Relocating to Stockton California area. (Fresno, Sacramento: real estate market, apartments, renters)

[Chillone]

Hello,
I am relocating to the Sacramento area to Stockton for my job. I am looking to rent a place before buying a home. Any suggestions for apartments? Thanks!

Chillone

[StampinTami]

Do you have to move to Stockton? If you don't, I would recommend that you go elsewhere. We have lived here for 3 years. When we bought our house, our neighborhood was nice and quiet. It is not quiet any more. People speed down the circle we live on and we have kids on the block that ride around on their bikes. Thuggy looking punks walk and drive down the street at all times of the day/night. I swear just tonight I heard atleast 7 gun shots all in a row, super close to my house. Stockton has always had a really bad reputation for gangs and such but it seemed to be more in the south side of town. We moved here because it looked like the city was being cleaned up. Things quickly took a turn and even newer areas that are suppost to be nice have thugs wandering around. I can't figure out how some of them live where they do!

The only nicer area that I can point you to would be out 8 Mile rd, off the 5 where it is way expensive. Even with that, I don't know how the gang/thug situation would be. I'm sure they will make their way out there if they aren't already. I don't know of any nicer apts here in town that I could point you to. We are outta here as soon as we possibly can be! It is way overpriced here especially with all the crap that goes on here. Good luck with your move! Where are you moving from?

[RCL]

Originally Posted by Chillone

Hello,
I am relocating to the Sacramento area to Stockton for my job. I am looking to rent a place before buying a home. Any suggestions for apartments? Thanks!

Chillone

I second the other poster, I would avoid Stockton. I would also say avoid Lodi. Lodi has been rough for a long time (a few decades) and getting worse. Stockton used to have some really nice areas but it's now a bad area for gangs and with the overheated real estate market cooling off in that area, it will only get worse.

If you are working in Sacramento, then there are some nice towns outside of Sac you could look into such as Folsom, Roseville and Davis. Davis is a university town so it's not completely dead. Another town I can highly recommend (very safe, great schools, educated population, etc.) is Elk Grove. It's a decent commute to Sac. Commute to Stockton would be a bit longer, but it's really a nice area worth living in. There are also some trendy areas in downtown SAC to live such as near McKinley park (very pricey) and midtown which is also pricey but it's kind of the urban hipster part of town with some things to do.

If you are working in Stockton, I could recommend living in Tracy and commuting, or possibly living in Byron or Discovery Bay (the commute would be a bit longer).

Tracy does have some lesser areas but for the most part it's still livable in most areas. Haven't been to Lathrop or Manteca in a while so can't tell you much about them. Same with Galt and Ripon, haven't been in a while, though I hear there are decent areas.

I would not tell anyone to live in Stockton, unless they were going to UOP and live on campus.

Good luck

[Chillone]

Thanks for your responses. I am relocating from Sacramento because of my job and I don't want to commute at this time. So I was wondering about getting an apartment near the Stockton area. I love Sacramento and will probally return within 10 years but I want to save some money. What about Galt, Lodi, Morada, Tracy or the Manteca/Lathrop areas? Any information anyone? Thanks!

[StampinTami]

Originally Posted by Chillone

Thanks for your responses. I am relocating from Sacramento because of my job and I don't want to commute at this time. So I was wondering about getting an apartment near the Stockton area. I love Sacramento and will probally return within 10 years but I want to save some money. What about Galt, Lodi, Morada, Tracy or the Manteca/Lathrop areas? Any information anyone? Thanks!

I wouldn't do Lodi, there are lots of gang members there as well. It is getting bad and a lot come here to do their dirty work. I would look into Galt. I haven't heard much about Galt but it is pretty small. For comparisons, Lathrop has the lowest crime rating, from what I found. My DH goes to school in Lathrop and they are building like crazy. Would Tracy be that much closer than Sac? Since you like Sac so much, Galt could be a good mid spot? If you look into Lodi, I would make sure that it was a nicer area. I have not lived there so I am not sure what it would be like to live there. There are run down areas and that is where I seem to see the thugs. I still prefer to do my shopping in Lodi over Stockton. The people are nicer there than here still. I would choose a couple of areas and then come spend some time. Maybe talk to residents of apt complexes that you are looking at. Good luck!

[RCL]

Originally Posted by Chillone

Thanks for your responses. I am relocating from Sacramento because of my job and I don't want to commute at this time. So I was wondering about getting an apartment near the Stockton area. I love Sacramento and will probally return within 10 years but I want to save some money. What about Galt, Lodi, Morada, Tracy or the Manteca/Lathrop areas? Any information anyone? Thanks!

Again, I would avoid Lodi. Galt is OK.
As the other poster said, Lathrop is growing rapidly but it's still a nice community. It's closer than Tracy.

If you absolutely have to live in Stockton then I would spend a lot of time looking around and make sure you get into a safe area.

If it were me, I would also not sign any long-term lease, but go month-to-month until you are sure that a neighborhood is actually what it appears to be.

You will probably pay a little more for a month to month contract, but having the freedom to get out of an apartment or house with just 30 days notice is a MAJOR advantage in that area.

Stockton (and Lodi) are just teeming with gangs, drugs and crummy people. It's very similar to what happened in Fresno with lower cost housing attracting the wrong element relocating from the inner cities. So you need to be sure you know the neighborhood before you move in. And I would never buy property in Stockton. Even if you live in it now and keep it for a rental, the chances of getting crummy renters would be very high.

Good luck.

[Chillone]

Thank you all for your responses. They are very helpful. I will definitely keep my eyes and ears open! Still interested in hearing from people from the other areas of San Joaquin County. I am really curious about Galt, Tracy, Lathrop, Manteca, and Ripon. Thanks!

[thirtyish]

Stockton is trying to clean up, especially the downtown area with the new stadium and waterfront. But, I wouldn't live there. I don't even go there at night.

[thirtyish]

Galt is a growing community much like Elk Grove was 10 years ago. It also has it's better and not so good areas of town divided by East/West of the 99 freeway. All the Galt school are a part of the same school districts~ the schools CAT 6 scores and environments are vastly different. I'd best describe it as clicky.

[sonarrat]

I was very close to buying a condo on West Benjamin Holt Drive. Only the prospect of commuting from there to the peninsula kept me from buying, because under $150,000 for a nice property in a good area is hard to come by anywhere, not just in California.