10 things I love about Sacramento

Over the last few years, wifey and I have taken vacations all over the US and a fair bit of Europe.  I've found certain things I really like in every city I've visited - Vancouver, BC has Stanley Park, Washington DC has surprisingly grand architecture, Portland is a great walking city and Paris is, of course, awe-inspiringly beautiful.  Traveling also helps me appreciate Sacramento, my home over the last 15 years, so here are 10 things I love about Sacramento.

American River Parkway
We're privileged to have over 30 miles of beautiful, semi-secluded, well maintained bike/running trails along the American River Parkway.  There are even several parks and lots benches along the way.  Sacramento's bike trail doesn't get nearly its due as one of the best and longest urban trails in the country.

California Railroad Museum
The California Railroad museum is world-class.  The museum has a bunch of full-sized engines, historic railroad cars, great docents and a wonderful space for fitting it all in.  It attracts railroad fans from all over the US and is my favorite museum in the city.

Restaurants
I'm a huge fan of downtown Sacramento's restaurant scene.  I'm going to omit lots of good places here, but when I want a sit down meal, I think first of Moxie, Mulvaney's B&L, the Paragary's restaurants, Tower Cafe and Rio City Cafe.  When I want a quick and tasty meal, I stop by Jack's Urban Eats, Pronto, the Buckhorn Grill or Crepeville.  When I'd like good Asian food, the Fats restaurants are my first choice, as are Vallejos and Zocalo for Mexican food.  Sandra Dee's is my favorite downtown barbeque spot and Texas West Barbeque is a can't-miss when I'm out in the burbs.  I'd like to have a good New York deli, a real French crepe stand and a gelato place, but I feel like I can get as good a mean in Sacramento as I can anywhere.

Weather
We can pretty much count on sunny weather nine months per year.  Sure, summer afternoons are hot, but mornings and evenings are pleasant no matter how hot the afternoon gets.  Spring and fall bring day after day of absolutely perfect sunny weather.  Plus, we don't have the Bay Area's fog or LA's smog.

Trees
We call ourselves the "City of Trees," which I think is a bit of an overstatement, but you have to appreciate the lovely tree canopies Downtown, in Land Park and East Sacramento, especially on hot summer afternoons. 

Kings and Rivercats
Sacramento is a great sports town and the Kings are obviously identified closely with the city.  Arco Arena has lost a little of its spark as the Kings have gone downhill, but the playoff games of a few years ago prove there's nothing like watching the Kings in person.  I couldn't name a single player on the RiverCats, but I go out and watch them a few times a year anyway.  Raley Field's lovely view and proximity to Downtown make it a nicer place to watch baseball than the football stadium the Oakland A's call home.

Lake Natoma
Big secret: Lake Natoma's has nice, calm water (no motor boats), a surrounding bike path, mini beaches and inexpensive kayak/canoe rentals.  You be hard pressed to tell you're in a city from most places on the lake, and it's almost never crowded.  This makes Lake Natoma the most underappreciated place in Sacramento.  Don't tell anybody, because I'm happy to keep the lake to myself.

State Capitol
The State Capitol is an architectural landmark, especially given the almost total lack of architectural style in the city.  There are few better views in Sacramento than those found walking along Capitol Mall from the Tower Bridge.  Capitol Park has moving Vietnam war, Veterans and California firefighter memorials, as well as a rose garden that's provided the backdrop for thousands of Sacramento wedding photos.  If Sacramento has an icon, it's the State Capitol.

Live Theater
Nobody under 40 pays any attention, but Sacramento has a thriving live theater scene.  B Street, Sacramento Theater Company, the Music Circus and the Delta King Theater consistently put on high-quality productions.  Live, outdoor Shakespeare productions play every summer in both Land Park and Fair Oaks Park.  Smaller theaters like the Thistle Dew can be every bit as fun as the big Broadway productions that roll into the Community Center Theater.   There are dozens of plays happening all the time in Sacramento, and I've enjoyed almost every one I've seen.

The Crest
Sacramento's Crest Theater has been around in various forms since the 1910's.  It was closed for several years in the 80's, but thankfully has been restored to its elegant, 1940's art deco glory.  From the classic neon sign out front, to its charming, old time walk up ticket booth, to the theater's enchanting, indirect ceiling light, there's no better place in Sacramento to see a show.

Comments

[Carl]

It is certainly a shame that historic preservation wasn't a consideration for a long period of Sacramento's history.

[wburg]

"like the old Sacramento City Hall at 8th and I (thankfully scheduled to be torn down),"

I just about spit coffee on my monitor when I read that. That's a former Bank of America. It was a substitute City Hall for a year or so during the rehab, but describing it as "the old City Hall" is almost entirely inaccurate. Old City Hall is the one right in front of New City Hall at 8th and I. There used to be a far more beautiful building there, and Bank of America used to have a very pretty tower at 8th and J where there is a parking structure now.

Most of the buildings you mention are post-redevelopment structures: there were other, often far more beautiful buildings where most of the ass-ugly concrete monoliths are located now. The block of J between 10th and 11th was mostly "remodeled" in that era, in order to update it, which removed most of its distinct architectural features, although I do like some of the tile storefronts. If there isn't much of our past architectural legacy here, the fault is with developers and politicians who decided that our architectural history was shameful and bad and had to be eliminated.

As to K Street Mall, there are still some lovely buildings there, if they were only owned by someone who gave a damn about them instead of someone with a burning desire to replace them with skyscrapers.

The Ziggurat is an ugly beast, but that's West Sacramento's fault, not ours.

[Carl]

I agree with you on the residential architecture. Sacramento really has some lovely central city residential neighborhoods. I suppose my issue is that for every nice building (like those you mentioned) there are several buildings that define boring, like the old Sacramento City Hall at 8th and I (thankfully scheduled to be torn down), the County Administration concrete block across the street, the 40 year old county office building next door, the county jail, and then the dead blocks on both sides of J between 10th and 11th, most of K Street Mall, most of L Street from 10th to I-5. Then there's the Ziggurat, which I think is hideous, but I've learned to live with, since it ain't changing.

Could be that I see the glass as half empty, or maybe I'm just spoiled by all the great architecture I've seen over the last few years, but I see the local architecture, save for a few notable examples, as sorely lacking.

In any event, thanks for your comments - I appreciate the dialog.

[wburg]

Well, if you're only counting relatively large public buildings, then you've got the other three of the Big Four: the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at 11th and K, the Elks Building at 11th and J, and the Cal-Western Building (aka 926 J, soon to be the Citizen Hotel) on 10th and J. The state office buildings in front of the Capitol, between L and N and 9th and 10th are pretty grand in their own way, as is the D.O. Mills Bank on 7th and J. Add City Hall and the Southern Pacific station and that's most of Sacramento's remaining large iconic government/public type structures, but they're just the most visible architectural treats in town.

Other commercial buildings worthy of mention downtown include the Regis Hotel at 11th and K, the Marshall at 7th and L, the Senator Hotel at L and 12th, the Kress building on K and 8th, and the Ramona on J and 6th, or the Capitol Park Hotel on 10th and L. They're relatively prosaic by the standards of their day, but real gems compared to most modern architecture.

And then once you get out of downtown you hit Sacramento's real architectural wealth: a panoply of American residential architecture, including the handful of big mansions like the Stanford Mansion or the Gallatin Mansion (aka the Governor's Mansion) and the Heilbron House, the assorted Gothic, Queen Anne, Shingle and Stick style buildings throughout Alkali Flat and Mansion Flat, the profuse assortment of foursquares, revival-style homes and Craftsman bungalows to the south and the east, and even Sacramento's handful of Art Deco buildings.

Admittedly, a lot of Sacramento's architectural wealth was destroyed by waves of mid-century redevelopment, like Capitol Mall and the surrounding neighborhood, and the paths of the three freeways through town. The Bell Conservatory, the National Guard armory, and some of downtown's architectural treasures like the old post office on 7th and K and the Hotels Land, Western and Sacramento are long since demolished. Through the central city, many lovely pieces of architecture were knocked down indiscriminately and replaced with Mansard-roofed fourplexes or "sausage apartments." Others were claimed by fire or demolition by neglect. But Sacramento still has enough beautiful homes, from the most prosaic shotgun flat to the mystery house on 22nd and G, to give any fan of architecture the cold chills.

It sounds like you know the central city pretty well, but maybe you don't spend enough time looking at it. You mentioned several beautiful places (like the Crest, the building where the Thistle Dew is located [formerly Cafe Cambire], the Delta King (nautical architecture, but beautiful nonetheless) and the buildings where Vallejo's (the 4th and S location) and Zocalo are located.

I dunno. I wander through the central city every day and the architecture constantly takes my breath away--even after 14 years of daily living down here I still find surprises that take my breath away.

It seems like you know your way around

[Carl]

Sure, there are some individual buildings in town that are interesting - the Post Office building being my favorite - but a few buildings do not a style make. But feel free to contribute some examples - that's what the comments section is for.

[wburg]

"total lack of architectural style"?

sez who? There isn't much along Capitol Mall, because everything was knocked down in the fifties, but no, this is not correct of the central city as a whole. I would be happy to provide examples if you would like.