What are the pros and cons of living in Sacramento? (San Jose: 2013, credit)

[sacramento916]

Originally Posted by CeJeH

While I do agree that midtown probably isn't the greatest place to raise young children I disagree that it is lacking in decent people.

Keep in mind you are dealing with a judgemental, holier than thou, "good churchgoing folk".



Midtown has the MOST interesting people in all the Sac Region. Roseville and Folsom has got the most boring people in the region.

[wburg]

It also attracts the interesting people who live in Roseville and Folsom, who come downtown to hang out with us non-decent types whenever they have the opportunity. Some of them even get together at the central city's great plethora of churches (although some might consider their wide variety of faiths, and high level of ecumenical tolerance, to be a net minus.) I have a feeling they feel more welcome when they come to Midtown than when we go to Roseville or Folsom. Not that those places don't have their high points--quiet, good schools, lots of parking.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by wburg

It also attracts the interesting people who live in Roseville and Folsom, who come downtown to hang out with us non-decent types whenever they have the opportunity. Some of them even get together at the central city's great plethora of churches (although some might consider their wide variety of faiths, and high level of ecumenical tolerance, to be a net minus.) I have a feeling they feel more welcome when they come to Midtown than when we go to Roseville or Folsom. Not that those places don't have their high points--quiet, good schools, lots of parking.

Well as someone who grew up in Granite Bay I can say that before Galleria and the Fountians opened, it seemed most people from Sac County came to placer county with the simple intent of causing trouble. Now of course they go to shop.

Come by, spend all your money, and go back where you came from. Very much the same ethos that people have in midtown.

[wburg]

I still only go to Placer County to cause trouble, so maybe you've got a point there.

[sacramento916]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

Well as someone who grew up in Granite Bay I can say that before Galleria and the Fountians opened, it seemed most people from Sac County came to placer county with the simple intent of causing trouble. Now of course they go to shop.

Come by, spend all your money, and go back where you came from. Very much the same ethos that people have in midtown.

The Fountains get old after 30 minutes.

Roseville is just boring plain old vanilla.

Unless its for business, I probably head out to Roseville twice a year. There is nothing to interest me there. I don't even buy commercial brand names, so nope, nothing interesting, nothing intellectually stimulating.

[caligirlz]

A couple of things I really like:
- the large variety of independent coffee shops, centered mainly in midtown, although there are some in the outlying suburbs as well
- the views, when I drive home from EDH every day, I absolutely love the view from Hwy 50 at the Carpenter Hill rise, and from the hillside in Folsom where I live...I can see all the way out across the valley to the mountains on the other side. It is absolutely gorgeous. I also love the view driving into downtown from the airport or from Davis...especially at night.
- the fitness culture...something for nearly everyone, inside, outside, cycling, marathons, corporate gyms, independent/neighborhood gyms, pilates, community pools, Folsom Lake, the American River Trail, etc
- the Folsom (bike & pedestrian) trail system that interlaces every neighborhood and connects to the American River Trail
- the people, every culture, education, etc ....all kinds of interesting people in every community
- plenty of good, independent restaurants, even in the suburbs
- the mild weather, there are the usual seasonal changes but not the extremes I am used to


A couple of things I don't like:
- mainly the traffic, rude/stupid drivers, drivers on cell phones, drivers who don't use their turn signals or who race to cut in front of you only to slow down to a crawl, soceer mom drivers
- the freeway system (with the addition of insecure or rude drivers), some of the merging lanes/freeways create giagantic traffic jams, the HOV lanes that anyone can drive in & out of at any time, narrow 2-3 lane freeways, lack of crossings over the American River, lack of cross town freeways
- the crowds, even at the grocery store during daytime hours
- pine tree dust, especially in the areas with tree canopies

[WesternPilgrim]

Originally Posted by caligirlz

A couple of things I really like:
- the large variety of independent coffee shops, centered mainly in midtown, although there are some in the outlying suburbs as well
- the views, when I drive home from EDH every day, I absolutely love the view from Hwy 50 at the Carpenter Hill rise, and from the hillside in Folsom where I live...I can see all the way out across the valley to the mountains on the other side. It is absolutely gorgeous. I also love the view driving into downtown from the airport or from Davis...especially at night.
- the fitness culture...something for nearly everyone, inside, outside, cycling, marathons, corporate gyms, independent/neighborhood gyms, pilates, community pools, Folsom Lake, the American River Trail, etc
- the Folsom (bike & pedestrian) trail system that interlaces every neighborhood and connects to the American River Trail
- the people, every culture, education, etc ....all kinds of interesting people in every community
- plenty of good, independent restaurants, even in the suburbs
- the mild weather, there are the usual seasonal changes but not the extremes I am used to


A couple of things I don't like:
- mainly the traffic, rude/stupid drivers, drivers on cell phones, drivers who don't use their turn signals or who race to cut in front of you only to slow down to a crawl, soceer mom drivers
- the freeway system (with the addition of insecure or rude drivers), some of the merging lanes/freeways create giagantic traffic jams, the HOV lanes that anyone can drive in & out of at any time, narrow 2-3 lane freeways, lack of crossings over the American River, lack of cross town freeways
- the crowds, even at the grocery store during daytime hours
- pine tree dust, especially in the areas with tree canopies

You have proven your Sacramento credentials. Great list!

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by WesternPilgrim

You have proven your Sacramento credentials. Great list!

Thanks! And after only living here for 6 years. Seriously, my dislike list used to be much longer, but I've had a huge attitude adjustment and I really could not come up with too much more that I really didn't like. Oh wait, I thought of something else.....
- the underlying seediness & corruption that permeates everything government, probably has something to do being the state capitol (reminds me of Eph 6:12)
- along with a real antagonist attitude towards people who have different beliefs...it's really most evident, not only on annonymous forums, but in the community as well... I'm thinking some of the confrontational public protests
- a coldness towards strangers, most people in public places will not look the people they pass in the eye...could be on the street, at a grocery store, at a gym. Many people seem to be very self absorbed or perhaps afraid. I know I didn't desire to catch the eye of a disheveled, shaky person on 20th & J, and ignored them, especially when I had to step over them to open the front door to the office, when I worked down there. I do find the suburbs to be much more friendly but only in certain settings, and I find that if I take the initiative then others are likely to respond. It's all about one's attitude.

[wburg]

All of those things seem pretty universal--I can't think of too many places where politics aren't associated with corruption, just like big business. It's just money and power--maybe we need a new Progressive Era? 100 years ago, Sacramento was the epicenter of the west coast's move to clean up government and big business.

Antagonistic attitudes towards people with different beliefs, again, that's pretty universal, but as places go, we're not particularly bad in that department. Heck, a Protestant congregation in Midtown that is losing their church was recently invited to hold Easter service at a Moslem mosque near ARC. There are still bits of intolerance left scattered about the region, but we have a pretty good track record of overcoming those obstacles. Public protests locally only became a problem when folks from out of town showed up--the local Occupy folks wanted to have their say and be heard, not wreck stuff.

And a coldness towards strangers is an adaptation you kind of pick up in any place with a lot of people--and if you are the one trying not to make eye contact with the disheveled person on 20th and J, it sounds like you're the one who has become cold, but are perhaps not so happy about it. The tendency of people, especially in crowd situations, to ignore someone in crisis or not help (until someone steps out first) is universal and pretty well-documented. I find the suburbs a little less comfortable in that respect, and Midtown moreso, but perhaps that comfort is due to personal familiarity rather than a difference in people's behavior?

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by sacramento916

The Fountains get old after 30 minutes.

Roseville is just boring plain old vanilla.

Unless its for business, I probably head out to Roseville twice a year. There is nothing to interest me there. I don't even buy commercial brand names, so nope, nothing interesting, nothing intellectually stimulating.

You can hate on Roseville all you want. There is no denying the fact that the Fountains-Galleria-AutoMall is the premier upscale shopping destination for Sacto. Many people from Sac county drive to shop there... just to be around a more clean cut crowd. I've heard a lot of people allude to this in one way or another.

It's funny, Midtown, East Sac, Curtis Park, Land Park, Marshall School, Boulevard Park, and New Era Park are all places that are just as white and in some cases more white than Roseville. Yuppies come in and gentrify a place into an avant-garde whiteopia (Trader Joes, Starbucks, and organic, oh my) and then lambaste increasingly diverse suburbia as "Vanilla".


With exception to the Newton Booth neighborhood, if you live in Central City Sac and you are east of 19th Street you are not in a very diverse area-relative to the rest of the city. West of 19th-completely different ball game.


Sac might have the bulk of the cultural amenities but the big chunk of the population leaves something to be desired as far as intellectual stimulation goes. At least for me. Especially when compared to places like Davis, Roseville, Folsom, Granite Bay, etc..