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So my wife and I have been away from Sacramento for over a decade now. During this time we've gotten to live in some amazing cities overseas and have done a great deal of traveling. Recently with the pandemic however, we've started to talk more and more about returning home to Sac and being closer to family. We were fortunate to have bought a home in Boulevard Park that we could come back to and we are excited about the prospect of living in that area.
One of my primary concerns is reverse culture shock with repatriating and going from living in cosmopolitan cities to the smaller confines of Sacramento. I imagine that being in the Midtown area would help a lot with being able to walk/bike to so many different places, but I'm curious to hear the experiences of others and any thoughts anyone might be willing to share.
Anyone out there move to Sac from large cities? What was your adjustment to Sac like? Any advice on things that helped you acclimate? Things you would do differently? Outlooks that were helpful or unhelpful? Thanks in advance!
First of all, congratulations on your purchase and welcome back to Sacramento. As for me, I moved to Sacramento from a smaller city 17 years ago. However, having been brought up in Los Angeles, I hope that my perspective will be helpful. When I came to Sacramento, I felt it had big city amenities with the feel of a smaller town. I enjoyed the prospect of being able to and see things I wasn’t able to in my former city of residence.
I moved here at a time when new urbanist ideas were catching on, particularly in Midtown and Downtown. New restaurants were opening up. Even though several of the ambitious high-rise condo towers never got off the ground in the mid-2000s, a number of mid-rise developments have come to fruition in Midtown. There’s more density, bike and pedestrian activity now. As an adaptation to the COVID-19 restrictions, outdoor dining has become more commonplace.
I recall civic boosters wanting Sacramento to become a 24-hour city. Along with the hustle and bustle of urban living is the noise and crowds. The residents living along L Street between 18th and 19th Streets in the Handle District had expressed concerns about the noise coming from an adjacent beer garden at night.
I think you’ll enjoy the convenience of being near the action without actually living in the midst of it. More retail amenities have opened up recently such as the new Target store on J Street. Don’t expect Sacramento to be on par with San Francisco, Los Angeles or Austin. But you’ll come to appreciate what the city does have to offer, even if it’s on a smaller scale.
First of all, congratulations on your purchase and welcome back to Sacramento. As for me, I moved to Sacramento from a smaller city 17 years ago. However, having been brought up in Los Angeles, I hope that my perspective will be helpful. When I came to Sacramento, I felt it had big city amenities with the feel of a smaller town. I enjoyed the prospect of being able to and see things I wasn’t able to in my former city of residence.
I moved here at a time when new urbanist ideas were catching on, particularly in Midtown and Downtown. New restaurants were opening up. Even though several of the ambitious high-rise condo towers never got off the ground in the mid-2000s, a number of mid-rise developments have come to fruition in Midtown. There’s more density, bike and pedestrian activity now. As an adaptation to the COVID-19 restrictions, outdoor dining has become more commonplace.
I recall civic boosters wanting Sacramento to become a 24-hour city. Along with the hustle and bustle of urban living is the noise and crowds. The residents living along L Street between 18th and 19th Streets in the Handle District had expressed concerns about the noise coming from an adjacent beer garden at night.
I think you’ll enjoy the convenience of being near the action without actually living in the midst of it. More retail amenities have opened up recently such as the new Target store on J Street. Don’t expect Sacramento to be on par with San Francisco, Los Angeles or Austin. But you’ll come to appreciate what the city does have to offer, even if it’s on a smaller scale.
Thanks sacreole, I really appreciate those thoughts. We haven't pulled the trigger on moving back yet, but the pull factors seem to be growing stronger and stronger.
It's nice to know that the density/24 hour feel you described has continued developing. When I was in Sac in the 2000's, I got the sense of that when I would go to mid/down town, but those trips were usually bar hopping with a high degree of our inebriation so I haven't put too much trust in my observations!
One question for you which you alluded to a bit - as you've been there and the mid-rise type developments have brought greater population density, does it ever feel like it's gone too far and become overcrowded, or have the shops/restaurants/bars/cafes expanded with the demand of having more people in the area?
Lots of people think they want 24 hour hustle and bustle until they want to go to sleep; look up what happened to SoMa nightclubs in San Francisco after people started moving into condos near the clubs so they could be "part of the action." However, not everyone cries when a club closes; often condo developers buy the land after a club is closed so they can turn it into more condos. In the case of the brew pub on L Street, it's a Budweiser owned beer garden using modular storage containers, basically "ground cover" to get some revenue from the land until they can build another condo building there; even the big shade structure built to reduce noise can probably just be unbolted & removed once it's time to build more housing on the lot.
Overall, though, downtown Sacramento is still a long way from "too far" in terms of population density; it would need to triple just to match the density of Midtown, which is not much higher from when you left it. Overall there are a few thousand more units (and thus more people) in the central city than when you left Sacramento, which does make a noticeable difference, but it's not overwhelming. If you're moving to Boulevard Park it will feel pretty similar to when you left for the most part. In fact, if you were around for the massive Second Saturday era of the early 2000s when like 10-20,000 people would show up every month, things are actually quieter than that, but the other days of the month got louder--which was a positive improvement as it became far more consistent, and businesses stopped focusing their events on just one day out of the month. Expanded bike lanes and bike/scooter share make street/sidewalk activity more visible. I'd even argue that in some ways COVID has made the central city somewhat more livable, due to the vastly reduced rush hour traffic through the neighborhoods every weekday. Of course, that didn't affect Boulevard Park too dramatically since traffic calming was instituted in the late 90s. We lost a lot of restaurants, mostly downtown, but we're gaining a lot of retail stores, like book and record stores, and other neighborhood serving retail (like the aforementioned mini Target on J Street, but mostly it's small local businesses.) Considering how quickly restaurants failed even pre-COVID, we probably had too many. Until downtown's population goes way up, which will probably take the rest of this decade at least, they will still be very dependent on visitors and downtown workers whose presence is reemerging but probably still pretty tenuous. Post-COVID emphasis on outdoor dining, and much greater levels of remote work, are probably very much here to stay, which is likely to shift restaurants' business model to attracting people from the neighborhood vs. from outlying areas; neighborhood hot spots attract visitors all on their own.
The big change you'll see in Midtown/Downtown is definitely along R Street; if you left in the early 2000s you may remember it as being basically a disused industrial corridor except for the area around Fox & Goose and an art studio on 14th. Now there are another thousand or so people living there, a lot of new businesses including three grocery stores, live music venues (just on the verge of reopening) and a lot of art spaces and cultural events--stuff that people had been planning and talking about since like the late 80s/early 90s finally coming to fruition, with more housing on the way.
I lived in DC/Chicago metros before moving to Sac as a teenager. Moved away to the coast/bay for college and career, before moving back to Sac.
The thing you have to accept is that you are leaving a cosmopolitan, dynamic, global economic center -For a smaller, less cultured, midsized state capital city. People will tell you that Sac is fine, but Second Saturdays, Crocker, and Concerts in the Park just don't cut it IMO. There is no upscale shopping district, fortune 500 companies, or financial district. And no Billionaires.
Don't get me wrong, Sac is pretty good as far as state capitals go. Easily in the top 10. The urban core has really improved in the last 10 years, as has the nightlife and dining (pre Covid). Davis is a really nice college town with a lot of cultural events as well. A lot of great museums in Sac, near by nature, and much more affordable than the "BIG 3" Areas (LA/SF/SD).
Like any place else, Sac is what you make of it. But it may not be your cup of tea, if you are looking for "world class" amenities.
I've lived in "World Class"/ highly cosmopolitan urban centers as well. As I get older I find I don't need to be in "world class cities". The things that made "world class cities" great were the vibrancy on the street, the shopping and stores, restaurants, live music venues and live theatres, museums. Those things have been dumbed down not only because of Covid, petty and violent Crime, but because of Amazon and the high cost of doing business in dense cities. Starbucks has destroyed many of the mom and pop coffeehouses, etc, etc. Interesting bric a brac stores have disappeared, culture and street culture as we once knew it has been sucked out of our great cities.
Also, Thanks to the internet and zoom you don't need to be in world class cities like Washington DC/New York etc. to engage with this "cultured" and "monied" class like before. You can engage, in it, and with them, from your own living room; those in Sacramento or outside of it.
Even museums are less "fun" because you can practically tour the entire museum from the internet without ever having to go to the museum, and often museums have so many rules and restrictions and timed entries and exits that its just not the same experience as before.
Sacramento is a great place to live in, and engage with the rest of the world. Sacramento may or may not have billionaires but it has plenty of millionaires, and more importantly there are some great people here, cultured, monied, and compassionate.
Having said that, Sacramento has several really good museums, culture, live music and theater, interesting restaurants, some good architectural bones, outdoor markets and festivals, and an interesting history. There is a lot here to find your niche.
So my wife and I have been away from Sacramento for over a decade now. During this time we've gotten to live in some amazing cities overseas and have done a great deal of traveling. Recently with the pandemic however, we've started to talk more and more about returning home to Sac and being closer to family. We were fortunate to have bought a home in Boulevard Park that we could come back to and we are excited about the prospect of living in that area.
One of my primary concerns is reverse culture shock with repatriating and going from living in cosmopolitan cities to the smaller confines of Sacramento. I imagine that being in the Midtown area would help a lot with being able to walk/bike to so many different places, but I'm curious to hear the experiences of others and any thoughts anyone might be willing to share.
Anyone out there move to Sac from large cities? What was your adjustment to Sac like? Any advice on things that helped you acclimate? Things you would do differently? Outlooks that were helpful or unhelpful? Thanks in advance!
I moved from San Diego which is really nice cooler place to live but real estate way more expensive. I found a state govt job here as tech jobs for what I do are rare and mostly contract. It is really hot here for 4-6 months out of the year compared to the bay area and socal. Having a pool has been a blessing for me. I lived in midtown before buying a house and got tired of the homeless everywhere and covid shutdown everything and a lot of cool places are forever gone and out of business.
Lots of people think they want 24 hour hustle and bustle until they want to go to sleep; look up what happened to SoMa nightclubs in San Francisco after people started moving into condos near the clubs so they could be "part of the action." However, not everyone cries when a club closes; often condo developers buy the land after a club is closed so they can turn it into more condos. In the case of the brew pub on L Street, it's a Budweiser owned beer garden using modular storage containers, basically "ground cover" to get some revenue from the land until they can build another condo building there; even the big shade structure built to reduce noise can probably just be unbolted & removed once it's time to build more housing on the lot.
Overall, though, downtown Sacramento is still a long way from "too far" in terms of population density; it would need to triple just to match the density of Midtown, which is not much higher from when you left it. Overall there are a few thousand more units (and thus more people) in the central city than when you left Sacramento, which does make a noticeable difference, but it's not overwhelming. If you're moving to Boulevard Park it will feel pretty similar to when you left for the most part. In fact, if you were around for the massive Second Saturday era of the early 2000s when like 10-20,000 people would show up every month, things are actually quieter than that, but the other days of the month got louder--which was a positive improvement as it became far more consistent, and businesses stopped focusing their events on just one day out of the month. Expanded bike lanes and bike/scooter share make street/sidewalk activity more visible. I'd even argue that in some ways COVID has made the central city somewhat more livable, due to the vastly reduced rush hour traffic through the neighborhoods every weekday. Of course, that didn't affect Boulevard Park too dramatically since traffic calming was instituted in the late 90s. We lost a lot of restaurants, mostly downtown, but we're gaining a lot of retail stores, like book and record stores, and other neighborhood serving retail (like the aforementioned mini Target on J Street, but mostly it's small local businesses.) Considering how quickly restaurants failed even pre-COVID, we probably had too many. Until downtown's population goes way up, which will probably take the rest of this decade at least, they will still be very dependent on visitors and downtown workers whose presence is reemerging but probably still pretty tenuous. Post-COVID emphasis on outdoor dining, and much greater levels of remote work, are probably very much here to stay, which is likely to shift restaurants' business model to attracting people from the neighborhood vs. from outlying areas; neighborhood hot spots attract visitors all on their own.
The big change you'll see in Midtown/Downtown is definitely along R Street; if you left in the early 2000s you may remember it as being basically a disused industrial corridor except for the area around Fox & Goose and an art studio on 14th. Now there are another thousand or so people living there, a lot of new businesses including three grocery stores, live music venues (just on the verge of reopening) and a lot of art spaces and cultural events--stuff that people had been planning and talking about since like the late 80s/early 90s finally coming to fruition, with more housing on the way.
wburg, thanks for all of that info, and for all of your other posts on these boards as well. I've been reading through and your knowledge and perspective have been really helpful to get a sense of things. That's great to hear that there are some record stores coming back. I've followed things from afar and was bummed to hear it when Dimple records closed a couple of years ago. Back in the day I spent a lot of time and money there, along with The Beat and Cherry Records. Those stores were great! Nice that there are some other options out there.
I remember those Second Saturdays - it was always a fun atmosphere. Nice that it's now more spread out.
I appreciate the overview of density and development. Yeah, we definitely don't want 24 hour hustle and bustle. But I don't think I could take the atomised/isolated/commuter lifestyles that you find in many parts of Sacramento (no disrespect meant by that - some of my best friends live in those types of places and love them...it's just not for us). We also value being in a diverse community and it sounds like Midtown/Boulevard Park still has that to some degree.
Those R St. developments sound really interesting. I'd only been out that way occasionally to stop at The Round Corner, Ernestos, Old Ironsides for shows, and Fox & Goose once or twice for brunch. As you're describing it, and as you and others have described in other posts, it seems like the different areas of Mid & Downtown have continued to develop and change in their own unique ways & have their own distinct identity...which I guess is probably how it has always been. An exciting aspect of living there must be getting to pick and choose which areas you want to visit depending on events and your mood, and being able to walk or ride a bike to get there. In that sense, it reminds me of the great aspects of living in larger European capitals where as the cities expanded they engulfed the surrounding towns/villages. With public transport in those places, you can then easily get to those different neighbourhoods. I know Sac isn't on that scale, but it's the energy/atmosphere/lifestyle of it that seems to share some commonalities. And with that said, there are benefits that come with Sac not being on the scale of those large cities.
Thanks for those thoughts ValleyBoy. I hear you on those points. I can definitely do without this stuff:
"There is no upscale shopping district, fortune 500 companies, or financial district. And no Billionaires."
Yeah, I know Davis well. There were things I loved about it, but also things that felt to insular to me in ways I never felt when in the Midtown area.
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