Is Sacramento a boring city? (San Jose, Oakland: amusement park, condo, credit)

[Casportsfan]

To address your question, it really depends on what your definition of "boring" is.

I believe Sac gets a reputation for being boring due to the fact that the economy is centered around government jobs. This in turn leads to an underdeveloped downtown business district, which in turn leads to fewer downtown venders and a slower feel. Nobody is working on the weekends here, there is zero traffic downtown, and there is no "hustle and bustle".

Another reason for the slower feel is the underdeveloped wharf/harbor area. Most major metropolitan river or bayside cities such as Portland or San Francisco have a developed and thriving harbor area with people walking around and brousing novelty stores, streetside musicians trying to make a buck, etc. Sacramento, in turn, has a small strip in "Old Sac". There is also another area west of downtown towards Arco arena with a couple restaurants and a boat docking station, but in all honesty it's not much.

The attitude of the residents is anti-anything that will promote the city. For example, a new arena was proposed the the Kings NBA basketball team, to be built downtown. The proposal also included increased development on the wharf area, and a new walkway around the river. The proposal got turned down due to a quarter cent proposed sales tax increase. This type of anti-betterment attitude keeps the city feeling as a slugish, boring area.

Take a look at archived sites on the net for proposed downtown condos, and you'll see this attitude amplified in comments left on any newspaper site. Beautiful 40+ condos that were being proposed during the real estate boom were shot down with comments such as "people don't need that or want that here", or "it'll never work, what an idiot for trying", etc.

To someone like me, a huge downtown condo building, development riverfront, and a downtown stadium makes the city feel, how can I say, more metorpolitan and exciting? Another way of saying less boring.

That being said, if you are looking for culture, coffee shops, restaurants, music, and nightlife, there are literally a million and one places to go here. Everytime I venture out on foot I find some neat little store in midtown tucked away in an old building that I didn't know existed before. If you are looking for lightlife, there is plenty of it and plenty of places to find it.

In short, the attitude of the people here, when combined with the local economy, is what probably the genesis of the "boring" feel of the city.

[wburg]

The Measure Q&R Kings arena plan didn't include wharf improvements. Half of the sales tax increase was supposed to pay for a new Kings arena, the other half was for unspecified improvements--they didn't actually say what they were going to do with the money.

Part of why people voted against it was because they didn't see the point in taxing themselves to build a free arena for the Kings' owners, the Maloof brothers. The fact that the Maloofs were featured in a Carl's Jr. ad showing them tearing around Vegas in limos, guzzling expensive wine and hamburgers with call-girls, just before the election that decided Measure Q&R, didn't help:


YouTube - Carl's Jr. Burger advert with Maloof Bros.

It basically made them look like arrogant, spoiled rich jerks who expected the people of Sacramento to give them half a billion dollars' worth of their tax money for the privilege of their continued presence. To make matters worse, they didn't even make a public effort to support the bill.

To sum up, the people of Sacramento were asked to give half a billion dollars to arrogant billionaires, and half a billion for some unspecified purposes. To Sacramento's credit, they flushed the idea down the toilet, which is where such things belong.

Our waterfront was a bustling port and factory area along the riverfront, and we had a pretty lively nightclub district too--until Interstate 5 and the Capitol Mall projects demolished all of that back in the 1950s and 1960s. Sacramento basically made a huge effort to make itself more boring.

You are correct, though, in that there is actually a heck of a lot to do around here, especially in Midtown but it can be kind of tough to find it.

[theredmonkey]

Originally Posted by Mach50

Bad crime, so that does that mean there is a lot of racial tension with hispanics and black people there?

We are an educated liberal hispanic american family, do you see that being a problem there?

I agree with the TOO liberal places..San Fran and Boulder are too liberal for us, we have tried.

There is some racial tension everywhere but its pretty laid back in Sac. Its not like Colorado. Sac is actually mostly identified as conservative however its more the fiscal conservative and are socially middle of the road. Its a good town and being a government and college town the economy is more stable here. Stay out of the bad areas and you will be fine.

There is lots to do here. From monster truck rallies to great art on the Second Saturday walks downtown. It really depends on what you want to do. Since I moved here from Monterey the town has gotten better. Every talks about how great Monterey is but it gets boring when you live there as well.

For kids I am not sure since I don't have any but there is the discovery museum and lots of historic sites in and around Sacramento. That's the stuff I liked as a kid.

[ram1424]

I lived in Sacramento for nearly 10 years. I immigrated here from Russia back in 2001. To me this is extremely boring city, I'm actually packing my bags and moving to NYC. To one person this might be a good fun city, but to a 20 year old like me its boring.

[bluevelo]

I moved here in 2007 and I think its a good combination of about everything most people would want. I'm from Des Moines, went to school in Iowa City, and over the last 20 years I've lived very short-term in Sioux Falls, SD, the Twin Cities in MN, and at least six months in Dayton, OH, Indianapolis, IN, metro DC (Fairfax and then Fredericksburg) and Richmond, and Jackson, MS until now.

I think Sac has far more stuff to offer than nearly all of those places except the Twin Cities and DC in terms of 'stuff to do' but its climate and proximity to the ocean - even if its too cold to swim in, there are tons of free beaches free of rich people's condos - as well as the Sierras, Yosemite, hot springs everywhere, one of the most bike friendly large cities aside from Portland (Davis and Boulder are college towns and really don't count, in my view, as what 'bike friendly' means in a large city context). We have mild winters, and yeah, it gets hot in the summer, and AQ can suck, but we don't have as many bad air days as most of this country has crappy winter, fall and early spring days. Between April and October, it doesn't RAIN - and we have clear or mostly clear skies that entire time.

Many here have already mentioned Midtown and the suburbs, but you've got the urban lifestyle for people that want it -at reasonable prices - and the 'burbs for people that want that.

Yeah, we have gangs and crime, but that crap is everywhere and Sac is like any other city - there are parts of it you need to stay out of, but unlike Oakland, you don't have to leave the ENTIRE city after dark!

[ktice]

The air quality is some of the worst in the country, Sac got an F on an EPA air quality list.

Most areas in the sprawl are dangerous and getting worse.

Midtown is nice, has alot of the "big city" amenities but in a one-horse-town kind of way. The Crocker museum is good but donesn't get the type of shows that will make you go back.

The summers are the reason most people give for leaving that I've known. Much, much too hot. There is stuff to do outdoors but in the summer you will run from AC area to AC area.

Also, visit in the spring to see if you have allerigies b/c if you do you don't want to live here. (Take it from me).

[ram1424]

Originally Posted by ktice

The air quality is some of the worst in the country, Sac got an F on an EPA air quality list.

Most areas in the sprawl are dangerous and getting worse.

Midtown is nice, has alot of the "big city" amenities but in a one-horse-town kind of way. The Crocker museum is good but donesn't get the type of shows that will make you go back.

The summers are the reason most people give for leaving that I've known. Much, much too hot. There is stuff to do outdoors but in the summer you will run from AC area to AC area.

Also, visit in the spring to see if you have allerigies b/c if you do you don't want to live here. (Take it from me).

it goes well over 100 here in summer. Just wait until june, july you'll be frying

[Jimbo15]

Its not that cities are interesting or boring as much as the individuals themselves who are interesting or boring. Generally the people who complain about being bored have trouble finding productive things to occupy themselves. But my experience has been that if you pursue anything in enough depth, someone will find something interesting in it.

[parklifemedia]

I currently live in Los Angeles in a modernist house (creative class capital Silver Lake). I've lived in San Francisco (marina district) and New York (Lower East Side)... I fantasize about moving to Sacramento, (grew up mostly there) and driving around a Range Rover and being a "baller." I'm not sure this fantasy would work, but if I spent as much as I spent on my current life there, it would appear that I could get lots of women... The girls in Sacramento are generally the same if not prettier than the girls in LA, and they aren't looking for a guy that makes 500,000 a year, well that's how I remember it..... I'm happily married and stylish, but a bored guy can dream.

I also miss Zelda's Pizza.

[cityx]

Originally Posted by ram1424

I lived in Sacramento for nearly 10 years. I immigrated here from Russia back in 2001. To me this is extremely boring city, I'm actually packing my bags and moving to NYC. To one person this might be a good fun city, but to a 20 year old like me its boring.

Better yet - maybe you should move back to Russia where you came from and stop complaining. You should be grateful you were even allowed to immigrate to this country.