Sacramento public transportation (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Richmond: apartments, renting, transfer to)

[ryanthegoldengod]

I'm one of those northeasterners who fantasizes about moving to California. Mostly for the warm, sunny weather. (Expecting a blizzard on Tuesday, thanks for asking). Since I work for the government, I'm far from a millionaire so Sacramento almost seems like it would be a better option than insanely expensive SD, SF, or LA.

But I don't drive. Poor eyesight. Does Sacramento have a decent public transit system? Is it all buses or is there a rail system? And is there a train to and from the Bay Area? Thanks.

[WizardOfRadical]

There is a train to the bay area.

The light rail and bus system is very poor, compared to more cosmopolitian cities on the coast. But it's there.

[sacreole]

The local transit system (Sacramento Regional Transit or RT) works well if you commute to and from downtown during the week. Apart from the light rail lines and a handful of bus lines, the service is infrequent with spotty to non-existent service on the weekends.

So, if you live/work on or near a light rail line or a bus route with higher frequencies, RT would be a convenient option. Most government offices (State, Federal, Municipal) are located downtown and most government employees receive transit passes at reduced or no cost. Other transit systems in the region (e-tran, Roseville Transit, YoloBus, El Dorado Transit, Yuba-Sutter Transit, Placer County Transit) operate commuter services into downtown Sacramento and/or connect to light rail.

As for regional rail, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor offers frequent service between Sacramento and the Bay Area and generally has excellent on-time performance. The line is used by people commuting into the Bay Area. The RT light rail Gold Line terminates at the Sacramento Valley Station, which is served by Amtrak.

Here's the link to Sacramento RT: http://www.sacrt.com/

And for the Amtrak Capitol Corridor: http://www.capitolcorridor.org/

[shelato]

The majority of the growth in Sacramento occurred post WWII when people were wealthy enough to own cars and air conditioning made the summertime heat much less unpleasant. The Sacramento region is pretty sprawled out and even with dramatic tax increases on transit, mass transit in this area will still suck because you don't have a high enough concentration of density to support frequent service.

Take a look at bus route 84 which serves Kaiser Hospital on Morse Ave. It runs during the day time once an hour. So if you miss your bus or your appointment runs late, your trip might be an extra hour late. Mind you this is when transit in the area is relatively well funded. During recessions when tax receipts fall, there are often service cutbacks and the service can be even more infrequent.

84 - WATT AVE - NORTH HIGHLANDS

The transit service in Sacramento has two functions. It offers service to state office workers working downtown and it runs this life line service for people too poor to own a car, but that service is really bad, like the once an hour frequency to Kaiser.

If you were transit dependent I would move to place that had a substantial population before WW2. There are parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco that fit that bill in California but housing prices are high in those areas.

[wburg]

Sacramento does have neighborhoods with decent (if not fantastic) transit; primarily in the central city (downtown/midtown) and nearby neighborhoods like East Sacramento and Land Park/Curtis Park, which also have light rail service. It's not so useful late at night. If you are comfortable using services like Lyft for transportation, it can fill in the transit gaps but costs a few more dollars. Note that these neighborhoods are a premium place to buy, but on the bright side, they're also generally very walkable places, with neighborhood stores and restaurants, parks, etcetera. If your space needs are modest, it can certainly be done, and they're still cheaper than comparable parts of LA and the Bay Area, both of which also have plenty of post WWII, car-centric, transit-not-available neighborhoods, and in greater quantity.

[shelato]

Sacramento Regional Transit has a list of of bus and light rail routes with schedules at the link. Click on the various bus and light rail lines and look at service frequency. Then compare that with the transit service in the region you currently live in. Figure out for yourself how long of time between bus rides annoys you and then look at the number of bus routes that provide that level of service and see what percentage of the greater Sacramento area you have access to. Alternative look at google maps estimated time by transit to estimate the amount of time you need to get to say places you need to go to say medical care, dental care etc and where you are thinking about living.

Regional Transit Routes & Schedules

Personally if I couldn't drive, I really wouldn't want to live in Sacramento.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

I'm one of those northeasterners who fantasizes about moving to California. Mostly for the warm, sunny weather. (Expecting a blizzard on Tuesday, thanks for asking). Since I work for the government, I'm far from a millionaire so Sacramento almost seems like it would be a better option than insanely expensive SD, SF, or LA.

But I don't drive. Poor eyesight. Does Sacramento have a decent public transit system? Is it all buses or is there a rail system? And is there a train to and from the Bay Area? Thanks.

No, it's pretty much last resort transportation only. Stick to Midtown though and Sacramento has decent transit/walkability. Elsewhere, yeah, nope. Also close to downtown where most of the govt jobs are. The light rail is more commuter lines. Amtrak runs to Richmond where you can transfer to BART. It's not frequent, frequent service but they do run pretty frequently even on weekends.

Sac compared to Bay Area is just almost free. Not that you'll be living the high life or anything, but it's not problem finding apartments in Midtown for $1,200 month. $1,500 you can start getting some nice apartments in Midtown/downtown. So you get a meh to pretty nice apartment in Midtown for about what renting a broom closet would cost you in San Francisco. Midtown just isn't that expensive. Nicer apartments (Pocket/Greenhaven, popular with govt workers due to good transit downtown although I wouldn't recommend if you're not driving) are around $1,100. You do get a nicer apartment but the price range is pretty tight. $800 is worst of the worst, $1,000 gets you a bland '70s apartment in okay area, $1,100-1,200 bland '70s apartment in a better area or crappy one in Midtown, $1,500 is luxury resort apartment outside downtown in a good area or decent apartment Midtown/downtown.

[Curmudgeon]

Before I retired and left Sacramento and California, my wife and I lived downtown near the Capitol because it was our "second" office and also close to our primary ones. We walked to and from work. My office was moved two miles away my last year of service and I continued to walk both ways except in really bad weather but the light rail was handily available.

If you're not adverse to walking, which we enjoyed, there are a lot of places you can live and have access to just about everything you need.

Good luck!

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by Malloric

No, it's pretty much last resort transportation only. Stick to Midtown though and Sacramento has decent transit/walkability. Elsewhere, yeah, nope. Also close to downtown where most of the govt jobs are. The light rail is more commuter lines. Amtrak runs to Richmond where you can transfer to BART. It's not frequent, frequent service but they do run pretty frequently even on weekends.

Sac compared to Bay Area is just almost free. Not that you'll be living the high life or anything, but it's not problem finding apartments in Midtown for $1,200 month. $1,500 you can start getting some nice apartments in Midtown/downtown. So you get a meh to pretty nice apartment in Midtown for about what renting a broom closet would cost you in San Francisco. Midtown just isn't that expensive. Nicer apartments (Pocket/Greenhaven, popular with govt workers due to good transit downtown although I wouldn't recommend if you're not driving) are around $1,100. You do get a nicer apartment but the price range is pretty tight. $800 is worst of the worst, $1,000 gets you a bland '70s apartment in okay area, $1,100-1,200 bland '70s apartment in a better area or crappy one in Midtown, $1,500 is luxury resort apartment outside downtown in a good area or decent apartment Midtown/downtown.

Wow, those apartment prices aren't any more expensive than snowy Connecticut. And a lot cheaper than Boston and New York.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Wow, those apartment prices aren't any more expensive than snowy Connecticut. And a lot cheaper than Boston and New York.

And the weather's better!