Pros/Cons of Sacramento (San Francisco, Stockton: neighborhood, school, college)

[babypop07]

Hi! I would like know from someone who lives in Sac or visits a lot- the pros and cons of living in Sac.

What do you think about Cal state univ Sac?

Is this city pretty populated with teens everywhere? Or is it mostly older people?

Also, can someone tell me... just out of curiosity what race is very populated there? Like are there mostly Mexicans, whites, blacks, etc? Or quite diverse?

[muffincake]

Cons:
-It feels like you're in an oven all the time.
-A car is a necessity as the area of "Sacramento" has a weird patch-like way of existing and you will need to drive to places.
-Rent is high.
-Most areas are simultaneously bland and sort of gross out in the suburbs, and downtown is filled with homeless people.
-There's not really that much to do here, unless I guess you want to get drunk, or cycle through the five decent restaurants they have in town.

Pros:
-You can escape to San Francisco in about 1.5 hours by car.
-You can fly to places like Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas and L.A. for pretty cheap, quick plane rides.

[GoldCountry80]

Originally Posted by muffincake

Cons:
-It feels like you're in an oven all the time.
-A car is a necessity as the area of "Sacramento" has a weird patch-like way of existing and you will need to drive to places.
-Rent is high.
-Most areas are simultaneously bland and sort of gross out in the suburbs, and downtown is filled with homeless people.
-There's not really that much to do here, unless I guess you want to get drunk, or cycle through the five decent restaurants they have in town.

Pros:
-You can escape to San Francisco in about 1.5 hours by car.
-You can fly to places like Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas and L.A. for pretty cheap, quick plane rides.

HAHA all Sacramento is good for is how quick and cheap you can leave pretty much. You must not be happy here. I am a little more Northeast of Sacramento and I don't like it either very much and looking to move ASAP.

And it does seem true, Downtown Sacramento does not have all the greatest restaurants. I never had a desire say to go to Jacks Urban Eats or somewhere like Ink, very average. Sometimes you gotta go to the poor parts and even there you won't always hit it for great food either. Chinese food here for instance to me is average. I like it on the East Coast better or on the idea of Trader Vics in L.A, or the Polynesian style places with hawaiian looking walls and a dark dingy atmosphere which are so few and far between here. If you're into Pho which I am really not very often, then I guess its good but too many vegetables in it and it doesn't do too much for me same with Vietnamese and all that crap.

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by GoldCountry80

And it does seem true, Downtown Sacramento does not have all the greatest restaurants. I never had a desire say to go to Jacks Urban Eats or somewhere like Ink, very average.

Lol, Ink and Jacks both are located in midtown, or downtown as you call it. Although, Jacks is a chain in everywhere in the Sacto region.

[GoldCountry80]

Originally Posted by caligirlz

Lol, Ink and Jacks both are located in midtown, or downtown as you call it. Although, Jacks is a chain in everywhere in the Sacto region.

Oh it is? I thought Jacks was the only one.. oh and I also forgot, some of the Japanese food I had was very average. I don't mean sushi but the cooked stuff more. I found better stuff in the malls in my lifetime and for cheaper. Just seems every Japanese place is the same too and they serve it in different sections of a square bento box instead of all in it and on top of the rice.

[babypop07]

Originally Posted by GoldCountry80

Oh it is? I thought Jacks was the only one.. oh and I also forgot, some of the Japanese food I had was very average. I don't mean sushi but the cooked stuff more. I found better stuff in the malls in my lifetime and for cheaper. Just seems every Japanese place is the same too and they serve it in different sections of a square bento box instead of all in it and on top of the rice.

All of this, and I still only got 1 meaningful reply. lol

[wburg]

This isn't a super high traffic forum, it takes a while for people to respond. There are people of all ages in Sacramento, it's not all young or all old. We're a very ethnically diverse city. CSUS (Sacramento State) has a good reputation but isn't considered as highly as UC Davis, since it's a CSU instead of a UC. Sacramento State is a commuter school, so there isn't much college-town vibe around it once you leave campus, but if you're looking for an area with a more youthful feel, you'll probably find it in Midtown, a couple miles west of the campus.

GoldCountry80 has a particular perspective on life, one that not many here agree with. I've had some pretty good Japanese food here, and it's hardly the only city where they use square bento boxes. Jack's Urban Eats is a local chain, the one he refers to on 20th and Capitol is the original location. Jack's and Ink are okay but wouldn't consider them much beyond mid-range for Midtown, let alone the whole city--although, yes, there are some really good restaurants outside the central city grid, most of the local foodies are quite enthusiastic about the Southeast Asian and Mexican restaurants along Stockton Boulevard well south of downtown, or little places in West Sacramento.

[ryuns]

The easiest way to answer your demographic questions is to point you to the stats. Sacramento, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sac is pretty diverse in terms of age range, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc, but that varies massively based on the neighborhood you're in.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by muffincake

Cons:
-It feels like you're in an oven all the time.

Better an oven than a steamroom. Coming from the humid summer Midwest, don't you agree?

[muffincake]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

Better an oven than a steamroom. Coming from the humid summer Midwest, don't you agree?

But it doesn't get as hot in the midwest and the heat waves are of shorter duration throughout the year. Sacramento is both incredibly hot and it stays that hot for most of the year. So it's as much an issue of tolerance as it is endurance. If the oppressively hot days in Sacramento got broken up by intermittent cold fronts or cloudy/rainy days, that would provide some relief.