While Thanksgiving is an annual reminder to be grateful — for our families, friends, health and solvency — I know many people who make gratitude a daily, if not continuous state of mind. One of those people is me.
Living and working in the Capital Region makes it kind of easy. In addition to being surrounded by nature’s finest delights — rivers, mountains and moderate weather, which allow us to live an indoor/outdoor life here practically year-round — the area has expanded its historically rich origins into playing a major role in its prosperity and posterity.
When discussing the region’s amenities, it’s always tempting to create lengthy lists of our colleges, universities, private and public schools; our attractiveness to high-tech enterprises, mom-and-pop businesses and thousands of retail and wholesale centers; our being the capital of California, the fourth-largest economy in the world (if it were to be measured as a country), and on and on.
But what’s mentioned less is something not as tangible but just as real: the relative ease of living and working here.
Yes, we have a rush hour — but if you compare it to that of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, ours seems like a small price to pay (and far fewer commute hours) to allow us to enjoy a balanced life. In short, we can get to and from work without it taking up a quarter of our day.
Economic development experts have said, over the past 30 years, what attracts companies to relocate to a particular region includes several not-so-surprising factors: the availability of a skilled and/or educated work force; reasonable or custom-tailored square-foot prices for leasing and purchasing; transportation access for business travel and product shipping; and quality-of-life amenities, such as fine restaurants, sports, arts and theater in all its forms (drama, ballet, classical and other music).
It’s obviously not just our restaurant menus that are diverse. We remain one of the most diverse regions in the United States: multi-racial, multi-cultural and most of the time, harmonious.
All of that is wonderful. But, the experts add, what really matters is the answer to this question: Will the relocating businesses and their employees be welcomed into their new community? Will its longtime residents appreciate their arrival and see the positives of what they’ll add to the fabric or ethic of the region and neighborhood? And do the “homies” recognize that the out-of-towners will bring with them new jobs, economic growth and — depending on how wise the newcomers are — charitable inclinations? Will they join nonprofit boards? Will they contribute energy, time and dollars to our little commonwealth?
Well, we must be doing something right!
Since before this century even began, we’ve gone from being known as “only” a government hub and cow town into a magnet for healthcare, high-tech and even semiconductor enterprises (coming soon, maybe, are controversial but economy-improving data centers). Our biggest nearby rival was San Francisco — where, today, about a third of its 100 million square feet of office space sits vacant. By comparison, even after COVID had its way with us, we currently have only an 11 percent vacancy rate of our more than 105 million square feet of inventory, according to Kidder Mathews.
Our region’s on the grow (take a look at our Project Showcase section in this issue). For example, Samsung, Solidigm, Bosch, the Centene Corporation and more than a dozen other boldface corporate names are choosing the Capital Region for research and development and manufacturing.
But this month’s letter isn’t meant to be an advertisement. If you live and work here, you already know what’s special about the Greater Sacramento area, which as far back as our founding over 37 years ago, Comstock’s calls California’s Capital Region. And why so many of us are so thankful to be part of its rich history, present pleasures and very hopeful future.
Sacramento State and other area institutions maintain statistics on how many of their local graduates remain here and out-of-town alums relocate here. It’s that “ease” of living that draws us in or draws us back: friendly people willing to embrace newcomers as natives; a lifestyle that can have you attending a new cultural event almost nightly; rivers and hiking trails to fill our days with all-essential sunlight; lectures, poetry readings, large book stores such as Barnes & Noble and imaginative, well-stocked midsized ones including Beers Books, Avid Reader, Time Tested Books, East Village Bookshop, Underground Books and Wild Sisters.
We should all be grateful for the sheer number of entertainment and personal fulfillment choices in our region. We have the expansive Sacramento Zoo and the charming and educational Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. We have 15,000 acres of regional parks in Sacramento County alone. We have a professional NBA team and the iconic Golden 1 Center. We have professional soccer (and soon, a brand-new stadium to host it). We have wall-to-wall news media options, public TV, public radio, a great business magazine and an international presence.
The days of having to mumble “Sacramento” when someone asked where you’re from have been replaced by a long-simmering pride of place. It’s worth thinking about — and being thankful for.
What makes you happy about our region, and what are you most grateful for?
Wishing all of you a blessed and gratitude-filled life.
Winnie Comstock-Carlson
President and Publisher
–
Stay up to date on business in the Capital Region: Subscribe to the Comstock’s newsletter today.