Bay Arean's Do you like living in Sacramento? (San Francisco, Stockton: condos, good schools)

[sacite]

I grew up 45 mi north of the bay, and sorry to say but it sucks now. Too much gentrification, filthy in many parts, kids with money well beyond their talent and ability living in the Marina, flight of artists of all sorts and rude, disconnected people. It only remotely resembles the place I used to take day trips to as a kid in the 80's. It's lost a lot of its flavor, and it's far more crowded than it was 20-30 yrs ago. I remember driving into the city as a kid and the sign read "San Francisco: Population 639,000" or something to that effect. Now the sign reads over 900,000. 900,000 in a 49 square mi city. If you pay as much as some do to live there though, you have to look down your nose at Sac to feel good about your life LOL. And that's exactly what some people do.

Now Sac has its issues too, but it's far more livable. At least by CA standards. One can afford to buy a house here and still have money to eat out once a week. In SF you're lucky to scrape by with 5 roommates. I dated an attorney that lived in SOMA and she literally had 5 roommates. Parking can be tough in Sac but it's night and day from SF. It's 10X easier to meet people in Sac V SF, and I can get from my apt in Sac to any destination almost any time of the day or night within 1/2 HR max. Other than the weather, I love Sac. I'd not move back to the bay unless my salary literally doubled.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by sav858

Oh yeah all those murders during commute hours...gotta be careful when commuting to your 9-5 job in downtown SF not get murdered on the way. You sound like some typcal Sacramento suburbanite scared of public transit. I guess I would be too if what you're used to is SacRT light rail.

A black man was killed at the Fruitvale BART Station; they even made a movie about it. Oh then there was that woman who was murdered in broad daylight on a SF pier after taking public transit. And the woman who was murdered after leaving the Orinda BART station.

I know plenty of Bay Area suburbanites who hate taking public transit.

[ginawoods]

The only drawback to living in Sacramento is that it gets really hot in the summer. There are some really nice areas of Sac that have nice facilities like swimming pools to cool off in the summer. It is also fairly close to the Grass Valley area where you can enjoy the Yuba river. We like to head up to Tahoe, but the traffic can get bad on the weekends. Sacramento is in the center of so many great places that it makes living here nice. There are also a bunch of new area springing up and some really great areas with nice restaurants and night life.

[AlohafromSac]

Moved from Oakland last year and as much as I miss the bay, I do really enjoy Sac. It is far less to live here than the Bay Area, and there is still tons to do.

There is less traffic, mountains are close, and it has a great midtown vibe. The crime is a lot less than what I would see in Oakland. Oh, and buying a home for a first time home buyer is doable.

I do have to say it was some getting used to the cold at night in the winter and the heat in the summer. But all and all, sac is where it's at!

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by sacite

I grew up 45 mi north of the bay, and sorry to say but it sucks now. Too much gentrification, filthy in many parts, kids with money well beyond their talent and ability living in the Marina, flight of artists of all sorts and rude, disconnected people. It only remotely resembles the place I used to take day trips to as a kid in the 80's. It's lost a lot of its flavor, and it's far more crowded than it was 20-30 yrs ago. I remember driving into the city as a kid and the sign read "San Francisco: Population 639,000" or something to that effect. Now the sign reads over 900,000. 900,000 in a 49 square mi city. If you pay as much as some do to live there though, you have to look down your nose at Sac to feel good about your life LOL. And that's exactly what some people do.

Now Sac has its issues too, but it's far more livable. At least by CA standards. One can afford to buy a house here and still have money to eat out once a week. In SF you're lucky to scrape by with 5 roommates. I dated an attorney that lived in SOMA and she literally had 5 roommates. Parking can be tough in Sac but it's night and day from SF. It's 10X easier to meet people in Sac V SF, and I can get from my apt in Sac to any destination almost any time of the day or night within 1/2 HR max. Other than the weather, I love Sac. I'd not move back to the bay unless my salary literally doubled.

It absolutely does NOT. You are exaggerating by quite a bit.

[wburg]

The 2015 estimated population of San Francisco is 864,000, while it had 678,000 in 1980. Of course, in the same period, Sacramento went from 275,000 to 485,000, so each city gained about the same number of people in the same period, although in terms of proportion Sacramento grew a lot bigger--and if you compare county-to-county population, things get even more dramatic (783,000 in 1980 to 1.5 million estimate in 2015.) Although one must keep in mind that the city of Sacramento is twice the size of San Francisco (98 square miles) while Sacramento County is nearly 1000 square miles.

[pistola916]

Originally Posted by wburg

Sacramento County is nearly 1000 square miles.

half of that must be rural

[wburg]

South of Elk Grove and past Grant Line Road, and down the river into the Delta, sure, aside from some little towns and exoburbs like Rancho Murieta, sure--figure the urban services boundary covers maybe half of the county. But suburban developers are still looking for places to sprawl!

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by wburg

The 2015 estimated population of San Francisco is 864,000, while it had 678,000 in 1980. Of course, in the same period, Sacramento went from 275,000 to 485,000, so each city gained about the same number of people in the same period, although in terms of proportion Sacramento grew a lot bigger--and if you compare county-to-county population, things get even more dramatic (783,000 in 1980 to 1.5 million estimate in 2015.) Although one must keep in mind that the city of Sacramento is twice the size of San Francisco (98 square miles) while Sacramento County is nearly 1000 square miles.

These population figures sound correct. But I can guarantee there's not a single sign in SF that says the population is 900K +.

[wburg]

I'm sure you are correct. Maybe it was an advertisement for some new 300 square foot studio apartments for sale, and that was the price?