I lived there in the early 80's and worked downtown. It's a great town! It could only have gotten better. I lived in Citrus Heights and took the bus - very convenient. Good nightlife and outdoors activities.

Dan,
I've lived in the area since '62 and seen Sac grow from a 1 horse town to a 2 horse town almost overnight.

Like any other city of it's size, it has it's problems but nothing really severe.

Here's the site of the local glossy that should help you out a bit:
http://www.sacmag.com/

Very good restaurants...Don't know what type of nightlife you are looking for, but it's there. Not a SF, LA or NYC, but it's there.

The main prob. you do have to look into is the commute to your job, especially if it's in downtown Sac.

The routes from the 'burbs to Sac, I-80, I-5 and Hwy 50 are usually jammin, with no relief in sight. The buses big boy mentions are still stuck in the same traffic but at least you'd be doing your part!

I've been a tele-commuter for 3 yrs now.
No traffic jams coming down the hallway.
But it's hell for me during "Bike to Work Week". ;^D

The selling point you always hear about Sac is an hour to the Bay Area and an hour to the Sierra.

And, BTW, do you like heat?
Kal

If you currently have no young'uns to educate you should consider living closer to downtown where you would find more action. While the 'burbs have some things going on, there are definitly more choices downtown. Many small local theaters, 2 larger ones B street and Sacramento Theater Company. Memmorial Auditorium was refurbished and now has some entertainment. Community Center is much larger now and has improved the look of downtown. Lots of good eating on J street, Capital, anything run by Randy Paragary. Lot's of people employed by the state but many large companies in the outskirts, NEC, HP, Intel.
If you let us know what you like as far as eats and housing we could be more helpful too.

We relocated from PA to the Sacramento area 5 years ago. If you like sports, we have Arco Arena with the Kings basketball, River Cat's Baseball (two year old stadium - very great for a summer night), college communites of Sac State (football) and UC Davis. We hosted Olympic Track Trials (super!) Also, fishing/boating on rivers, Folsom Lake, new Ice Hockey Arena in Roseville, Soccer, Volleyball Adult leagues, to name a few.

As previous poster said, if you are single, you may want to consider the downtown area to live in to reduce commute but you will be faced with the inner city problems (crime, few apts) The new master planned communities (Roseville, Rocklin, Elk Grove) offer great family living and luxury apartments but come with no nightlife and the daily commute if you are working in Sac. Let us know more specifics of where you will be working (location) and we can give you more tips. The summers are hot, but you can escape to Tahoe and visit there, as well in the winter for snow activities. Our winters are mild, never going below 40, but with rain and fog from Dec. - Feb. on a consistent basis. Good luck!

I spent three of my best years in Sac. The proximity to Tahoe and San Fran is perfect. Many great restaurants, yet a nice rural feeling. Found people very nice and the cost of living is low in comparison to most of California. Four seasons, but no snow!

The Sacramento Bee daily newspaper is online at:

www.sacbee.com

Reading from a local newspaper is a great way to find out what's happening -- both the good and the bad -- realtors only seem to tell you about the good stuff.

Another site from the local "counter-culture" tabloid:

http://www.newsreview.com/
Click on the Sacto N&R.

Helps you with the local club scene, nightlife, politics, etc.

Regarding snow, after living in Pittsburgh, Pa. (much like cathy)when I was born, it sure is nice to look at while it's covering the Sierra 60 miles away while driving on I-80 in my nice, warm car!

Go Kings!
Kal

need to know more - Since you said "I am being transferred" I assume you are single. If so - Downtown (Mid Town actually) is a great area. The suburbs (especially far north east) have much better schools but if you don't have kids that's not an issue.

But before we can give good suggestions -- need to know what area your work will be. It makes a HUGE difference.

If you are interested in outdoors activities and sports you couldn't be in a better place.

The nightlife is iffy - a few good clubs but a LOT of really good restaurants.

If you are into boating or fishing you have the Sacramento River, American River, Folsom Lake, the Delta, Lake Tahoe and SF Bay to choose from.

The arts are less well represented - but there are a few good theater companies - especially the B Street theater co-owned by Timothy Busfield.

Since Cathy said she'd only been in the area for 5 years I'm going to forgive her for calling Roseville, Elk Grove and Rocklin "new" master planned communities. Actually Roseville is an old railroad town. It has in fact gorwn rapidly over the last 20 years but in a deliberate well-planned manner. Rocklin was also a small town until the old Stanford Ranch was sold to developers and that areas was planned in a deliberate manner. Elk Grove has mushroomed over night to the point where people in the area believe that Elk Grove is really just the Laguna area. Elk Grove has been around for awhile too. Of the three Elk Grove has been developed poorly. There are not enouigh schools or space in the new schools to handle all the children who have moved into the area. Because of its proximity to freeways, its being closer to SF and the bay area (for commuters) than the burbs east of Sacramento and cheaper housing, Elk Grove has grown very fast in a very short time.