Fron CS to CZ - where to disembark?

[the_traveler]

I live there and Sacramento sucks; moving to Oregon soon. Old Sac is full of thugs and there have been a lot of purse snatching lately and two shootings. There are no good restaurants near the station, the mall is packed with thugs. The station itself is in shambles/rehab, with a looooooong steep tunnel from the tracks to the station. Davis is small, cute with a nice hotel steps away, a movie theater also steps away and you're right downtown with lots of nice places to eat/shop.

As far as "thugs" and "purse snatching" and "shootings", that can be said about nearly any city or town in the US. The last time I switched trains in Sacramento, I went to the RR museum and old Sacramento and the downtown mall for dinner - and witnessed none of those! Oh, and I also was carrying my luggage with me the whole time!

 

[tp49]

I live there and Sacramento sucks; moving to Oregon soon. Old Sac is full of thugs and there have been a lot of purse snatching lately and two shootings. There are no good restaurants near the station, the mall is packed with thugs. The station itself is in shambles/rehab, with a looooooong steep tunnel from the tracks to the station. Davis is small, cute with a nice hotel steps away, a movie theater also steps away and you're right downtown with lots of nice places to eat/shop.

As far as "thugs" and "purse snatching" and "shootings", that can be said about nearly any city or town in the US. The last time I switched trains in Sacramento, I went to the RR museum and old Sacramento and the downtown mall for dinner - and witnessed none of those! Oh, and I also was carrying my luggage with me the whole time!

In fairness I live a few blocks from the mall and walk through it almost daily so I have a much larger sample size. While it's a pretty dead mall and soon to become an arena for our NBA team there is a pretty big thug element on the 7th Street side closer to the bus stop and the light rail station. I've witnessed it on a large number of occasions over the years and it's a major reason there is an elevated police presence on the 7th Street side most days. The food court area is for the most part fine. During the day Old Sac is fine but the issues happen at night when the bars and nightclubs are operating after most of the tourists have retired for the evening. Of the two shootings one was on New Year's Eve and was the result of a bar fight I can't remember the other. In reality I don't think that many people connecting to the Starlight venture too far from the station after 8PM or so after the mall, businesses and museums in Old Sac close for the night so I think the risk there is minimal.

 

[margo]

Maybe this area wouldn't be too safe around midnight (when we're scheduled to arrive). ?? :unsure:

 

[guest]

Maybe this area wouldn't be too safe around midnight (when we're scheduled to arrive). ?? :unsure:

Assuming you are walking to the nearby hotels e.g. the Vagabond and/or Holiday Inn, it's very safe. I have walked around the area numerous times late at night. I'm sorry to say but I think the individual who is moving to Oregon from Sacramento must have unstated issues with the city. He/she makes it out to be one crime after another, and it's simply not true.

But for reasons completely apart from the spurious comments about Sacramento as "crime central," I agree with other posters that it makes much more sense to detrain the CS in Emeryville and board the CZ there. You''ll get a good night's sleep even if the Starlight becomes its occasional evil twin the Starlate and arrives in Emeryville an hour or two behind schedule, whereas if you would be in Sacramento trying to get to sleep in a hotel at 2 a.m. in that case. And the scenery out of Emeryville is really nice, which you will see if you board the CZ there, especially San Pablo Bay, the Chevron Oil Refinery mega-complex, the mothballed Navy fleet, the railroad bridge at Martinez and the wide-open marshes of the Sacramento Delta.

A plus for Emeryville as well: if you are an early riser, you can go out to the end of the street and get a great early morning view of San Francisco and the new Bay Bridge!

 

[margo]

I think EMY sounds better. I'll try to get something close for less than $200.00, though.

 

[gmushial]

The only comment I'd offer is: if you're riding coach, the earlier you get on (in order of stations), the better choice of seats you'll have, especially given how full the CZ has been running of late - I took this tact on my ride of the CZ two weeks ago, and got on at OMA vs LNK, where the difference was getting one of the two window seats left vs getting none. If choice of seat is of no concern, then ignore the comment. [at DAV you're going to get one, maybe two people getting on; at SAC you'll have a couple dozen.]

 

[gmushial]

I think EMY sounds better. I'll try to get something close for less than $200.00, though.

Picking your dates is important: there can be a 2:1 price difference by just changing the date by one day - use the AmScan site to find the prices over a series of dates, or just poke the Amtrak site, pick a date, check the price, pick a different date and check the price etc.

This is a list of SAC-OMA prices I'm looking at over the next month:

Fri 09/13/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 SO $1295.00 SO NA

Sat 09/14/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 SO SO SO

Sun 09/15/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $222.00 SO $1295.00 SO NA

Mon 09/16/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 SO SO SO NA

Tue 09/17/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 SO SO SO

Wed 09/18/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 SO SO SO

Thu 09/19/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $222.00 $735.00 SO SO NA

Fri 09/20/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 $735.00 SO $1597.00 NA

Sat 09/21/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 $1295.00 $1597.00 NA

Sun 09/22/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Mon 09/23/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 $626.00 SO SO NA

Tue 09/24/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 SO SO NA

Tue 09/24/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 SO SO NA

Wed 09/25/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 SO SO NA

Thu 09/26/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Fri 09/27/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 SO $1295.00 SO NA

Sat 09/28/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $277.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Sun 09/29/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Mon 09/30/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $178.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Tue 10/01/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Wed 10/02/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 $735.00 $1295.00 SO NA

Thu 10/03/13 Details 6 California Zephyr $141.00 $735.00 $1295.00 $1597.00 NA

As you can see - the prices vary quite a bit by date... if you're not hemmed in by dates, changing your travel dates by one or two days can save quite a bit.

 

[chakk]

I totally agree with the recommendation to change from the CS to the CZ at Emeryville. Earlier arrival from LA, and enjoying the view of Suisun Bay and the Mothball Fleet from the CZ in daylight.

 

[margo]

Thank you all for your help. Actually, our trip isn't until March (I just like planning it) and we're traveling AGR points in a roomette and bedroom. We love Amtrak and really love AGR.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Sorry to resurrect an older thread, but we're thinking about a similar trip for this summer, only in reverse - arriving on the westbound CZ, and taking the southbound CS the next morning.

I've checked out a few of the hotels in this thread, but most seem to be above our budget (we usually stay in 2-3 star hotels like Holiday Inn for $100-$150 per night). The new hotel in Davis looks nice - I hadn't even considered Davis before reading this thread, but it looks like a possibility.

However, I still think that my first choice would be Emeryville. We've never been to San Francisco, and by detraining in EMY we would have the afternoon/evening to do some sightseeing (assuming that the CZ is usually on time, which it appears to be as of now). It would also give us a wider variety of hotels in the SF area to choose from - assuming we could get back to EMY to make the southbound CS the next morning.

Alternately, if we are going to San Francisco that night anyway, maybe we could stay near the station at Oakland / Jack London Square?

If anyone has any hotel/station suggestions I'd love to hear them.

 

[chakk]

Hotels around Jack London Square are not a very high quality. Nor is that neighborhood at night.

I would recommend taking the CZ to EMY and overnighting at one of the hotels near the Amtrak station, so you would be close to the EMY station for boarding the CS in the morning. Also, as soon as you board the CS, I would recommend going straight to the diner for breakfast after checking in with your SCA.

You would be able to do a bit of sightseeing in San Francisco after your afternoon arrival on the CZ.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hotels around Jack London Square are not a very high quality. Nor is that neighborhood at night.

I would recommend taking the CZ to EMY and overnighting at one of the hotels near the Amtrak station, so you would be close to the EMY station for boarding the CS in the morning. Also, as soon as you board the CS, I would recommend going straight to the diner for breakfast after checking in with your SCA.

You would be able to do a bit of sightseeing in San Francisco after your afternoon arrival on the CZ.

I agree with this! You can use one of the Travel Sites (I like Kayak and Bookit.com because you can actually see the Hotel. the Location, Amenities, Read Guests Comments etc. as Opposed to "Blind Booking on Priceline or Hotwire).to find a Deal on a Hotel! Remember the bay Area is Very Popular in the Summer so Prices will be High!