy" approach, with job centers and new suburbs farther out, with the central city as a place to work and play but not to live.

And yeah, the OP probably doesn't care much about our opinions on the matter, other than to let him know that the main competitive sports in Sacramento are basketball and politics. Often they become very interrelated.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by nep321

...29 year old gay Italian male

Yes, you would. But...you might get annoyed after the 100th time you hear someone call someone else "fa***t.

Originally Posted by nep321

...who has lived in Connecticut my entire life.

Nope. You'll hate Sacramento unless you grew up in New Haven...and loved it.

Originally Posted by nep321

I have a master's degree in accounting, and specialize in corporate tax (non-client work, non-CPA).

You'd probably be better off somewhere around the Bay.

Originally Posted by nep321

I also have about $50K in cash, no debt, no dependents, no spouse and my lease ends in May.

Well hey, everybody loves cash.

Originally Posted by nep321

Some things I am looking for in a place to live:

• relaxed pace of life, but not excessively slow Check
• preferably four seasons In Sacto? Nope. A very slight drizzle is enough to call for serious umbrella action and most think Armageddon is coming every time it rains. Despite the cold and snow a few hours away in the Sierra's, people love to live in California because it lacks weather. Expect a very slow decline into winter and an equally as slow ascent into summer.
• plenty of greenery Check
• significant gay population Check
• reasonable cost of living By Californian standards, check. By Connecticut standards, double check
• liberal/progressive politics Check, sort of. California in general is a very strange hodgepodge of politics. Sacramento is no different.
• I'm an atheist, so no religion in my face Check. Like New England, no one is going to ask about your spiritual preference or what church you are a member of
• Not too sophisticated; I prefer simple, normal people Simple people, check

Would I like Sacramento based on the above?
And would it be any culture shock for a New Englander?

For the most part, yes. By the way, I left Sacto for Maine, then later Boston.