Help! What Is Life Like In Sacramento? (Los Angeles, Fresno: transplants, rent)

[xtiamike]

I live in West Los Angeles and we (my family) are currently on the hunt for a good place to raise a family, nice neighborhood, good public schools, affodable lifestyle & cost of living and endless job opportunities. What is life like in Sacramento? Anyone out here who could give me an honest assessment of how it is in Sacramento, the best places to live, etc. would really help. Please post your replies...thanks!

[carole detherage]

Hi welcome to sacramento. If you want to know more about living here in sacramento its best to think about the type of life you like to live. when my husband and I moved here with our two kids, we decided to find a home in the center ( midtown) area. its more urban, the people more progressive and actually i find it to be a slower pace than living in the suburbs. I rarely have to worry about traffic, and everything is just a few minutes a way. however, there are less big walmart-y type stores. that is just fine with me, but I know people who dont know what to do if a costco is more than a few miles away. I like to shop at the natural foods coop, there are alot of farmers markets. etc etc. as far as schools go, they are very diverse in the area i live ( land park area) my son goes to McClatchy high and my daughter goes to sutter. Its like most other schools, that you have to be there and make your demands known otherwise you may not get them. it took me a bit of time at the high school to let my sons councler get the idea i wasnt going to settle for whatever classes they had room left in. all in all its been a positive change for my family

[outaPA]

What are the people like there? I know we are talking about generalizations, but every place has it's own character.

[Ryan]

City Center (Midtown), Natomas and Elk grove are the best areas in the immediate Sacramento area, but the places to be are just outside the city. Granite Bay, Folsom, Loomis, Eldorado Hills are the absolute nicest areas to live in if you don't mind a 15-45 min. commute. Second best would be Davis, Woodland, Lincoln; Rocklin and Roseville are the best of this range. Stay far away from West and South Sac. They are bad news. The residents in the Sac area are mostly Bay area transplants. LOTS of Eastern European immigrants. Very cool and down to earth people in the better areas. If you've got children, or are planning on having them the Granite Bay etc. areas are second to none anywhere in CA. Great schools, greats shopping, healthcare, suburban country atmosphere etc. Can't beat it.

[KidBlue]

Both Ryan and Carole are correct. You need to decide what lifestyle you and your family would like, and you should be able to find it in or near Sac. I've lived in the area for about 40 years. Land Park is very nice and central, but very expensive. Coming from LA this might not be an issue, but my friend bought a house in Land Park last year for $800K and it's not fancy.

West Sac has lots of nice new homes and is close to downtown. Lincoln, parts of Laguna, Roseville, Loomis, El Dorado Hills, and Folsom are all nice areas but are about a 40-60 minute drive to downtown depending on traffic. Traffic on Hwys. 50 and 80 is nasty a lot of the time.

Provide more info. and we can help you decide. Good luck.

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by xtiamike

I live in West Los Angeles and we (my family) are currently on the hunt for a good place to raise a family, nice neighborhood, good public schools, affodable lifestyle & cost of living and endless job opportunities. What is life like in Sacramento? Anyone out here who could give me an honest assessment of how it is in Sacramento, the best places to live, etc. would really help. Please post your replies...thanks!

There are many aspects to Sacramento but physically, it's a seamless suburb all the way east to Folsom and Roseville. I think the best areas are Folsom, Orangevale, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Land Park and "Midtown" if you can afford the cost. Life in Land Park and the midtown/downtown area can be nice if you're into dense, well-kept housing. The outlying and newly constructed suburbs have the standard SUV/yuppie lifestyle of Los Angeles. They are making the area increasingly bland and rushed.

Neighborhoods known for higher crime rates are: South Sacramento (Broadway & Fruitridge), Del Paso Heights (north of downtown), North Highlands and parts of Rancho Cordova. There are decent areas in all of the above, but that's a fair generalization. Del Paso Heights had glory days many decades ago and they're trying to revitalize it. West Sacramento is still fairly dumpy but it's being improved.

If you're trying to escape the madness of population growth, you're out of luck here. Traffic is getting constantly worse and nobody has the means to declare "no more people!" There's the usual planning for growth that never solves anything because growth itself is the problem.

Summer can bring weeks of temperatures above 100 and poor air quality. It's not a whole lot better than L.A. smog in my experience. Spring and fall have some of the best seasonal weather you'll find anywhere. It almost never snows and winters are tame. Summer is the only thing I don't like about Sacramento weather but some people thrive on the heat.

The American River Parkway may be THE best thing around here. They managed to preserve 30 miles of nearly uninterrupted hiking, biking, rafting and wildlife-viewing right in the middle of 2 million people. I don't know if southern California has anything equivalent to it. In my opinion, the Parkway and hilly terrain to the east, saves the area from being just another Stockton or Fresno baking in the sun.

I'm leaving Sacramento because of the heat, smog and a third-world lifestyle that's creeping outside the known bad sectors. I think all of California suffers from that problem, though. Sacramento is a good place for those who can afford the better venues or get lucky with good neighbors. It's certainly no worse than most other metro areas of its size. Take a look at Davis if you want to be near Sacramento but surrounded by brighter people overall. My opinions are based on two decades of living here.

[MegAsh]

I grew up in the area.

Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, and Folsom are your best bets for family living. They are clean, offer good schools, great shopping, easy commute to Sacramento, Reno, and SF. Not to mention lots of jobs for teenagers.
Natomas is your best bet for a place in Sacramento, it is newly renovated and very clean with easy access to downtown and right next to the airport. I have travelled the country and I never realized how superb these areas are for family living until I left, you can't go wrong there.

Davis is also a decent place, with a great college.

Housing there is expensive. Rent is not to bad around $800 for 1bd in comparison to other places in the valley.

[ur12]

The description provided by ca north is accurate and descriptive.
Housing costs are out of all proportion to reality.
As a licensed contractor w/35+ yrs exp., I renovate housing for SHRA... and last winter houses in Del Paso Hgts. were asking 300,00+.
We could make the houses pass the codes and be livable, but it was not going to change the environment.
On the other hand, the 'better locations urban or suburban are going to get you to 500K real quick.
Natomas might be a REAL problem......maybe not, but it's a bowl on the Sacramento River. Do your research on this one.

[nursenerd]

My husband and myself currently live in Houston,Tx. We are looking to relocate and possibly to California. We have a house that we can rent in Ventura for cheap, or cheap by CA standards. I'm worried about the cost of living, overpopulation and crime. Our city has rapidly spirled down hill with the Katrina evacuees causing a 26% increase, this year alone, in the murder rate. I've never been itching to get to CA, but he has. I just don't want our bubble to burst when we get there and my family living in poverty. Any advice or suggestion? Anyone?

[KidBlue]

California is a big state with anything from the ocean to the desert to the Sierra Nevada mountains. There are some places that are still affordable, but I need more information to give you suggestions on what might work for you. Since you are writing on the Sacramento forum, there are lower cost areas that are still available near Sacramento, but will you need to be close to jobs, schools, etc.?