Northgate, Sacramento, CA

Northgate strings along the Northgate Boulevard corridor in the transition between South Natomas and North Sacramento, north of downtown and close to the river. The housing is a mix of postwar single-family and a heavy share of apartments, affordable and practical, with the everyday retail, markets, and services lined up right along the boulevard that gives the neighborhood its name. The location works hard. Interstate 5 and Business 80 are close, the line to downtown is quick, and the river and Gardenland sit nearby, which makes this one of the better-connected corridors on the central-north side. Almost everything here is oriented to the road. That orientation is also the honest cost. Northgate Boulevard carries heavy arterial traffic, industrial and freeway edges frame the area, and upkeep varies from block to block. The neighborhood does not pretend to be more than it is: a no-frills, convenient corridor where the value sits squarely in the price and the access. For a central-north location with this much freeway reach and a full run of services along a single street, Northgate delivers exactly that and lets the boulevard do the talking.