The Housing Trilema (violent crime, quality of life, restaurants)

[roadtripp1n]

Originally Posted by JohnS_15

I think Sacramento will fit your list of must haves pretty well. I don't know about the housing trilema criteria... as others have pointed out - those sort of "quality of life" indicators can be pretty arbitrary. Affordability of Sacramento in terms of California context is pretty good. Compared to other U.S. cities maybe not so much.


I think you'll definitely be able to put roots down in Sacramento if:
If you like sunny, warm, dry and sometimes pretty hot weather. If you don't mind living in an extremely flat area where the only hills are the onramps and overpasses of freeways or man-made levies along the river. If you don't have really sensitive pollen or dust allergies (the dry windy spring and early summer bring some pretty severe allergens and poor air quality at times).


Everything else about quality of life really depends on what you like/dislike on a day-to-day basis and what you like to do for recreation. Also - I have no idea about job opportunities in IT.


Good luck to you. For what it's worth I do like it here. I've been here a year. I've lived all over California and internationally.

Sacramento being flat seems to be an issue with people on here. I am thinking right now, what is the problem with that? I am not into mountain biking. I know I will be giving up the beautiful, mountainous, city by the ocean scenery of Vancouver, but that can get old. So does the flatness issue has to do with scenery? All you see is sky and buildings in Sac?

As for air quality, pollen, and dust allergies, is it really that bad? We will be visiting for 5 days during the July 4th weekend, so that would be a good test/feel for the supposedly bad air quality?

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by roadtripp1n

Sacramento being flat seems to be an issue with people on here. I am thinking right now, what is the problem with that? I am not into mountain biking. I know I will be giving up the beautiful, mountainous, city by the ocean scenery of Vancouver, but that can get old. So does the flatness issue has to do with scenery? All you see is sky and buildings in Sac?

For me at least, it was the absence of seeing wide open/expansive views that give you a sense of geography, that got to me. I grew up in the LA area and also lived in the Bay Area, and Sacramento. It had never occurred to me until I lived in Sacramento that in the other two you are going up and down hills all the time, and even when in a flat locale you can see mountains or water every direction you turn. These views/landmarks gave me an internal, subconscious orientation to my surroundings that I didn't even realize until it was absent in Sacramento. It's hard to describe, it's sort of a feeling of being "trapped" low to the ground. The solution, of course, is to drive up into the Sierras or at least the foothills as often as possible.

Obviously this is very subjective and ultimately was not a dealbreaker for me - I ultimately enjoyed living in Sac and would move back if the right job opportunity presented itself.

[Majin]

Just commute from Elk Grove if you don't mind 100% suburbia.

[TheFlats]

bento I totally agree, as a Valley native I'm conditioned to it but having lived in the Bay and other places with terrain it really does add something to everyday living. The solution is spot on, just leave for the non-flats whenever possible, luckily they're pretty close. I work in a highrise too, so I get the views there which helps.

[kettlepot]

I worked in NYC for a period of time, and the skyscrapers created the sensation of living in deep canyons out of which I couldn't see and left me feeling very claustrophobic. Sacramento may make you feel the opposite and unable to fix your location within a sea of flatness. Both feelings can be troubling.

Make a point of visiting Sacramento in the spring time. Central Valley pollen levels can induce months of misery if you are susceptible. To find relief, you'll be drugged up for months at a time. Vancouver gloom may induce lethargy, but so will OTC allergy drugs. I remember one time on a drive through the valley, my eyes itched so much that I rubbed them until a blister formed on my eyeball. It's one of the key reasons I will never go back. I simply couldn't survive the allergies. For me, they were THAT BAD!

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by roadtripp1n

I am currently in similar process, figuring out a city that would fit us and that is not a metropolis / big city. Portland was first on the list but after visiting it for 5 days (I know that is no where near enough to get a feel for a place) and looking at real estate and surrounding area, it didn't seem right. Housing is on the expensive side with all the Californian moving there. The weather is not any better than Vancouver, BC. When I first moved to Vancouver, I thought that the rain wouldn't bother me, but after living there for 6 years, it's affecting my active life style. And it's affecting my spouse's health.

Albuqueque is also on my list. I have never lived in such a landlocked and desert city. Everything there seems like scorched earth coming from the greenery of Vancouver, BC. It's quite far from families who are in LA and Vancouver.

Then I went back and did some more research and Sacramento came up which seems to fit us quite well. It was totally under the radar because I thought I knew Cali really well since I lived in LA pretty much my whole life and traveled up and down the golden state often. I had never given Sacramento any thoughts when I was younger. I will be visiting Sac for 5 days, so we'll see.

Albuquerque was very off-putting to me. I found it dirty, kind of sad and isolated, with a very high level of drunk driving due to the high Native American population there (unfortunate but true). I also had the misfortune to visit during the last week of the calendar year, and the day I landed they were hit with nearly 16" of snow. Snow and I don't get along! After the snow melted and my rental car was totalled by a drunk driver, I decided my ABQ karma was pretty low.

As for Vancouver's weather, I feel ya. I spent a week there with my then-partner over the US Thanksgiving period, and the entire week it was drizzly and in the mid 30'sF, so that it was either drizzling, or it would be "chunky rain", or wet snowflakes, then back to drizzle, then back to wet snowflakes, back and forth for an entire week. I wanted to strangle everyone around me.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by roadtripp1n

My wife is not US Citizen. I know I would have to do paperwork and wait before she could live in the US and work. I immigrated from US to Canada about 6 years ago and the reverse process is similar, I think.

I should have added that after you gather the required paperwork and after filing it will take about 9-12 months for your wife's immigrant petition to be approved and that the interview will take place in Montreal, the only place in Canada that handles US petitions. So plan on that timeline.

[xenxes]

Commenting on the flat issue, Loomis (404'), Granite Bay (430'), El Dorado Hills (768') above sea level (vs Sacramento proper's 30'), all have hills and some variety in terrain.

What about Santa Rosa? Or wine -- Napa, Sonoma, Amador -- County? Wine sommelier hospitality job for the spouse? IT can fit in any industry, i.e. medical.

[roadtripp1n]

I am still kind of confused about the flatness issue. It seems to be a non-issue for me. I guess I will experience it when I am there in a few weeks. I won't say anything to my spouse and see if she notices any strange feeling in Sac?

I'd been to Santa Rosa a while ago and I recalled that it has small town feeling for sure! It might be too small for us as we are coming from big cities. But who knows, if we ever move to Sac and want to have a small town feeling, Santa Rosa is a possibility. We always joke about living on a farm.

[roadtripp1n]

Another question I have is would it be possible for me to apply for IT Infrastructure jobs remotely? Usually it's very tough to do that unless you are a traditional professional (doctor, dentist, nurse) or engineer. It would be ideal to land a job remotely before we move there.

How accommodating are Sac companies in terms of accepting job applications, without bias, from non-residents?