Every now and then it is helpful to understand how the world at large views our beloved city of Sacramento. What if we do not like the world’s view about our city? What could we do to create a more positive image? What if we really liked others’ views? Could we get more people to embrace these positive images?

Well, what does the world think of Sacramento? Who is writing about Sacramento and what are they saying? If you asked somebody from Kansas to finish the following sentence, what would they say?

“Sacramento is the largest ……”

Let’s ask Google to complete the sentence. I did and Google provided 479 results. Ten of the most interesting are:

1. Sacramento is the largest metro area in the U.S. with a high flooding danger.
2. Sacramento is the largest metropolitan center without a state-of-the-art planetarium and observatory.
3. Sacramento is the largest metro area in the country without a private university and the only capital in the United States without a private university.
4. CalPERS, based in Sacramento, is the largest pension fund in the United States.
5. Old Sacramento is the largest concentration of historic buildings in California.
6. The California State Railroad Museum, located in Sacramento, is the largest museum of its kind in North America.
7. Sacramento is the largest city in California and the sixth-largest in the nation that has no form of independent oversight of its police Department.
8. Sacramento is the largest exporter of rice in the United States.
9. Sacramento is the largest TV market in the nation not served by its own regional sports network.
10. The California Teamsters Apprenticeship Training Center, headquartered in Sacramento, is the largest Teamsters Union training program in the United States.

Are these the messages that we want the world to have of Sacramento?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive