Help Pease Moving to !! Stockton CA (San Jose, San Francisco: transplants, 2010, foreclosures)

[DMenscha]

The fog can get pretty heavy south of town between Manteca and French Camp. I've never had a problem on I-5, but 99 is another story.

[RyanLeeParis]

Stockton isn't that good or that bad, depending on the area you drive to. Stockton has some nice natural enviornments. The sky here is often blue.

I would say the city as a whole is majority Hispanic, but Whites are also almost (it seems) a near majority. Stockton has good people. Sometimes the city seems a tad unfriendly, but the overwhelming majority is nice people.

The schools are, in a word, garbage. I went to school here and the teachers didn't teach a thing. It would be best to send your kids to a school in another town.

Stockton is good or bad, depending on the lifestyle you want. If you want a (for the most part) nice enviornment, and extreme diversity, Stockton is the city. If that doesn't seem like your idea of fun, try the small towns in California.

[resusgirl]

Hi
Thanks for all the info, it really helps in getting a feeling for the place. I'm coming over to work as an ER Nurse in Dameron. I feel that it will be a great opportunity for me and my kids. We are all rea;;y looking forward to the whole experience.

[FutureFormerCalifornian]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

I don't think anyone is doing you a favor by bad mouthing Stockton. It has some nice places to live and if things were as bad as all these people say, the place would be a ghost town.

Many people stay in Stockton because they can't afford to leave. Wages are downright awful. When I left teaching I wound up commuting to Galt and Sacramento because I couldn't find a job in Stockton, no doubted because no quiero hablar espanol. Stockton is a mole on the ass of nothern CA. I was born in Lodi and moved to Stockton in 2000 because it is a bit cheaper and I worked for SUSD.

When I worked for SUSD, the district was over 50% Mexican. The children in the district spoke over 100 languages, but the Mexicans were catered to because they had the biggest #s. The education is truly awful. In one class @ Franklin HS a teacher friend of mine had 52 students and 32 desks. Schools are so poor (Marshall Middle is where I saw this) that children don't get a textbook to take home because it costs the school too much when kids on welfare lose them (no recourse). There is ONE set of books for the classroom and homework is done on copied packets. Don't believe me? Google the results for Stockton (and add Lincoln - DH went there in the 80s) and see what % of kids passed the exit exam. It's DISMAL. Franklin also had the drama (I heard about it secondhand because I live out of state now) of the coach "importing" boys from Samoa to play foo-bah because they're large and would make imposing team members. Didn't that stunt cost Franklin their athletics program and several state championships going years back?

Someone suggested going to zip 95219. True, there are some nice gated communities off March Ln, but that also encompasses the trashy apartment complexes on Mariners Dr which is very close to the Asian ghetto called Kelley Dr. One of those complexes forged receipts for alleged damages to the apartment when I moved out (found out they do this to everyone) and works with an attorney in Modesto whose sole job is suing people for less than $500 cases. They do this in superior court in order to drag an attorney into it because the defendant (tenant) can't afford their own attorney to defend themselves.

A word to the OP - you need to familiarize yourself with gang graffiti and try to find a place to live that's not been marked. Check with the PD as to which areas they would recommend avoiding.

Lodi is a nice place if you stay on the west side, but like Stockton, 50% of the houses are rentals and you will stick out like a sore thumb if you move to the east side amongst the Pakistanis and Hispanics. (Remember, the only Al Queda cell in the US was found in LODI. Remember Umer Hayat???)

Be prepared to not understand most of your patients because they won't speak english.

Our decision to leave our $920/rent apartment in Stockton for a 1,500 sq ft house in the midwest for less money was the best decision we ever made.

[thirtyish]

It would be a reasonalbe commute from Lodi, Woodbridge, Lockeford, Clements and Escalon to Dameron. I would not send my teens to Stockton schools. A little closer and more affordable would be Galt. It's smaller than both Lodi and Elk Grove.
I would highly recommend renting for awhile to get a feel for the areas. It's no joke about the gangs. It's one of the reasons we are heading to the Midwest/South. Good luch to you and choose carefully.

[njpipik]

Don't let peoples BS of gangs discourage you, they are not as bad as they say sometimes. As far as living here in Stockton, I don't suggest it, I suggest Woodbridge, very quiet, very quaint. Near Lodi, Stockton, etc. Kids in Linden end up doing about as much of drugs as the Stockton kids sadly peer pressure leaks everywhere, if any of your kids are old enough to work a job, jobs wont be that hard to find. Commute is not all that bad. I was born and raised in Stockton, funny enough I was born in Dameron, now that area is kinda bad. so, investing in a car alarm would be a good idea. Like JDM said, Bear Creek is the worst school for some kids to go to, it's pretty violent there, I almost went there but moved and came back and went to Lincoln, I reside in Northern Stockton still, there's a lot of homes for sale in my area, but if you worry about what a lot of people try to say to run you off, then Woodbridge would be the best to live at.

[resusgirl]

Thanks for the info..... I don't mind having to commute. That wouldn't be a problem as I commute now. I have looked at Elk Grove and even further up towards Sacremento. Would this be do able??

[Steve Bagu]

Welcome from a former cousin of yours, Ontario Canada to Los Angeles area and now retired in Baja Mexico. As a ER nurse you would not have any problem getting a job anywere in the US. I highly recommend So Calif. as the weather would be more in line if not more comfortable then the UK. San Diego is next to the water and offers many social entities then smaller citys/towns do not have. Yes, it does have Latinos due to being close to Mexico but there are so many nice areas to live in. Chula Vista is so of San Diego but only a few KMS drive north. Many hospitals and Spanish is not that big of a deal unless you work in a hospital that is a COUNTY Facility that has a large abundance of FREE WELFARE patients. There is a nursing shortage so you would be in luck. Also your kids would love the area. Wish you well in whatever choice you make. Stefhen (Baja Mexico)

[Gio850]

Hello Resusgirl, I too am planning a move to Stockton. Origionally from Canada, I am currently in Washington state. But I lived for 11 years in Sacramento, (in Fair Oaks which is an upscale area in the north part of the city.) It's an hour drive from Stockton to downtown Sacramento in light traffic, so yes, Lodi would be a better choice for you travelwise than Sacramento. Having spent a week visiting in Stockton, I'd say that north of Ben. Holt isn't bad and if I had kids, I'd probably be looking north of Hammer Lane.
Your kids will soon graduate highschool with American diplomas and then go on to American colleges or universities? Sending them to live on a school campus somewhere is expensive and can be TOO MUCH fun for them. It's better if they can commute to college from your home.
And sooner than you think, you will be an empty nester and you should think about that before investing in a big house that will end up being way too big for you. Although you are probably thinking that the slump in the housing market in Stockton will present a buying opportunity for you, renting for a while will certainly keep more options open. Good luck to you on this adventure.

[Don Vito]

Honestly id go with elk grove or id go with tracy if you dont mind a commute.