How is life in Sacramento for African Americans (Oakland, Roseville: foreclosure, lease)

[inpd]

Originally Posted by dragonofillfaith

How about for a hispanic person?

For places where people are busy, its the same answer as for african americans, gay, american indians etc. As a different looking person, I found the vast majority of
people are too busy to even notice or care your different. There are a few people
who have racist/ignorant tendencies, but they are too small in number to matter.

[Think (Freedom)]

Ok thats good to know.. I guess the South has more racial tendencies. I've never felt like an outcast the times I've been to Southern CA, but I've never north of L.A., so I was just wondering.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by dragonofillfaith

Ok thats good to know.. I guess the South has more racial tendencies. I've never felt like an outcast the times I've been to Southern CA, but I've never north of L.A., so I was just wondering.

Bear in mind, most of us are talking about Sacramento proper. If you go
living in small out of the way towns near Sac like Galt, people's opinions may not
be valid.

Good luck!

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by dragonofillfaith

..I am of Cuban descent...Will people generally just assume I'm another illegal immigrant...

No. They will not assume you are illegal, but they will assume you are Mexican.

[justducky2]

I have an African-American friend that is a professional, living in Natomas in a diverse neighborhood - including his family, Indian, and caucasian...and feels very comfortable there. He is from the midwest, and tells me that California is so much more welcoming to his family than he felt there...there is much less prejudice here...he says he has more problems with his sisters in the midwest because they think he's losing his culture.

As other posters have said, Sacto is very diverse. Some of the communities in the surrounding regions, however, are very much caucasian.

dragonofillfaith, I must agree with Fat Freddy, having had Cuban friends...people will ignorantly assume that anyone who is spanish-speaking is Mexican...they don't get the different cultures of spanish-speaking peoples...so you will probably need to gently remind them .

As to IT jobs, I know that Intel in Folsom has been going through layoffs this past year, but dang, when I check the California State job bank, there's tons of IT jobs (with great CalPers pensions!!) - makes me wish I had those skills!!

Home - State Personnel Board - spb.ca.gov (http://www.spb.ca.gov/index.htm?e=1 - broken link)

[adeltagirl]

I hope to make the big move to Sacramento in 2009. I too am african american and am looking for the ideal place to settle with my 3 and 6 year old daughters.
i'd like to rent for a year before I purchase.

Any suggestions on where to look? I have no familiarity with California at all.
I like family oriented activities, green grass, (non desert) and near social events.
I do like suburbia but not tooooo cookie cutter.
Good schools are really important to me as well.
I'm not a fan of ridiculous commutes so what's near the main hospitals and cancer centers (i'm a radiation therapist)?

[wburg]

There are some big hospitals just outside downtown Sacramento: UC Davis Medical Center, Sutter General and Mercy General, all of which are in some phase of expansion and I'm pretty sure they all have some sort of oncology center. All are immediately east of downtown Sacramento, so look at East Sacramento, Elmhurst, Tahoe Park or Midtown for homes. There are deals to be had near the UC Davis Medical Center, adjacent to the Oak Park neighborhood, but rapidly becoming known as the "Med Center neighborhood." Oak Park has a long history as a troubled neighborhood but it is turning around, and its northern portion (the part near the hospital) is pretty nice if you like early 20th century bungalows.

Sacramento has nothing to do with most of the stereotypes you may have seen/heard about California. We don't surf, there aren't any movie stars and we aren't as overtly political as the Bay Area.

About cubans in California: Part of why people in California will assume that a Cuban is Mexican is because there aren't very many Cubans out this way, and many many Mexicans. It's an after-effect of this state formerly having been part of Mexico, I suppose.

[mr bolo]

my sister moved from San Francisco to Sacramento and she tells me Sacramento has a high crime rate, much worse than SF.

Sacramento has lots of home invasion robbery, drive by shootings, vandalism, theft, homocide

they broke her car's windows while it was parked in the her driveway

lots of gang activity in Sac

[woogexx]

All us white folk run around with pitchforks and torches...wtf kinda question is "how is life for African Americans" ?

Oakland's roughly 50-65 mins, assuming you know how to drive well/fast in heavy traffic.

[adeltagirl]

[quote=woogexx;3544198]All us white folk run around with pitchforks and torches...wtf kinda question is "how is life for African Americans" ?

This is a valid question because some areas are more accepting than others. I have experienced first hand being one of 3 black parents where my child went to school with 98% "white folK" as you call it. The vibe of racism was quite strong and I ended up moving only after having lived there 6 months. Yes, it was that bad. Some neighborhoods are more amicable and accepting of minorities. But this isn't a thread oabout "Racism in America today". I'm just trying to get honest advice about living in Sacramento.

thanks for the info from the previous posts!!!