The Capitol City is quickly shedding its "cow town" reputation.
Sacramento is evolving from a sleepy government city to a bustling center of arts, entertainment and trendy farm-to-fork restaurants — and the country is taking notice.
Sunset Magazine placed Sacramento at the top of their list of "20 Game-Changing Places to Live". The article highlights the city's urban-farm movement, the local brew scene and abundance of farmers' markets. Sunset looked at factors such as city population, median home prices and unemployment rates to rank the list.
As Sacramento residents already know, the "City of Trees" is covered in lush green canopies. In fact, nearly 25 percent of the city is covered in trees, according to Sunset.
Lower rent and real estate prices initially attracted people to settle in Sacramento. But over the past few years, rent has significantly skyrocketed — at one point faster than any other city in the nation.
However, Sacramento is still a cheaper alternative to living in the Bay Area or other West Coast cities such as Seattle or Los Angeles.
Other Northern California cities that made the list include Eureka, Truckee and Fresno.
If you live an active lifestyle, Sacramento may also be the place for you.
California's Capitol also ranked high on WalletHub's list of "2018's Best & Worst Cities for an Active Lifestyle". The online site analyzed factors such as average monthly fitness-club fees, bike scores, weather, as well as the number of hiking, running and walking trails.
Sacramento placed number 13 overall on the list, scoring particularly high in the 'Sports and Outdoor' rank. The city was topped by only two other California cities, San Francisco, which came in as number three on the list, and San Diego, which ranked fourth.
WalletHub found Stockton to have the third lowest monthly fitness-club fees out of the 100 cities analyzed, even though the city placed number 68th overall on the list.
Chicago placed number one on the list, followed by Portland, while North Las Vegas and Hialeah, Fla., were at the very bottom of the list respectively.
