Moving to Sacramento from San Francsico to purchase home, need to know what neighborhoods are safe (Orange: HOA fees, crime)

[wburg]

Elk Grove was a little farm town 10-15 years ago. When the building boom hit, they went from about 10,000 people to 100,000. So "downtown" Elk Grove kind of has some charm, but it is surrounded by brand-new stucco developments and strip malls. It's not bad as new suburbs go, but it's definitely another one of those new suburbs.

I wouldn't call Midtown a bad area per se, but it's kind of lively and loud and occasionally messy and it's adjacent to the central city so there is homelessness and vandalism and drunkenness. There isn't much parking and it is a mixed-income neighborhood, with people on SSI living on the same block as professionals with high incomes, which makes some people uncomfortable. Majin lives downtown, which is relatively unoccupied since most of the housing was destroyed back in the sixties, has more homelessness, vandalism and drunkenness, and is a bit less mixed-income.

[LaniK]

Elk Grove might be actually kinda what we want (I know, each to his own!)

After having lived in a number of various types of places, we know that we are rather "suburban people" (sans the big vehicles!) A slightly older suburb mixes some of the more modern with some of the older aspects of mature trees and established infrastructures, so that is appealing to us actually. What zip code would elk grove (or other neighborhoods similar) be in? Knowing that will help narrowing down our searches.

[Majin]

Originally Posted by LaniK

Elk Grove might be actually kinda what we want (I know, each to his own!)

[wburg]

Originally Posted by LaniK

Elk Grove might be actually kinda what we want (I know, each to his own!)

After having lived in a number of various types of places, we know that we are rather "suburban people" (sans the big vehicles!) A slightly older suburb mixes some of the more modern with some of the older aspects of mature trees and established infrastructures, so that is appealing to us actually. What zip code would elk grove (or other neighborhoods similar) be in? Knowing that will help narrowing down our searches.

It's not a slightly older suburb, it was mostly farmland until a decade ago, so mature trees are scarce. The area also has other problems: they started building a mall, but ran out of money halfway through so now they have an abandoned half-built mall monolith. You might look at the Pocket if you are interested in a mid-century suburb that meets your needs: it is a bit farther out, houses mostly 1940s-1960s, but mature trees, relatively close to amenities, and safe. Land Park and Curtis Park also meet those specs, but with older houses (1910-1940s and 1880s-1930s.)

[LaniK]

Well, I consider it a good thing that we do not all want the same things in life!

We found a home we like, but it is in escrow, though the neighborhood appeals to us. Can anyone tell me the name of the area? Link: 5608 Zoram Court, Sacramento CA - Trulia

I guess when I say older neighborhood, I mean 10 to 40 years etc. We currently live in an area built mainly during the 50's / 60's and would prefer something that has some modern flavor to it (a bit more than we have now in this older home).

Like I said before, the newer neighborhoods lack character (in my book) and the homes, though often large and nice, are built on flattened areas and overshadow each other and have zero views and no trees. What good is having a great picture window with nothing but your neighbors wall as the view?? No thanks! A little greenery and some thought to privacy in landscaping really can go a long way! As "older" people, we are not looking to do all this from scratch, as by the time it would be at an acceptable level, the kids would own the home and we would be gone!

[Mr. Ozo]

Actually, Elk Grove did a decent job of saving the Old growth oaks around Bruceville and Elk Grove, so the shoping center, while newish has huge Oak trees.

[wburg]

That neighborhood is in the unincorporated area between Sacramento and Citrus Heights, kind of Carmichael/Foothill farms-ish--another mid-century suburb for the most part. It's fairly safe, no public transit to speak of other than maybe a bus on Madison Avenue but if you have a car you can get to places. Mature trees, close to shopping at Madison/Manzanita and the Windmill shopping center, although it looks like a lot of stuff got knocked down and never rebuilt.

I guess I think of other things when people say "older neighborhood"--I live in a 103 year old house, which is about 25 years from being the oldest house on my block.

[LaniK]

I lived in a couple of different 'row houses' when in VA, and they certainly had their charm. I was young at the time and enjoyed living in the city for the life style. Time has changed my priorities and interests though, and having a child as well changed them again.

Having a family, even one with older children does warrant different needs (IMO) and we are good with a suburban life now. As well, I am disabled now so don't really get out so very much anymore, so a home that is nice to spend a lot of time is better for me.

Is there a name or particular identifier for the area I noted so I can know what homes are in the location? Also, if you know of similar areas, I would love to know about those as well.

And for all, I really do appreciate all of this info! It REALLY is so helpful to have people who can give us insight into the area. Can you tell me what you like best and least about living in the Sacramento area? How much is gas there?

[wburg]

LaniK: Sacramento doesn't have "row houses" like the kind in VA, not anywhere. There are some homes in the very oldest neighborhoods that are technically considered "row houses" but they are detached buildings on small landscaped lots, not attached rows like you find back east. I figured you were looking for neighborhoods with lawns and trees, not "fixer-upper" neighborhoods or even somewhat urban places. You mentioned wanting places with character and good access to transit, and the old inner suburbs fill that bill, while still being basically suburban.

Except for the old central city, which makes up about 5% of Sacramento's 100 square miles, Sacramento is ENTIRELY a series of annexed suburban neighborhoods. Developers kept building farther and farther out, buying up cheap farmland and turning it into expensive residential land. They built outside city limits to avoid city regulations and taxes. When the residents of the resulting neighborhoods realized they wanted city services like water and sewers, they were later annexed into the city.

One result of this process is what many in Sacrameto call the "uncity." There are about 1.4 million people in Sacramento County. About 450,000 live in Sacramento. Another 100,000 or so each live in the cities of Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and Elk Grove, and another 20,000 in the city of Galt. Maybe another few thousand live in the little semi-rural communities in the undeveloped parts of the county and little Delta towns like Locke, Isleton, Walnut Grove.

The remaining 450,000-500,000 people, or, in other words, more people than the largest city in the region, live in the uncity. It is an unincorporated but completely built-out region of suburbs that runs from the eastern Sacramento city limits at about Howe Avenue to the edges of Citrus Heights and Folsom at the eastern end of the county. There is no city government, so Sacramento County struggles to provide some equivalent level of services, despite the fact that counties aren't very well set up to deliver those services--nor do those in the uncity pay the city fees that are needed to properly fund those services.

Some parts of the Uncity are very pricey, like the Gold River gated community, which resisted efforts to make it part of the city of Rancho Cordova, or Fair Oaks, whose core is an old farm town but was never an incorporated city. Some are very poor, like the South Sacramento area between the southern edge of Sacramento and the northern border of Elk Grove. Some are somewhere in between, like Carmichael, Antelope, or Rosemont. None have a city government, so none really have much in the way of coordination or organization, other than the bare minimum the county provides.

And that's the problem with identifying places you might like in the outer suburbs of Sacramento County. If you were dropped into them at random, you would be hard-pressed to tell one of them from another, whether they were within the city limits of Sacramento (which, as I mentioned, is nearly all annexed suburbs) or Citrus Heights (which didn't become a city until 1997, after it was already built-out subdivisions and malls) or somewhere in the undifferentiated tissue of the uncity. They were not built with any sort of coordinated plan, so sometimes one part of a neighborhood is okay while another is not.

[angelinekm]

Thank you for your time. I appreciate EVERYONE's input. I just had NO idea of the areas/cities in the Sacramento area. (None) Now, I have a much better idea. Thank you again for your time and thoughts. Have a great week!