Kurtis and Danielle both work for leading tech companies headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Last summer, the couple took advantage of their ability to work remotely and relocated to Sacramento. We caught up with Kurtis to hear more about their experience moving to Sacramento from the Bay Area. Get all the details in the Q&A below.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Danielle was raised in Los Gatos, CA and went to UC Santa Barbara for college and had been working in tech in the Bay Area since 2013. I’m a Sacramento native that went to Emory University in Atlanta, GA and had been working in consulting and mostly tech in the Bay Area since 2009. Danielle and I met in San Francisco as we both worked at the same tech company. At the time, Danielle was on the sales team and I was on the sales operations and strategy team. We found a quick and ever-growing connection with one another and the rest is history!
Together we have lived in the Marina district in San Francisco and then spent a little under three years in Mill Valley in Marin County. When we first started dating, I always used to joke about settling in Sacramento, which was met with some skepticism. As we spent more time in Sacramento and got closer to thinking about starting a family of our own, Danielle started to see Sacramento’s allure: a strong sense of community, a more leisurely pace of life, lower cost of living, close proximity to the Bay Area and Tahoe and of course being closer to family.
What interested you in moving to Sacramento from the Bay Area?
To be honest, one of the main drivers in our move to Sacramento was to be closer to family and friends. Although Danielle has immediate family in the Bay Area and I have extended family there, the greater Bay Area has become such a transient community with people from outside the area coming in and out for jobs.
The vast majority of our friends left the Bay Area to be closer to family and live a more comfortable lifestyle. Many of our friends had already relocated from San Francisco to Sacramento, which made it even more compelling to move back.
Aside from being closer to family and friends, we appreciate that the pace of life is slower and more comfortable in Sacramento. There is a definite “rat race” component of living in the Bay Area, where you’re always rushing to get your commute started into the city, crank through your business day, then rush to get your commute started to head back home. Even though we lived in Mill Valley in Marin, which is only 12 miles away from our downtown San Francisco offices, our door-to-door commute was just under an hour, one way. That’s pretty much another full work week (40 hours) of commuting per month!
Moving to Sacramento allows us to live a more leisurely lifestyle, allows us more space with a nice backyard (our dog is overjoyed) and allows us to be closer to family and friends.
What advantages do you think Sacramento has over the Bay Area?
The major advantage of Sacramento over the Bay Area is the lower cost of living. Primarily with housing, this allows folks to be able to afford more space and comfort, which has become an even bigger priority with COVID.
I also like having four seasons, which you typically don’t get in San Francisco. I miss the warm summer nights where you can hang out in shorts and a t-shirt at 9 p.m. The summer heat is a trade-off, but we’ll enjoy the A/C indoors, which the majority of places in San Francisco and Marin County (where we moved from) don’t have.
The other notable draw is that Sacramento has a strong sense of community. Danielle and I take frequent walks with our dog around our neighborhood or on the American River Trail. Danielle was pleasantly surprised when she noticed how welcoming everyone was to us and that everyone would say hello when passing by.
What are some of your favorite parts about Sacramento? How do you envision spending your spare time here?
We plan on taking advantage of our easy access to midtown and look forward to trying new restaurants and exploring the food scene now that dining is starting to re-open. As a faithful Kings fan, I plan on going to more Kings games with my wife, family and friends. We’re close to the American River Parkway, which we’ll be taking advantage of for morning walks or bike rides, and Tahoe will likely be a more frequent getaway for us now that we’re less than two hours away.
Why do you think tech companies should consider moving to Sacramento from the Bay Area?
Sacramento would be a great place for Bay Area tech companies to expand their operations to. It’s in close proximity to the Bay Area and has a great talent pool. There’s an appetite for more tech jobs and opportunity in Sacramento.
The city itself is becoming increasingly vibrant, with great nightlife, restaurants, outdoors and professional sports teams (go Kings!).
The Bay Area has built up a lot of pressure over the past several years, creating the “rat race” feeling, and Sacramento could be a great alternative at a lower cost.