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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