Land Park, Sacramento

Okay, so this is the home of the Sac Zoo, which is--compared to every zoo I have ever been to-- SMALL! How small? I have a Vet friend who has more exhibits in her house than this place does. Okay, so maybe I’m slightly exaggerating on that score. But if you have been to the SF Zoo or the Oakland Zoo, this place is really pretty pathetic in comparison. (Not to mention that really none of these places compares to the San Diego Wild Animal Park which is the best zoo in California, and probably on the West Coast, imo.)

In fact, the zoo is so small that the neighboring golf course is about four times its size. I guess if you can’t make the trip to Oakland or SF, that this might be an okay place to take the kids. They have a Fairytale Town, so the kids can have a bit of fun once in a while. I can’t say I recommend it though.

Okay, so now that we have established that the zoo is not the reason why I like this neighborhood, what do I like about this place. Well, my reason for coming here is the Tower Theatre on the northern end of the neighborhood—the Midtowners always try to claim it for themselves but it is technically on our side of the street. (So suck eggs, Midtowners!)

What’s so great about the Tower Theatre that I’m willing to not only start a turf war with those toughs the Midtowners, and to accept the Brit spelling for “theater” for a place with no live actors? Well, this is the place to see Indie movies in Sac.
Old timers, like my BF, speak fondly of the days when it was one giant movie palace and Tower Records used to be across, but it is still one of the few places devoted to showing the movies that didn’t cost the GNP of Belize to make. Right now, for example, they are playing the Johnny Depp/Hunter S. Thompson semi bio-pic, The Rum Diary; the latest Almodovar flick, The Skin I Live In; and a couple of other movies I would never have heard of if I didn’t frequent this joint.

Now Tower Records lives only in memory, but Dimple Records has moved into the spot across the street and taken up the mantle that Tower used to carry. Tower Café is still there as well—and packed as always—and so is Tower Liquors in case you want to drown your sadness about the remembrance of things that no longer exist; though I would recommend some of the cool bars down the street like the X-O Lounge for that purpose. There are also an assortment of restaurants there as well.

Okay, so there are some cool spots to spend the weekends on the northern end of the neighborhood, but what is it like in the residential section?

There are a mix of styles in this neighborhood, with the real highlights being on the southern end of the neighborhood where you will find a number of Tudor Style homes and English manor-house types. Really cool and, of course, super-expensive. (This is where the majority of near million dollar homes that make up about 10% of the offerings are concentrated.)

The other 90% of homes available in Land Park however, are far more affordable (though not as cheap as north of the I-80) with most homes going for under $400K and about half being victims of foreclosure. This is not much of a renter’s market here though you will find an occasional offering.

Oh yeah, and given all that there is in this neighborhood, I forgot to mention that this is also home to Sacramento City College—Sac’s best community college, imo. In other words, this is a vibrant neighborhood with a lot going on—which is yet another reason why I think Upper Land Park is due for a revival as well.