My wife and I are considering a move to Sac.  Currently, we live out East.  The cost of living is cheaper.  The weather changes with the seasons (ie: hot, humid summers, cold snowy winters).  Real Estate is affordable (ie: 1400 square foot home we got for $150,000...with a big yard).

Why would we be considering this move?  She's up for a job that may be quite a big deal. 

I have a few questions for the Sac locals because I've read a few other sites and they basically all say something different.  Some websites say that Sacramento is a clean, safe, fun city with a lot of culture and activities.  Other websites say that Sacramento is a dirty, dangerous/violent city where if you are looking for anything past dinner and a movie, you'll be bored.

If you have lived elsewhere...and moved to Sac, what did you love and what did you hate? 

What are some reasons that you may tell us to stay where we are?

What do you think are the greatest things about Sac?

I know real estate is outrageous in price, but what else is shockingly expensive in Sac? 

Also, if you are feeling creative, finish this sentence..."As an outsider moving to Sac, you will notice that the locals........"

I hope to get a lot of help as this would be a BIG move for my wife and I.

Carl

I'm a San Francisco native that moved out here to Sactown 3.5 years ago, and I have to say that I don't regret a thing. Of course, San Francisco is a great world class city and Sacramento is a smaller city, it's like comparing apples to oranges. But believe it or not, Sacramento is actually considered a cheap place to live compared to SF. Also, living here, you get the advantages of living in a smaller city such as being able to find parking, knowing people around the community and less pretentious people, but you also get the advantages of living in a diverse metropolitan area such as places of culture, nightlife, nice restaurants, etc.

Of course everyone is subjective, for me, I like Sacramento for its history, diversity and its rapid growth and opportunities. As a new business owner, this is a great place to grow, and there are many opportunities opening up here. As a Chinese American, Sacramento's history is meaningful to me as our community has roots here since the mid-19th century. There are many great places to go for dancing, nightlife, there are nice clubs that can match the best you will find in the bay area. The restaurants are the same too, there are many great ones to choose from. When I compare Sacramento to the bay area, I would say that the choices are definitely less in Sacramento, but the quality of the best here are right up there with the best in the Bay Area, LA or anywhere else.

Hope this helps.

One thing you might like about Sacramento is that the weather does change with the seasons: hot, HOT dry summers, cold crisp winters but it only snows about once every 10-15 years. You'll never have to shovel snow off of your driveway.

As mentioned above, Sacramento is expensive compared to much of the nation, but is the cheapest urban area in California. We're also not that expensive compared to eastern cities of comparable or larger size.

One thing that should be made clear, if you've never been to a western city, is that they are VERY VERY VERY spread out (except for San Francisco.) Sacramento covers an area of about 100 square miles with a population of about half a million. Downtown and the closer-in old neighborhoods are fairly dense but with lots of trees, and pretty good public transit. The suburbs are pretty much flat, spread out, and cars are a necessity. If it isn't clear from this already, I like downtown better. It's also where you find Sacramento's history, its great architecture, and the vast majority of its culture.

Sacramento actually has a *lot*more going on than meets the eye. Typically once you have been around and know where to look there are a lot of things to do, but they aren't always easy to find. If you're the sort of person who can't be bothered to make a little effort to go find fun things to do, San Francisco is that way (points southwest.)

fk310: I'm just talking about the Sacramento city limits itself, not the overall region--just the city limits of Sacramento, in their current form, cover about 100 square miles, twice the size of San Francisco. Generally I try not to think about the suburbs if I can help it.