Should we move to Sacramento or Davis

Always live near where you work for sanity and financial security purposes. I grew up in a commuter suburb of NYC and learned this lesson quickly. It has never failed me 40+ years later. Davis is nice by all accounts, so there ya go.

Why does Sacramento seem more appealing? Davis is pretty nice.

The main issue is Sacramento seems much more appealing. It's not. I've lived in both cities and moved from Sac to Davis even while working in Sacramento, because Davis is nicer. Davis has a nice, friendly, fun, college town atmosphere. Sacramento is sort of a generic mid-sized city. Davis is also very bike-able, the whole city is full of bike-friendly features. Alternatively, you *can* bike across the causeway between Davis and Sac, but it's pretty awful. I've done it a bunch of times but it's ugly and noisy and long.

I forgot to add that the only way in which Sacramento is better than Davis is that housing is less expensive and a little bit nicer (very, very much depending on the area of town you live in). Davis is definitely a college town, so you have college town landlords and prices. But in all other respects Davis would be a much more pleasant place to live. The benefits far outweigh cheaper rent. My husband and I stayed in Sac because we're lazy and didn't want to deal with moving, but we often regretted it!

Check the http://www.capitolcorridor.org/ costs and schedule: I know a guy who used to commute in to Berkeley from Davis on the train. Might be an easy way to commute in, or might be a way to say "heck, from Davis we can get to SF and up to the Sierra, we don't have to add to the commute".

If you don't have a car you probably don't want to live in Sacramento. You could live in midtown Sacramento without a car pretty easily, but it would be really difficult to get between the two cities without one. I lived in Sacramento as a UCD undergrad. It was only manageable because I had a car, and my boyfriend (now husband) and I could get an inexpensive carpool parking pass. We tried the public transport options, and even biked from Sac to Davis a few times, but it was just too hard to make work. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/parking/transportation/intercampus_shuttle/. The UCD Med Center is in Sacramento, but it is in an area that is expensive and not easy to get to on public transport, and not an area that would be easy to live in without a car.

I agree with the above. I was commuting from sac to UC by train to do some volunteer work, and it's a massive pain in the ass...the best I could manage was Amtrak, but it's kinda pricy, infrequent, and a fair walk to campus. I love Davis, I'd live there over Sac any day. Davis is really cute and walkable. You will definitely want a car in Sac.

I have taken the Capital Corridor through Davis and Sacramento many times on weekends and holidays, and it's a pretty pleasant ride. There's usually lots of seats and it only gets crowded around Thanksgiving/Christmas. I'm not sure about commuting between those two stops, though -- the Sacramento Amtrak station is not convenient from most residential parts of the city, and the train gets delayed sorta often. What appeals to you about living in Sacramento versus Davis? Davis has a great atmosphere -- it's a college town, but I wouldn't say it's rowdy. It's walkable, and of course bike-friendly. Based on my experiences visiting friends in both places, I'd much rather live in Davis.

to modify my lady comment...you will probably want TWO cars in Sac, if you are both working. We did it on one, but I was working from home.