Another city is sending residents Sacramento’s way (Spoiler: It’s not just SF)

[pepper steak]

Saying that UC Davis is not in Sacramento is not shitting on Sacramento.

[homebucket]

It seems like some people are missing the point of this thread. It's not an announcement that Sac is some emerging global alpha city ready to take a seat at the big table with SF and LA. It's that as the 6th largest metro in CA, it's an increasingly attractive alternative to those priced out of the increasingly unaffordable Bay Area, as well as those coming from out of state (Chicago and Seattle) seeking job prospects and/or a California lifestyle. Good weather, chill vibes, year round access to world class outdoor attractions, top tier university (UC Davis), great food scene with its proximity to farms and Wine Country, craft beer and coffee.

It provides 90% of the lifestyle at 50-60% of the price. Certainly, there are plenty of even more affordable and more urban metros outside of California. But again, that's not the point. It's basically turning into Bay Area lite at this point, for better or worse. I'm sure not all the native Sacramentans are not pleased with all the pretentious Bay Areans transplants arriving in their Teslas and pricing them out. I believe the Sac MSA was the only major metro in CA to post double digit growth rates from 2010-2020 at +11.6%.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by pepper steak

Saying that UC Davis is not in Sacramento is not shitting on Sacramento.

The UCD Medical Center is, but that's not what you said. The "new" posters that act like they have been here for years...it never ends well for them.

Originally Posted by pepper steak

16 miles of absolutely nothing lol. I'd hardly count that as being "in the metro"

Fun fact: The South Campus of UC Davis is located in Solano county, which is the Bay Area. Technically UC Davis is in the Sacramento and Bay Area metros .

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Most of the students live in Davis and bike to campus.

I'm aware, but I bet a lot of grad students/faculty/staff would like the option to not be in undergradville and also not have to drive or a relatively long bike ride. The capitol corridor exists but it's pretty infrequent, though I guess they could add local service if there is capacity... (I bet there's not).

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Why would the city slogan matter? Is Detroit really "Super City USA"? Is Nashville really a "Magic City"?

And I've been there, and never noticed anything unique re. trees. Again, there's no way Sacramento has some globally unique tree canopy.

Also, there's nothing in that study that supports the claim, unless the new claim is that "Sacramento has a lot of trees, possibly more than Paris", which has nothing to do with the original claim.

I've never heard of Nashville being referred to as "Magic City," but there is a really cool steakhouse/cocktail bar there called House of Cards where they perform live magic at your table. lol

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by homebucket

It seems like some people are missing the point of this thread. It's not an announcement that Sac is some emerging global alpha city ready to take a seat at the big table with SF and LA. It's that as the 6th largest metro in CA, it's an increasingly attractive alternative to those priced out of the increasingly unaffordable Bay Area, as well as those coming from out of state (Chicago and Seattle) seeking job prospects and/or a California lifestyle. Good weather, chill vibes, year round access to world class outdoor attractions, top tier university (UC Davis), great food scene with its proximity to farms and Wine Country, craft beer and coffee.

It provides 90% of the lifestyle at 50-60% of the price. Certainly, there are plenty of even more affordable and more urban metros outside of California. But again, tat's not the point. It's basically turning into Bay Area lite at this point, for better or worse. I'm sure not all the native Sacramentans are not pleased with all the pretentious Bay Areans transplants arriving in their Teslas and pricing them out. I believe the Sac MSA was the only major metro in CA to post double digit growth rates from 2010-2020 at +11.6%.

If one looks the big picture, it seems Sacramento is actually slowing down and converging to San Francisco:

Sacramento (MSA)
1960: 74.3%
1970: 28.9%
1980: 30.2%
1990: 34.7%
2000: 21.3%
2010: 19.6%
2020: 11.6%

San Francisco (10-county)
1960: 35.5%
1970: 27.6%
1980: 13.0%
1990: 16.6%
2000: 12.6%
2010: 5.3%
2020: 8.4%

It seems just another article taking assumptions based on short-term trends (or made up ones) like that other one proclaiming the sudden end of big cities.

Originally Posted by homebucket

Sacramento is also home to a top 75 global university (and in the top 10 among public US universities) in UC Davis. UC Davis Medical Center is also one of the top hospitals in the country. I'm not sure there are many (if any) 500k metros in Europe and Asia that can claim that.

Given reputable universities can be found in small cities: Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Princeton, Yale, etc., I don't think that's a good metric at all.

Stand at the core of a 500k (or a 800k - 1 million, it might be a hyperbole from my part) city in Europe or South America or Asia with those 2.5 million people in the US (Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Orlando, San Antonio) and you feel they're a busier, crowded with people walking around on their streets. In the US, they're basically a small Downtown surrounded by endless low-dense suburbs.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by TWAK

Whut? The Sacramento–Roseville-Folsom MSA includes Yolo county, the county which Davis and West Sacramento are in. There's wetlands and flood bypass between the two cities (Sac & Davis) and are 10 miles apart. If people have almost no clue about the area they are trying to disparage...don't talk about it.

It's not like 16 miles is a huge distance. That's considered a short commute in some parts! And Davis is just about about as close as you can physically be to Sacramento in the western direction.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by JManc

I've been to 500k metro areas in Europe and Asia, they definitely don't feel bigger than an American metro 5x the size. Denser and older, sure.

Yeah same here. I've been in 500k metros in Europe that felt like a backwater, even if it had a cute picture postcard downtown. In Asia 500k is basically a small town. You could walk across it in an hour. It's a very small and limiting "on the ground" experience, almost claustrophobic.

Definitely feels nothing like a modern American metro in the 2m+ range. Cities like Las Vegas, Austin and Sacramento can all feel huge and expansive in their own way. Totally different scale of city.

[urbanadvocate]

The thing I have learned is that people that like to put down Sacramento (usually people from the west coast coastal cities) already have their mind made up about their opinion of the city. The city can be lined with gold and they will still see something negative to support their mostly false claims. It is never constructive and there is absolutely no reason to even partake in a conversation with them. Personally I think it is insecurity on their end (or their heads are so stuck up you know where, that they can't really open their eyes and see).

Can't talk constructively with people that think they live in a city or region that the rest of the country is salivating to live in--they are delusional to the fact that their belief is completely false. No not everyone wants to live in SF, LA or SD. Deal with it.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by urbanadvocate

The thing I have learned is that people that like to put down Sacramento (usually people from the west coast coastal cities) already have their mind made up about their opinion of the city. The city can be lined with gold and they will still see something negative to support their mostly false claims. It is never constructive and there is absolutely no reason to even partake in a conversation with them. Personally I think it is insecurity on their end (or their heads are so stuck up you know where, that they can't really open their eyes and see).

Either that or they are angry at me for something I said in the CE (bossa). The good thing is they are easy to counter or disprove, like the diversity of Sactown. If nobody else wants to son his posts (about sac) then I'll do it lol.

Can't talk constructively with people that think they live in a city or region that the rest of the country is salivating to live in--they are delusional to the fact that their belief is completely false. No not everyone wants to live in SF, LA or SD. Deal with it.

Sac might have something EVERBODY wants. I'm not puffing or being a homer, I'm serious. Have any of your heard of another city being accused of being in the Midwest?

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

Funny how an ''urban'' forum is praising this place, it's one of the most pedestrian hostile and least urban places I've ever been that claims to be a city. Aside from being designed to be overtly hostile to pedestrians, the urban camping villages, or homeless encampments if you're not enlightened, make it difficult to move about throughout the downtown and adjacent areas. I'll let this slide though, the local population has voted in favor of allowing this, and therefore likes having crack den tents strewn about their city. This is possibly the only ''Californian'' feel about Sacramento, aside from the palm trees.

You live in Los Angeles which is Spanish for you need a car which like most of the Bay Area is pedestrian hostile and loaded with the homeless. I'm new here but Sacramento didn't stroke me as less "California" as the coasts because it's not on the coast. Doesn't at all feel Midwest.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by JManc

You live in Los Angeles which is Spanish for you need a car which like most of the Bay Area is pedestrian hostile and loaded with the homeless. I'm new here but Sacramento didn't stroke me as less "California" as the coasts because it's not on the coast. Doesn't at all feel Midwest.

Not to turn this into a competition, but somebody from LA complaining about homelessness? Sac is working on it and just bought a warehouse to hold them. Sac city and county have been clearing encampments and setting up properties to house them. LA? Whining.
Bossa is angry at me and that's why, but these subforums are not the place for it. That protection afforded to posters here is not present in the CE, which...well you guys know what I do .
I could refute every paragraph and the diversity one already has been.

[destroycreate]

Yeah really not sure why Sacramento is getting so much hate here, it's gross and unnecessary.

Also drives me crazy that someone could say that the city is not diverse. It's actually considered one the most diverse AND most integrated cities in the US.

[Yuri]

Because is it a sprawl nightmare and most people like densities here? On the other hand, the “love” is all about local boosterism.

[Crawford]

I've only passed through Sacramento, but don't get the hate. It doesn't seem to have great urbanity, but doesn't seem bad for American standards. The older, urban neighborhoods look pretty nice, and the downtown seems intact and OK.

U.S. state capitols tend to be boring places. Inland CA is pretty sprawly/Sunbelty. In this context, not sure how Sacramento looks bad. Looks like a typical all-American, anonymous type place, which is why some call it "Midwestern". Not in that it feels like Cleveland, but rather it doesn't fit the California metropolitan stereotypes (celebrities, Hollywood, tech, innovation, beach, pricey, weird) and looks not that different from mid-sized cities elsewhere.

[iheartthed]

Demographics and palm trees aside, what part of major metro California doesn't look like the Midwest? lol

[urbanadvocate]

Originally Posted by Yuri

Because is it a sprawl nightmare and most people like densities here? On the other hand, the “love” is all about local boosterism.

Which west coast city outside of the inner bay area isn't sprawl?? We get it you are uninformed and have an OBSESSION with Sacramento. Move on.

[aufbau]

Originally Posted by Yuri

Because is it a sprawl nightmare and most people like densities here? On the other hand, the “love” is all about local boosterism.

It's sprawly but I like the place personally. And urban development/densification in overlooked cities like Sacramento is why I keep coming back to this forum after so many years, in spite of the endless close-loop discussions about the usual handful of cities here on SSP.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Demographics and palm trees aside, what part of major metro California doesn't look like the Midwest? lol

I lost track of how many times film crews came to Orange (especially the traffic circle) to use it as a stand-in for somewhere in the Midwest when I lived there.

All you need to do is make sure no palm trees (or the Santa Ana Mountains) appear in the shot...

[bossabreezes]

Originally Posted by JManc

You live in Los Angeles which is Spanish for you need a car which like most of the Bay Area is pedestrian hostile and loaded with the homeless. I'm new here but Sacramento didn't stroke me as less "California" as the coasts because it's not on the coast. Doesn't at all feel Midwest.

And your point is? I'm not allowed to point out the sprawling nature of Sacramento because I live in another sprawling city? I didn't personally plan either one of these places, but I have every right to point out their flaws.

Sacramento is committing the same exact mistakes that LA committed 60,70 years ago right now. It is sprawling outward and not making a real effort to consolidate urbanistically. In a state with a housing crisis, I damn well think that needs to be pointed out and maybe even critiqued. If Sac continues its growth the way it's doing it now, I give it 10 years until it is prohibitively expensive and no longer looked at as an alternative to expensive coastal cities.

If I'm not allowed to point that out on an Urban advocacy forum, I guess the boosterism is more important than accepting reality for what it is.