When my lease is up in August I plan on moving from North Carolina to somewhere in or around Sacramento. I am curious as to how good the public transportation is in Sacramento. I lived in Chicago for over 20 years and grew very accustomed to not having to use a car while living there. I am also curious about neighborhoods that are more downtown than outlying suburbs. Any information will be appreciated. Thank you.
Possibly moving to Sacramento?
19
Mar
Roy
March 19, 2010 at 1:39 am
Downtown Sacramento is a little more like a cross between an old time downtown tree studded area than a downtown Chicago or San Francisco. In terms of “hustle and bustle” it is nothing like Chicago and probably even nothing like downtown Raleigh. The majority of business in downtown Sac is state and federal offices which becomes deserted on weekends and evenings. On the periphery is more of the small “happening” places of downtown mixed with old well kept houses, apartments and a few larger modern apartments. It’s very easy to get around the “downtown” area on foot or a bike and since the public transportation is concentrated there, you can get to most conveniences by bus or light rail.
That being said, the shopping meccas and national chain stores are mostly in the outlying suburbs. You can get to most of them by public transportation, but not much else unless it is “exactly” along those “spokes” as the public transportation is very poor in terms of connecting the “spokes” outside of downtown. You gotta have a car if you want to do stuff out there. San Francisco is a very fun day trip without a car. You can take Amtrak from downtown Sac and connect to BART into the city and have a great time without a car.
If you live in the suburbs, you really must have a car and will be using it everywhere.
Max Hoopla
March 19, 2010 at 1:50 am
Public transportation is pretty good but about to get worse because of budget cuts. If you don’t have a job lined up, stay where you are.