Pros and Cons of Moving to Sacramento
by Alex Cosper, October 6, 2015

I was born in Sacramento and lived there most of my life, although as of 2015 I live in the San Diego area. Why would I leave such a wonderful place that was my hometown, where I went to school and had a successful career in radio? Well, there's only so much to do in California's capital and if you have a lot of ambition, there are better places in the state to be inspired.

First let me say that I wouldn't have a problem living in Sacramento for the rest of my life if I were retired. It's a nice quiet town that doesn't really have much hassles. The weather usually gets hot in the summertime (100+ degree temps), but the trade-off is you don't have to worry about snow, hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes. It's a city that's generally free of natural disasters except occasional flooding.

Downtown is supposed to be where the action is, but the truth is, most of the action that the people outside the city hear about is at the State Capitol, for those who pay attention. While the city has been famous for a handful of actors like Tom Hanks and Jane Sibbett, who played on the TV series Friends, it's more known for polticians than any entertainment stars.

Sac State is a decent university. I got my communications degree there in 1984, which led to my career in radio. I learned a lot there and would recommend it to young people who prefer the more affordable route to higher education. UC Davis is about 20 minutes away from Downtown for students exploring fields such as tech and medicine.

Overall, Sacramento is an affordable place to live compared with most of the rest of the state. It's also easy to get around, as the street layout is sensible. As far as opportunities, about a third of the workforce is government-related. I've never thought of it as the ideal place for entrepreneurs. When I grew up in the area back in the 1970s it had a lot of mom and pop businesses, but by the late 80s there were corporate strip malls everywhere.

There really isn't a substantial art scene or any type of amazing culture there. But if you like history, there are interesting museums, since it was the center of historic development for the railroad industry and the gold rush. Some of the key landmarks include Tower Theatre (where Tower Records began), Old Sacramento, Cal Expo (site of the State Fair) and Discovery Park (where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet).

If I were to pick a reason for moving back to Sacramento, it would be that it's full of beautiful parks, from William Land Park to McKinley Park to various parks along the American River, where there are nice bike trails.



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