Arden Way, Old North Sacramento

Arden Way area in Sacramento is a mixed neighborhood - on one hand, there's a lot of diversity of businesses for shopping. This includes the Arden Fair Mall, BevMo, and Cost Plus, to name a few. There are also a lot of restaurants, both large and small. The part of town near the High School, however, is pretty bad. Not once, nor twice, but three times my car was broken into in less than two years. I also had my car shot at. Nice. Not to mention, all of the kids walking around from the high school.

The neighborhood was pretty quiet, but there were always tons of helicopters flying overhead really close to the apartments. Presumably because of the crime. Aesthetically, the neighborhood isn't much to look at - not terrible, but not great. At night, though, be careful. Don't walk around at night alone, particularly if you're a woman. Keep your car close to you, and keep your doors locked.

If your looking for shopping, you probably have to look no further than Arden Way. A quick hop off of Business 80, and you're instantly at the mall and its surrounding stores. Arden is also home to popular restaurants, such as The Cheesecake Factory, and The Elephant Bar and Grill (one of my personal favorites). Driving in this area takes nerves of steel and quick reflexes, and the back-up at the lights can be a nightmare, particularly at Christmas time when the mall is packed with holiday shoppers. When I was younger, I used to love to shop on Arden Way, but now I usually avoid it because of the crowds.

Arden way has alot going on. The main attraction is the Arden Fair Mall. Plus an additional dozen stores next to the mall all within the same parking lot. There's 2 movie theater almost right across the street from each other and a ton of restraunts. Everytime I'm out there its always busy with alot of traffic, but with so many places to go in such a short distance thats to be expected.