Alkali Flat

Alkali Flats is a triangularly shaped, well-groomed neighborhood located a mile north of downtown Sacramento. The district itself is clean and calm, stretching nine square blocks. Residential areas are saturated with modest, tree-covered apartment complexes while business development is blanketed with local government activity.

The neighborhood is somewhat family friendly. The area offers two neighborhood parks, Zapata Park and J. Neely Johnson Park. Both areas provide enough room for families to run around and play with their kids. Residences are made up of thin, quaint Victorian style homes, with small front yards and stairs inclining up to front porches. For those visiting, there are a few satisfactory hotels (such as a Best Western which is located on H Street and 11th Street). The community also has its fair share of commercial activity. There are a handful of mid-rise commercial, local government buildings and for-rent business offices. And with business development comes a host of large private parking lots surrounding each building. However, Alkali Flats boasts newly paved streets and wide sidewalks which give the community an alluring aesthetic appeal.

Not too far from the border is American River Parkway. In many local circles, the parkland is coined “the jewel” of Sacramento. It hosts more than 5 million visitors annually, providing fishing, boating and rafting opportunities for water recreation enthusiasts. Moreover, the parkway offers picnic sites, golfing, guided natural and historic tours as well as miles of hiking trails following the beautiful Sacramento River.

For your public transit needs, Sacramento Amtrak Station lies just outside the neighborhood to the west (located on H Street). The neighborhood hosts two bus lines. The F street line runs east/west while the 12th street line edges the eastern border and traverses a north/south path. Even an active railroad skirts the northeastern edge of the neighborhood. Street parking could become a hassle in this area, especially during commute hours. However, locals have an option to park in the various parking garages located throughout the community.

Alkali Flats is somewhat like its neighbor, Mansion Flats, except that many of the older buildings here really do show a lot of sign of age—faded and cracked paint jobs from who knows how many decades ago. This is not the case with the whole neighborhood however. There are some newer buildings and renovated residences that make the area look as if it is undergoing a rebirth of sorts, but it does look more uneven here than in other areas of the city.

You can even find a former mill—Globe Mills—that has been transformed into lofts, evidently with artists and hipsters in mind. Sac’s relatively low rents make it a little easier for artistic types who cannot really afford the cost of living in the SF Bay Area to the west.

Alkali Flat is also a nice spot for commuters because it not only has bus lines but an Amtrak Station—so those commuting to Davis to the west or the Bay Area have easy access to transportation.

Alkali Flat is also home to KCRA one of the local TV stations—whose transmitter tower can be seen from most of the neighborhood, and is close to the Down Town area with the Capital Mall and all that not too far to the south.

It’s not a great area but the low rents and the good transportation give it a lot of positives.