Sacramento looks good in 'Lady Bird': Here are all the filming spots you can visit in real life

In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Greta Gerwig poses for a portrait in New York to promote her film, "Lady Bird." Gerwig, a Sacramento native, filmed many of the scenes and backdrops in "Lady Bird" in Sacramento.

Click through this gallery to see the Sacramento landmarks featured in the film that you can visit in real-life. less In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Greta Gerwig poses for a portrait in New York to promote her film, "Lady Bird." Gerwig, a Sacramento native, filmed many of the scenes and backdrops in "Lady Bird" in ... more Photo: Scott Gries, Associated Press Photo: Scott Gries, Associated Press Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Sacramento looks good in 'Lady Bird': Here are all the filming spots you can visit in real life 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

When one considers the mythic potential of California, Sacramento is generally omitted from the conversation.

Raymond Carver set a few short stories along the banks of the Sacramento River, and Sam Mendes panned the city's tree-lined suburbs in a shot from "American Beauty," but besides the rare cameo, the state capitol is oft overlooked as a suitable setting for cinematic and literary ventures.

Then came Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird," an unabashed love letter to the state capitol, where much of the movie was shot.

In a twist of irony, the film follows the teenaged Christina "Lady Bird" McPherson, played by Saoirse Ronan, who longs to leave her hometown.

ABOVE GALLERY: Sacramento landmarks in "Lady Bird" you can visit in real life.

"I hate California, I want to go to the East Coast," Lady Bird says in the opening scene. "I want to go where culture is, like New York, or Connecticut or New Hampshire."

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For Lady Bird, Sacramento is the antithesis of the East Coast bourgeois values she idealizes. Lady Bird longs to attend college in Manhattan; her mother sees her at nearby UC Davis.

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"It paints a picture that perhaps a lot of young people feel when they're young and in Sacramento," city film commissioner Lucy Steffens, who worked on the film, told SFGATE.

"They might have felt there wasn't a whole lot to do and see, just as Lady Bird did. But once you leave, you realize what a good base the city is for growing up."

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.