The biggest difference between Sacramento and San Francisco is that you can actually afford to buy a home here...or rent a decent place without forking over 80% of your monthly salary. S.F. is beautiful and filled with interesting, educated people, but it's rapidly becoming a place only yuppies and Silicon Valley techies can afford. Sac has some really sweet, classic (and classy) neighborhoods that provide the opportunity for a great quality of life. BTW, if you REALLY want to see an inferiority complex, compare Fresno's self-image vs. its valley neighbor to the north. They envy us in countless ways...

I agree that Sacramento has some outstanding dining experiences -- in some cases, equal to or better than the Bay Area. KVIE Public Television (where I work) is trying to create a regional version of the very popular "Check Please" series that originated in Chicago, and now has local versions in Miami, Kansas City and San Francisco: http://blogs.kqed.org/checkplease/ http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/check-please-chicago/ It's a wonderful concept: each week, besides a regular host, a different trio of "regular folks" talks about their favorite eatery. The other two foodies react to the third one's favorite (they may agree it's great; just OK; or maybe not so good). It's lively, entertaining, and really educates local viewers about dozens of different restaurants in our area. We're trying to secure funding to launch the series, so wish us luck!

Great article, David. Your excitement about the new Crocker wing is obvious and should be shared by everyone in our region! I'll add a self-serving comment on behalf of KVIE Public Television, where I work: we've updated our ViewFinder program on the fascinating history of the Crocker to include the opening of the new wing. It airs on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7pm, Friday at 4pm and Sunday at 6pm on KVIE HD, Channel 6. Thanks!

Very good article. Another excellent source of information is the documentary Subterranean Sacramento, produced in 2007 by KVIE as part of their ViewFinder series (full disclosure: I work at KVIE so am clearly a fan of this episode). It offers some great images of the streets and shop entrances beneath the streets of modern-day Sacramento. Here's a link: http://www.kvie.org/programs/kvie/viewfinder/subterranean/default.htm.