Davis – the quintessential California college town

[OhioGuy]

I’d been wanting to stop by Davis ever since moving to the Bay Area but was holding off in 2020 and 2021 with the assumption it might be lacking some vitality due to Covid impacts. I finally made it there yesterday on a beautiful sunny and breezy 80-degree (27C) day. I explored downtown, perused the popular Saturday Farmers Market, wandered around the UC Davis campus, and strolled through the gorgeous UC Davis arboretum. I always enjoy visiting college towns and this is one of the best I’ve visited!

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4 - Entering the UC Campus


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6 - The Aggies men's soccer team was taking on Sacramento State


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22 - Heading down 3rd Street from campus to the Saturday Farmers Market


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27 - The popular Saturday Farmers Market in Central Park


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31 - Lively Central Park


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40 - Heading into downtown


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55 - Entering the UC Arboretum


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58 - Just off the Arboretum is the UC Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science


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63 - Back to the Arboretum


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68 - The Arboretum even includes this Redwood section


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82 - Exploring the residential area of Central Davis just north of campus


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Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Davis, CA!

[bilbao58]

Thanks for the tour! That may be the least California-y looking town in California I've seen so far. I checked out Google street view of Downtown Sacramento (since it's nearby) to see if it's the same and, nope, looks totally California-y. It must be the lack of palm trees that makes Davis look like it could be somewhere else.

[SLO]

Great job, iTs a nice town and great school.

[destroycreate]

Wow, Davis is so nice and green! Didn't expect there to be so much tree cover for some reason (thought it'd be sorta brown like Tracy).

[edale]

Looks like a charming town, and I love all the greenery and trees. I'd like to visit Davis and Sacramento some day.

[EastSideHBG]

Beautiful!

[ChrisLA]

Nice, I’ve only passed through Davis so I didn’t see much. It would have been nice if I had the time to check it out.

I also want to add that lots of cities and towns in the Central Valley and beyond in California are full of greenery and large trees, especially if they are the ones that have some history and or not newly developed areas. Try visiting Fresno older neighborhoods, you be amazed how beautiful they are. Now if you just passed by on Highway 99 through the outskirts of this city it really would not make any want to explore more. Yet there are neighborhoods that look very similar to what is featured in this thread. Besides that other than late spring through the summer months the hills and the flat land in the San Joaquin Valley are very green.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

Try visiting Fresno older neighborhoods, you be amazed how beautiful they are. Now if you just passed by on Highway 99 through the outskirts of this city it really would not make any want to explore more. Yet there are neighborhoods that look very similar to what is featured in this thread. Besides that other than late spring through the summer months the hills and the flat land in the San Joaquin Valley are very green.

The Fabulous Forties in east Sacramento is a similar neighborhood.

Also, if you visit the San Joaquin Valley in the early spring, the almond blossoms are very beautiful. They remind me of the famous cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.

[xzmattzx]

I like that theater!

[OhioGuy]

Thanks everyone! Yes the tree coverage in Davis is wonderful. So much better than having lots of palm trees which don't provide much shade (though they're nice to see mixed in). I'm sure the tree canopy in Davis is a great way of dealing with the sun and heat that prevails throughout the Central Valley in the summer months.

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

The Fabulous Forties in east Sacramento is a similar neighborhood.

Love that area of Sacramento! I walked around much of East Sacramento exactly one year ago in April 2021. I need to go back soon for another stroll. Love that area!

[AviationGuy]

Thanks for the tour. Beautiful photos of a great college town.

My only experience with Davis was driving by on the interstate quite a few years ago. Our group was in CA on business and we were driving from Sacramento to San Francisco, and stopped for lunch along the interstate at Davis. I remember that my boss said "nothing here" so we didn't explore at all. Big mistake. Maybe some day I'll get to see Davis for real. A friend of mine lives there now and keeps telling me I need to visit.

[jd3189]

Beautiful greenery. I’ve noticed that Northern California has a bit more of it than down south.

[mrnyc]

very nice and thx for showing it to us -- i would have loved to go to undergrad there.

or ... maybe here?

[ChrisLA]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Beautiful greenery. I’ve noticed that Northern California has a bit more of it than down south.

You do realize those are planted and landscaped, and Davis is plenty hot in the summertime they need that shade. I can show you plenty of neighborhoods that look just like those leafy streets right here in the LA metro. I live in the San Fernando Valley and most streets in Woodland Hills look like these streets. Even the older communities in arid communities of the Inland Empire look similar, Upland, Claremont (Davis looks similar) immediately comes to mind. Also many parts of the San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods streets are just as green and leafy.

Now if you’re talking about the rolling hills they may have a few more trees depending on the elevation but most of them also turn brown in the summer just as they do in Southern California. The only argument I can agree with would be coastal California way up north near the Oregon boarder.

[the pope]

i did enjoy it, and thanks for sharing!

[SLO]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

You do realize those are planted and landscaped, and Davis is plenty hot in the summertime they need that shade. I can show you plenty of neighborhoods that look just like those leafy streets right here in the LA metro. I live in the San Fernando Valley and most streets in Woodland Hills look like these streets. Even the older communities in arid communities of the Inland Empire look similar, Upland, Claremont (Davis looks similar) immediately comes to mind. Also many parts of the San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods streets are just as green and leafy.

Now if you’re talking about the rolling hills they may have a few more trees depending on the elevation but most of them also turn brown in the summer just as they do in Southern California. The only argument I can agree with would be coastal California way up north near the Oregon boarder.

I’d actually have to agree with him, it’s subtle but noticeable. I grew up not far from Davis +\-30 mins but also lived in LA/Torrance/RB and SD and central coast. It’s just average annual rainfall increases as you go north.

[SLO]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

Thanks everyone! Yes the tree coverage in Davis is wonderful. So much better than having lots of palm trees which don't provide much shade (though they're nice to see mixed in). I'm sure the tree canopy in Davis is a great way of dealing with the sun and heat that prevails throughout the Central Valley in the summer months.



Love that area of Sacramento! I walked around much of East Sacramento exactly one year ago in April 2021. I need to go back soon for another stroll. Love that area!

Yeah Sacramento in general has a lot of tree coverage, def the most for the major cities in Ca.

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

You do realize those are planted and landscaped, and Davis is plenty hot in the summertime they need that shade. I can show you plenty of neighborhoods that look just like those leafy streets right here in the LA metro. I live in the San Fernando Valley and most streets in Woodland Hills look like these streets. Even the older communities in arid communities of the Inland Empire look similar, Upland, Claremont (Davis looks similar) immediately comes to mind. Also many parts of the San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods streets are just as green and leafy.

Now if you’re talking about the rolling hills they may have a few more trees depending on the elevation but most of them also turn brown in the summer just as they do in Southern California. The only argument I can agree with would be coastal California way up north near the Oregon boarder.

That’s true, but I don’t know. Doesn’t Northern California receive slightly more rain still?

Yeah, there are green areas near the coast in Southern California like around Santa Barbara, rural areas inland of San Diego, southern parts of Redlands, and places you’ve mentioned in the San Fernando Valley( haven’t really been there yet). But the rolling green hills that I saw while driving into the Bay from the 5 around Tracy was unlike anything I saw in SoCal so far, at least in the IE.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by jd3189

That’s true, but I don’t know. Doesn’t Northern California receive slightly more rain still?

Yeah, there are green areas near the coast in Southern California like around Santa Barbara, rural areas inland of San Diego, southern parts of Redlands, and places you’ve mentioned in the San Fernando Valley( haven’t really been there yet). But the rolling green hills that I saw while driving into the Bay from the 5 around Tracy was unlike anything I saw in SoCal so far, at least in the IE.

Those will all turn brown by the summer.

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Great pics, OhioGuy! I haven't been to Davis in many years now. I've only been twice; my sister's in-laws live in Granite Bay, so, on a few visits, my partner and I stopped in Davis. It's a nice little college town, and I knew a guy who went to UC Davis.

[innov8]

Well done OhioGuy. Lots of bikes in Davis, I think the ratio is 2.1 bikes per person.