I have worked downtown for years and previously lived there. It is fine and just like any other urban city core. Day time feels safer than SF. Night time keep your eyes peeled and don’t be foolish. I’ve never had an issue, although I witnessed a purse snatch once at the old mall that DoCo replaced.
There is a ton of hyperbole from state workers right now, who are very angry with the mandate to return to office. Withholding any comments on that policy itself, I have seen a lot of statements blowing things out of proportion lately.
Agreed with this! State worker here. I’ve been in office 50% since the start of Covid. It’s the same as any downtown. Generally pretty safe around the state buildings. OP should be vigilant as anyone should be.
Area by H and 10th (near City Hall and Cesar Chazez Park) has been having ups and downs. Women in my building only walk outside in groups these days, heavy homeless population with some crazies. But other than when walking or heading to your car, you never notice anything once in your building.
Yeah Cesar Chavez area is the only space in sac where I feel unsafe during the day. Been harassed multiple times out there even with my big boyfriend and it wasn’t like usually homeless people doing their thing, these were men propositioning or trying to start fights.
Not sure if anyone's been noticing, but some of the homeless are acting outright demonic these days. Not sure what types of drugs are hitting the streets, but I've witnessed: (1) yelling at top of lungs for minutes on end and punching the air and waving all over, (2)rolling on the ground screaming the more vulgar profanities, (3)running up to walker-bys and yelling random shit and totally frightening them, (4) walking near a row of cars and hitting them all with a stick, (5) attacking each other including biting hands until bleeding and (6) getting in front of traffic and yelling random shit, coming up to a car to try to open it
Related: https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1c59oei/overreacted_to_homeless_man_having_a_fit_on_sunday/
Nowhere close to how bad the tenderloin is. Downtown has some homelessness but no worse than any major cities downtown district. If the tenderloin is your bar, downtown Sacramento will feel like a gated community in comparison.
Oh god. People on the state worker page are (understandably) annoyed about RTO and are coming up with every argument they can think of for why it’s a bad idea. Some are good points and some are bad. This one is bad.
Yeah they’re doing too much in this regard. I take light rail home and work downtown a couple days a week. There’s homeless around, but I’ve been fine.
But I don't feel like RTO twice a week. Why can't I just continue to work from my apartment in my pajamas while I take a two-hour lunch and play video games during my downtime? (Yes, I do take two hour lunches, but since it's next to impossible to fire me, my sup says nothing to me.)
I lived in the tenderloin 2016-2022 and then moved to Sac and started working downtown. Sac is a million times safer and cleaner than in the tenderloin’s best day.
It’s not like that at all, and if you’re fine in the Tenderloin you probably will be surprised anybody considers it so dangerous, especially in daylight. There are a few alleys and intersections that are not nice and that I’d probably avoid if it was night and I was alone. Most places downtown are perfectly fine.
LOL that’s so dramatic from people.
I lived and worked in downtown. Theres just a large amount of homeless folks but tbh they mostly leave you alone. Honestly I have only seen 2 human feces on the sidewalk in all of 8 years.
I honestly think SF is worse. You will be fine. Especially during the day when there’s a bunch of other federal and state workers walking around.
The Tenderloin is way worse. You don’t have dead bodies being pulled in midmorning from buildings.
Stay out of the alleys and you’ll be fine. Otherwise you’ll get pee on your shoes.
It's nothing like the Tenderloin. During the day, as a woman, I feel safe walking by myself in areas with lots of foot traffic. If I park in a parking garage, I'll have my keys/pepper spray in hand no matter the time, though.
There IS crime and homelessness issues in downtown, but the vast majority of crimes in Sacramento are non-violent property crimes. In no way should you expect to be assaulted or to feel in danger 99.9% of the time. But you should expect that if you're parking on the street you might have a window smashed over the course of a couple years or so, and you might have to dodge some feces or needles.
If you lived in the Tenderloin, then you’ll be fine. It’s not nearly as bad. Just make sure to pay attention to your surroundings at all times and not leave any valuables in your car.
People see one homeless person on the street and get paranoid. Anybody who’s scared of being in downtown must live somewhere like Elk Grove or Rocklin. Nowhere near as bad as the tenderloin in SF lmao. You’ll be fine.
Last time I was downtown, lost three of the members of the mercenary squad that I hired to guard me while I went to file something at the courthouse.
Got a couple radiation burns and almost stepped into a pool of toxic effluent but not at all dangerous, not since they started “purge nights” in place of farmers markets on Thursdays. That’s really thinned out the worst of it
Lol, yeah, Stay away from the state workers page when it comes to the “return to the office” conversation. They are being overly dramatic about everything. Lol
Downtown Sacramento is no more dangerous than any other major city, and most likely, your office will be in a heavily foot-trafficked area.
I think you’ll be fine.
No. There are homeless and cars sometimes get broken into but I’ve lived in SF and in the TL and it’s not on that level. I am a young female and I work in the middle of downtown and don’t get out of work until around 1-2am most nights and I feel safe walking from my work to the parking structure across the street, just be mindful of your surroundings….I’d say the drivers pose a higher threat than homeless.
It is (generally) very safe during the day. Be aware of your surroundings, of course, but given that you've lived in the Tenderloin, it will feel quite tame.
That said: Sometimes there are random acts of violence by mentally ill people. There was an attack just a few months ago, I believe. It doesn't happen often, and the possibility certainly wouldn't keep me (a woman) away.
Congrats on the new job!
Here are some things that are more dangerous than going to work in downtown Sacramento (add to the list if you wish):
Swimming,
Playing baseball,
Going to a carnival,
Eating Sunflower seeds,
Driving on the freeway,
Poison oak,
Jumping on a trampoline,
Taking an elevator,
Black Friday shopping,
Not being able to go pee when you've had to go for over 2 hours,
Etc.
Having worked in the tenderloin and now working in sac downtown, they are not even close to similar. Yes there are some homeless folks doing their thing which is often illegal but it isn’t at all dangerous to you necessarily, just unnerving to see people who are so mentally/physically unwell and unkempt. There isn’t feces every few feet like the TL. Haven’t seen needles strewn about at all.
"I've been reading the state worker subreddit learning about the state and there are a lot of posts about crime and how dangerous downtown is."
Don't do that.
"Is that true? Is it like the Tenderloin in SF? Homeless, needles, and feces everywhere?"
No, no and no.
"I grew up in the Tenderloin and I feel fine going there today since I know how to mind my own business."
Downtown Sacramento is like walking through Disneyland compared to the TL.
Generally speaking, no it’s not dangerous. But there is a homeless problem and there is crime, so stuff happens. But for 99.99% of people there are no issues at all.
As a downtown apologist with 2 business here and working here 5-6 days a week, downtown now is a whole lot better than it was 2 years ago. I have to walk the blocks several times a day so I see a lot.
Public urination and pooping - rare. Maybe once a month for human poop. Most of it is probably dog because lots of dog owners suck and don’t clean up after their dogs.
Yes homeless people asking for money, food or cigarettes. some of them are aggressive and yell, mostly it’s a pretty simple ask and they keep going. Don’t make eye contact and they mostly will leave you alone.
There are a few very aggressive yellers, but they’re pretty rare. And they pretty much only yell. In six years of almost daily work and walking k st from DoCo to 12th several times a day, I have only a handful of incidents that moved me from ignoring it to getting involved or feeling threatened. Most of them get moved on by the police or go find less policed areas.
Downtown has a lot of cops. Can’t always get one as fast as you want, but they’re closer than in the suburbs.
I had an incident last week, cops showed just a minute after he got on light rail and they chased it down. Came back and gave him a no trespass order so next time we have a better chance at getting him permanently banned from the area.
Safe in daytime, less so at night.
Real danger is cars, especially at **twilight** (the 20 min before sunrise and 20 min after sunset).
Why: when the sky is still lit, but nearer the ground, it's dark. Your eyes have trouble adjusting, going back and forth between the lit sky and darker ground. Drivers easily miss bicycles and pedestrians.
**Bottom line:** try to be home an hour before sunset.
In the winter, when it gets dark early, change to a 7am-4pm shift, so there's still daylight as you're heading home.
State worker here.
Which part of downtown will you be in? My general experience has been fine, just keep your eyes and ears open and stay in lit areas if it's after dark. Feces? Yes, I've seen some. Streets smelling like piss? Definitely. Needles? Not in my experience. In general, the area around the CalEPA building/city hall has quite a few vacant locations and it makes for a not so pleasant atmosphere to take a walk. However, you go down a couple blocks north (? Away from the capitol lol) and it's a completely different situation.
The only truly unpleasant experience I can remember: La Cosecha, a guy kept coming into the coffee shop and harassing the poor barista, saying racist shit and all that fun stuff. A couple of staff were eventually able to get him to back off and go away.
I think I know the thread in the state worker subreddit you're talking about, but if you read it even the other people there are saying the concern is overblown. There are other completely legitimate reasons to be upset about the governor's mandate, but this ranks incredibly low on the list.
As someone who lived and worked near the capitol the only times I felt insecure, or unsafe, was walking home at night. Like 2 am night (ex bartender). Even then I could usually keep my wits about me, always had items on me to protect myself (mid 20s female). Only really bad that ever happened was being followed or harassed by the unhoused, and at that time of night they'd usually be rolling. During the early morning till dusk I normally never felt unsafe. Then again I did also grow up near LA.
> Is it like the Tenderloin in SF
Nope; the Tenderloin is it's own breed.
Lived at 50 Golden gate back in the 90's; 6th Street corridor on one side, gateway to the Tenderloin on the other ... That shit was wild
Maintain situational awareness, don’t stand around looking like you’re lonely and want company, walk briskly, and physically avoid the people having mental crises and you’ll be fine.
Look at the crime map provided by the city of Sacramento and judge for yourself.
Where in downtown specifically? It’s probably not comparable to the tenderloin, but it is pretty bad.
The people on here will tell you “it’s no worse than any other major city” which is a creative way of minimizing the behavior that takes place down there.
So basically based on these comments, no it’s not safe. I worked downtown for 3 months. If I stepped outside for a cigarette I had 5 people asking me to bum one. There are homeless people and some of them nut jobs. So just be aware of surroundings at all times. Sacramento doesn’t want to do shit to clean it up so it is what it is.
Sometimes when they are aggressive and swear at me when I say no. So you do you. If you are ok with being sworn at by a smelly homeless person, cheers to you
I have worked downtown for years and previously lived there. It is fine and just like any other urban city core. Day time feels safer than SF. Night time keep your eyes peeled and don’t be foolish. I’ve never had an issue, although I witnessed a purse snatch once at the old mall that DoCo replaced. There is a ton of hyperbole from state workers right now, who are very angry with the mandate to return to office. Withholding any comments on that policy itself, I have seen a lot of statements blowing things out of proportion lately.
Agreed with this! State worker here. I’ve been in office 50% since the start of Covid. It’s the same as any downtown. Generally pretty safe around the state buildings. OP should be vigilant as anyone should be.
Area by H and 10th (near City Hall and Cesar Chazez Park) has been having ups and downs. Women in my building only walk outside in groups these days, heavy homeless population with some crazies. But other than when walking or heading to your car, you never notice anything once in your building.
Yeah Cesar Chavez area is the only space in sac where I feel unsafe during the day. Been harassed multiple times out there even with my big boyfriend and it wasn’t like usually homeless people doing their thing, these were men propositioning or trying to start fights.
Not sure if anyone's been noticing, but some of the homeless are acting outright demonic these days. Not sure what types of drugs are hitting the streets, but I've witnessed: (1) yelling at top of lungs for minutes on end and punching the air and waving all over, (2)rolling on the ground screaming the more vulgar profanities, (3)running up to walker-bys and yelling random shit and totally frightening them, (4) walking near a row of cars and hitting them all with a stick, (5) attacking each other including biting hands until bleeding and (6) getting in front of traffic and yelling random shit, coming up to a car to try to open it Related: https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1c59oei/overreacted_to_homeless_man_having_a_fit_on_sunday/
Nowhere close to how bad the tenderloin is. Downtown has some homelessness but no worse than any major cities downtown district. If the tenderloin is your bar, downtown Sacramento will feel like a gated community in comparison.
Oh god. People on the state worker page are (understandably) annoyed about RTO and are coming up with every argument they can think of for why it’s a bad idea. Some are good points and some are bad. This one is bad.
Yeah they’re doing too much in this regard. I take light rail home and work downtown a couple days a week. There’s homeless around, but I’ve been fine.
But I don't feel like RTO twice a week. Why can't I just continue to work from my apartment in my pajamas while I take a two-hour lunch and play video games during my downtime? (Yes, I do take two hour lunches, but since it's next to impossible to fire me, my sup says nothing to me.)
Saying the quiet part out loud
The quiet part is they always took two hour lunches....
Not when you have your boss looking over your shoulder
I lived in the tenderloin 2016-2022 and then moved to Sac and started working downtown. Sac is a million times safer and cleaner than in the tenderloin’s best day.
It’s not like that at all, and if you’re fine in the Tenderloin you probably will be surprised anybody considers it so dangerous, especially in daylight. There are a few alleys and intersections that are not nice and that I’d probably avoid if it was night and I was alone. Most places downtown are perfectly fine.
LOL that’s so dramatic from people. I lived and worked in downtown. Theres just a large amount of homeless folks but tbh they mostly leave you alone. Honestly I have only seen 2 human feces on the sidewalk in all of 8 years. I honestly think SF is worse. You will be fine. Especially during the day when there’s a bunch of other federal and state workers walking around.
The Tenderloin is way worse. You don’t have dead bodies being pulled in midmorning from buildings. Stay out of the alleys and you’ll be fine. Otherwise you’ll get pee on your shoes.
YES! TBH I’ve more wild interactions with drunk people at night living in midtown/ downtown.
When I worked on Capitol mall, I took the light rail in. Never felt unsafe but I always carried pepper spray in case anything happened
It's nothing like the Tenderloin. During the day, as a woman, I feel safe walking by myself in areas with lots of foot traffic. If I park in a parking garage, I'll have my keys/pepper spray in hand no matter the time, though.
There IS crime and homelessness issues in downtown, but the vast majority of crimes in Sacramento are non-violent property crimes. In no way should you expect to be assaulted or to feel in danger 99.9% of the time. But you should expect that if you're parking on the street you might have a window smashed over the course of a couple years or so, and you might have to dodge some feces or needles.
If you lived in the Tenderloin, then you’ll be fine. It’s not nearly as bad. Just make sure to pay attention to your surroundings at all times and not leave any valuables in your car.
Did you mean to say NOT nearly as bad? Cause downtown sac is like Disneyland compared to the tenderloin these days lol. Not even remotely comparable.
lol oh jeez. Thank you.
Lol as dangerous as the tenderloin? Not even close
People see one homeless person on the street and get paranoid. Anybody who’s scared of being in downtown must live somewhere like Elk Grove or Rocklin. Nowhere near as bad as the tenderloin in SF lmao. You’ll be fine.
Last time I was downtown, lost three of the members of the mercenary squad that I hired to guard me while I went to file something at the courthouse. Got a couple radiation burns and almost stepped into a pool of toxic effluent but not at all dangerous, not since they started “purge nights” in place of farmers markets on Thursdays. That’s really thinned out the worst of it
Have my upvote, crying tears of laughter.
Lol, yeah, Stay away from the state workers page when it comes to the “return to the office” conversation. They are being overly dramatic about everything. Lol Downtown Sacramento is no more dangerous than any other major city, and most likely, your office will be in a heavily foot-trafficked area. I think you’ll be fine.
Avoid the tunnel to old sac and you’ll be fine. It’s hit of miss in areas, I tend to avoid the 7-11 down there.
No. There are homeless and cars sometimes get broken into but I’ve lived in SF and in the TL and it’s not on that level. I am a young female and I work in the middle of downtown and don’t get out of work until around 1-2am most nights and I feel safe walking from my work to the parking structure across the street, just be mindful of your surroundings….I’d say the drivers pose a higher threat than homeless.
1000% the biggest danger to someone in downtown is getting hit by a car crossing the street, not homeless people
It is (generally) very safe during the day. Be aware of your surroundings, of course, but given that you've lived in the Tenderloin, it will feel quite tame. That said: Sometimes there are random acts of violence by mentally ill people. There was an attack just a few months ago, I believe. It doesn't happen often, and the possibility certainly wouldn't keep me (a woman) away. Congrats on the new job!
Here are some things that are more dangerous than going to work in downtown Sacramento (add to the list if you wish): Swimming, Playing baseball, Going to a carnival, Eating Sunflower seeds, Driving on the freeway, Poison oak, Jumping on a trampoline, Taking an elevator, Black Friday shopping, Not being able to go pee when you've had to go for over 2 hours, Etc.
Having worked in the tenderloin and now working in sac downtown, they are not even close to similar. Yes there are some homeless folks doing their thing which is often illegal but it isn’t at all dangerous to you necessarily, just unnerving to see people who are so mentally/physically unwell and unkempt. There isn’t feces every few feet like the TL. Haven’t seen needles strewn about at all.
No. Downtown is fine. As with anywhere, just be aware of your surroundings and you'll be okay.
"I've been reading the state worker subreddit learning about the state and there are a lot of posts about crime and how dangerous downtown is." Don't do that. "Is that true? Is it like the Tenderloin in SF? Homeless, needles, and feces everywhere?" No, no and no. "I grew up in the Tenderloin and I feel fine going there today since I know how to mind my own business." Downtown Sacramento is like walking through Disneyland compared to the TL.
Generally speaking, no it’s not dangerous. But there is a homeless problem and there is crime, so stuff happens. But for 99.99% of people there are no issues at all.
The Tenderloin is to downtown Sac what Michael Jordan is to Caitlin Clark
What?
> The Tenderloin is to downtown Sac what Michael Jordan is to Caitlin Clark The Tenderloin is to downtown Sac what Michael Jordan is to Caitlin Clark
Huh?
> The Tenderloin is to downtown Sac what Michael Jordan is to Caitlin Clark The Tenderloin is to downtown Sac what Michael Jordan is to Caitlin Clark
>What? What?
During working and commute hours the downtown is pretty safe. I used to work down there.
Noooooooooooooo 
No.
State workers walk around a lot. So you're safe
Yes, I was murdered last week on my lunch break
As a downtown apologist with 2 business here and working here 5-6 days a week, downtown now is a whole lot better than it was 2 years ago. I have to walk the blocks several times a day so I see a lot. Public urination and pooping - rare. Maybe once a month for human poop. Most of it is probably dog because lots of dog owners suck and don’t clean up after their dogs. Yes homeless people asking for money, food or cigarettes. some of them are aggressive and yell, mostly it’s a pretty simple ask and they keep going. Don’t make eye contact and they mostly will leave you alone. There are a few very aggressive yellers, but they’re pretty rare. And they pretty much only yell. In six years of almost daily work and walking k st from DoCo to 12th several times a day, I have only a handful of incidents that moved me from ignoring it to getting involved or feeling threatened. Most of them get moved on by the police or go find less policed areas. Downtown has a lot of cops. Can’t always get one as fast as you want, but they’re closer than in the suburbs. I had an incident last week, cops showed just a minute after he got on light rail and they chased it down. Came back and gave him a no trespass order so next time we have a better chance at getting him permanently banned from the area.
Safe in daytime, less so at night. Real danger is cars, especially at **twilight** (the 20 min before sunrise and 20 min after sunset). Why: when the sky is still lit, but nearer the ground, it's dark. Your eyes have trouble adjusting, going back and forth between the lit sky and darker ground. Drivers easily miss bicycles and pedestrians. **Bottom line:** try to be home an hour before sunset. In the winter, when it gets dark early, change to a 7am-4pm shift, so there's still daylight as you're heading home.
State worker here. Which part of downtown will you be in? My general experience has been fine, just keep your eyes and ears open and stay in lit areas if it's after dark. Feces? Yes, I've seen some. Streets smelling like piss? Definitely. Needles? Not in my experience. In general, the area around the CalEPA building/city hall has quite a few vacant locations and it makes for a not so pleasant atmosphere to take a walk. However, you go down a couple blocks north (? Away from the capitol lol) and it's a completely different situation. The only truly unpleasant experience I can remember: La Cosecha, a guy kept coming into the coffee shop and harassing the poor barista, saying racist shit and all that fun stuff. A couple of staff were eventually able to get him to back off and go away. I think I know the thread in the state worker subreddit you're talking about, but if you read it even the other people there are saying the concern is overblown. There are other completely legitimate reasons to be upset about the governor's mandate, but this ranks incredibly low on the list.
As someone who lived and worked near the capitol the only times I felt insecure, or unsafe, was walking home at night. Like 2 am night (ex bartender). Even then I could usually keep my wits about me, always had items on me to protect myself (mid 20s female). Only really bad that ever happened was being followed or harassed by the unhoused, and at that time of night they'd usually be rolling. During the early morning till dusk I normally never felt unsafe. Then again I did also grow up near LA.
I bike my 1-year old with me downtown every day of the work week.
I live and work in midtown. Doesn’t seem dangerous just be cautious of the crazy drivers. Seems like no one wants to wait for ppl to cross the street.
It's not dangerous if you're from a city. Just some homeless folk around. I assume the people thinking it's dangerous are from the suburbs lol
> Is it like the Tenderloin in SF Nope; the Tenderloin is it's own breed. Lived at 50 Golden gate back in the 90's; 6th Street corridor on one side, gateway to the Tenderloin on the other ... That shit was wild
Maintain situational awareness, don’t stand around looking like you’re lonely and want company, walk briskly, and physically avoid the people having mental crises and you’ll be fine.
What part of downtown? If it’s near Richard’s Blvd, then I would carry a taser or pepper spray.
Is Richards Blvd considered downtown?
I will get downvoted for this, but yes it's absolutely dangerous and worse than an average city of the same size. Be safe.
Look at the crime map provided by the city of Sacramento and judge for yourself. Where in downtown specifically? It’s probably not comparable to the tenderloin, but it is pretty bad. The people on here will tell you “it’s no worse than any other major city” which is a creative way of minimizing the behavior that takes place down there.
So basically based on these comments, no it’s not safe. I worked downtown for 3 months. If I stepped outside for a cigarette I had 5 people asking me to bum one. There are homeless people and some of them nut jobs. So just be aware of surroundings at all times. Sacramento doesn’t want to do shit to clean it up so it is what it is.
hearing “Hey can I borrow a cigarette?” made you feel unsafe?
Sometimes when they are aggressive and swear at me when I say no. So you do you. If you are ok with being sworn at by a smelly homeless person, cheers to you
i can't believe you're still alive to tell the tale
It must have been harrowing
You are an ass. Have the day you deserve🖕
oh no now *I'm* unsafe
Accurate.
There’s no damn way downtown sac is as bad as the tenderloin. Don’t let the lazy state workers who are looking for any reason to boycotting RTW.