vibrant walkable area (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach: appointed, real estate market, high crime)

[projectmaximus]

It seems that Midtown is the only place to get a really urban environment in Sacramento. There are walkable sections in other parts of town/suburbs but nowhere with a diverse array of people and activities all in a carless environment. Is that true or are there any other potential contenders?

A couple other questions:

1) Is there really good Chinese food and Asian communities within decent walking or transit access?
2) Is midtown Sacramento a significantly cheaper option than decent areas of San Francisco?
3) How easy is it to travel to SF and LA?

This is for a young family wanting to travel to LA and SF regularly (like maybe once a month) but want to save on COL. No commute to worry about. Fine with any type of housing stock.

TIA!

[pistola916]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

It seems that Midtown is the only place to get a really urban environment in Sacramento. There are walkable sections in other parts of town/suburbs but nowhere with a diverse array of people and activities all in a carless environment. Is that true or are there any other potential contenders?

A couple other questions:

1) Is there really good Chinese food and Asian communities within decent walking or transit access?
2) Is midtown Sacramento a significantly cheaper option than decent areas of San Francisco?
3) How easy is it to travel to SF and LA?

This is for a young family wanting to travel to LA and SF regularly (like maybe once a month) but want to save on COL. No commute to worry about. Fine with any type of housing stock.

TIA!

The whole central city grid is walkable, not just midtown. Southside Park, Newton Booth, Mansion Flats, Boulevard Park, neighborhoods within the grid are very good. Generally, Midtown stretches from 16th street to 29th/Capital City Freeway, and from J to R Street.

East Sacramento, Land Park, Oak Park, Curtis Park also have decent amounts of walkability and access to area shops and restaurants.

To answer your questions:

1. There is an Asian presence (mostly Japanese and Chinese) in Southside Park and along 12th to 16th Streets, between S and W Streets. South Sacramento, which is not pedestrian friendly, has a ton of ethnic restaurants along Stockton Boulevard.

2. While Midtown rents have gone up, they are no way as expensive as the less desirable areas of SF. I lived in SF for several years and I can tell you that rents in the Inner Richmond, Outer Mission, Excelsior, Ingleside, districts that tend to be seedy with high crime levels, exceed anything you'll find in midtown.

3. Downtown Sac to SF's Financial District is 90 minutes if traffic on I-80 is light. Amtrak provides many train service between Sac and the Bay Area.

[sacreole]

Originally Posted by pistola916

There is an Asian presence (mostly Japanese and Chinese) in Southside Park and along 12th to 16th Streets, between S and W Streets. South Sacramento, which is not pedestrian friendly, has a ton of ethnic restaurants along Stockton Boulevard.

The Freeport Boulevard corridor through the South Land Park/Hollywood Park neighborhoods boasts a number of Asian (primarily Chinese and Japanese) restaurants, bakeries, markets and stores. Most of these establishments are located between Sacramento City College and Executive Airport. These neighborhoods are fairly walkable.

As Pistola916 mentioned, Southside Park just south of Downtown and Little Saigon (Vietnamese/Chinese-Hoa) along the Stockton Boulevard corridor offer a number of Asian stores and restaurants.

[projectmaximus]

Thanks for the replies!!

Originally Posted by pistola916

2. While Midtown rents have gone up, they are no way as expensive as the less desirable areas of SF. I lived in SF for several years and I can tell you that rents in the Inner Richmond, Outer Mission, Excelsior, Ingleside, districts that tend to be seedy with high crime levels, exceed anything you'll find in midtown.

3. Downtown Sac to SF's Financial District is 90 minutes if traffic on I-80 is light. Amtrak provides many train service between Sac and the Bay Area.

So it seems like a no-brainer then. Sacramento would be a savings cost-wise even with paying for travel into the Bay area on a somewhat regular basis? Also is train to LA a decent option or would flying/driving be the mode of choice? Lastly, what is the real estate market like for buying (for these areas that you've recommended)

Originally Posted by sacreole

The Freeport Boulevard corridor through the South Land Park/Hollywood Park neighborhoods boasts a number of Asian (primarily Chinese and Japanese) restaurants, bakeries, markets and stores. Most of these establishments are located between Sacramento City College and Executive Airport. These neighborhoods are fairly walkable.

As Pistola916 mentioned, Southside Park just south of Downtown and Little Saigon (Vietnamese/Chinese-Hoa) along the Stockton Boulevard corridor offer a number of Asian stores and restaurants.

Sounds like we will need to visit! I think we want not just walkable but vibrant as well, but then again it'll be easy to tell by seeing it in person.

[sacreole]

In answer to your question about real estate prices, you're definitely are going pay more to live in the walkable neighborhoods close to downtown and Midtown. This would apply to Curtis Park, Land Park, East Sacramento, Elmhurst and Midtown itself. As a consolation, prices aren't as prohibitive as in the Bay Area. South Land Park and Hollywood Park would be lower than the aforementioned neighborhoods.

It's fairly easy and convenient to get to San Francisco and the Bay Area by rail. The Amtrak Capitol Corridor has frequent service from Sacramento. Since the train doesn't run directly into San Francisco, you would need to transfer to a bus bridge from Emeryville into the city or transfer to BART at Richmond.

With regard to rail access to Los Angeles, Amtrak has two options. The most direct and longest train would be the Coast Starlight, which takes a good 12 hours. The second option is the San Joaquin corridor, which would require taking a bus bridge between Bakersfield and Los Angeles as well as on some runs between Sacramento and Stockton. But at least the San Joaquin route is faster.

Flights down to the Los Angeles area airports from Sacramento only take an hour or so. Southwest Airlines has service into LAX, Burbank, Ontario and Orange County. JetBlue flies into Long Beach. American, Delta and United also fly into LAX. Driving to Los Angeles takes on average between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 hours depending on the traffic and your final destination in the LA Metro area.

[wburg]

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

It seems that Midtown is the only place to get a really urban environment in Sacramento. There are walkable sections in other parts of town/suburbs but nowhere with a diverse array of people and activities all in a carless environment. Is that true or are there any other potential contenders?

A couple other questions:

1) Is there really good Chinese food and Asian communities within decent walking or transit access?
2) Is midtown Sacramento a significantly cheaper option than decent areas of San Francisco?
3) How easy is it to travel to SF and LA?

This is for a young family wanting to travel to LA and SF regularly (like maybe once a month) but want to save on COL. No commute to worry about. Fine with any type of housing stock.

TIA!

1. If you are particularly looking for access to Chinese/Asian communities, look at the neighborhoods on the southern end of Sacramento's city grid; Southside Park, Richmond Grove, and to a lesser extent, Poverty Ridge and Newton Booth. They are all located between R Street and Highway 50. Proximity to R Street means access to light rail. Sacramento's Chinese community dates back to the Gold Rush, and while there isn't anything left of our old Chinatown or Japantown, many moved to Southside and Richmond Grove (and some were already there.) There are a couple of neighborhood places definitely worth checking out, like the Osaka-ya mochi place on 10th Street, and probably the last Chinese market in the grid on 16th and T. There are frequent cultural bazaars and events, including the city's best farmer's market on the south edge of Southside Park under Highway 50. These neighborhoods are also close to the Broadway corridor, which features an amazingly diverse selection of restaurants, ranging from more prosaic Chinese buffets and burger joints to Ethiopian, Thai, multiple dim sum places, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, California cuisine, and more.

2. Midtown Manhattan is a cheaper option than decent areas of San Francisco. Sacramento is laughably cheap compared to San Francisco.

3. San Francisco is 2 hours away via Capitol Corridor trains (you can hop the Gold Line light rail directly to the train station.) Los Angeles is a longer trip--5-6 hours via the San Joaquin to Bakersfield and a 2 hour bus ride over the Grapevine, or 14 hours on the once-per-day Coast Starlight (which is worth it for the scenic views of the California coast, but not recommended if you're in a hurry.) But there are commuter flights out of Sacramento International Airport, you take Yolobus from downtown to get to the airport or an airport shuttle.

[projectmaximus]

Sweet. I really appreciate all the awesome advice! This is probably a few years out but I know my wife absolutely must move back to Cali at least for some time and I would enjoy that as well. We have lots of family and friends in both LA and SF that we'd like to spend more time with, experience a change of scenery, and enjoy awesome Asian food again. But if Sacramento can meet our top priorities and at a cheaper price point, it should be under consideration as well. We will see how things play out.

Thanks again!!

[existant]

To me the whole central city grid is very walkable, but the moment you walk under a freeway or over a bridge it's basically car dependent suburbia. I was really disappointed with East Sacramento... I felt like the only pedestrian in a sea of cars. Though there are some businesses worth walking to or taking transit to get to that are close to the central city area. (Target, Fedex, USPS, Trader Joes, the co-op, etc.)

[WizardOfRadical]

The central city core is walkable. Vibrant might be a stretch depending on where you are coming from.

Compared to SF and LA it is a cowtown.

[pistola916]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

The central city core is walkable. Vibrant might be a stretch depending on where you are coming from.

Compared to SF and LA it is a cowtown.

Compared to Fresno and Bakersfield, its a metropolis.