Moving from Idaho to CA. possibly Oakdale, Need advice on the area,....

[GregJ]

Originally Posted by papot

My wife and I raised our children in Oakdale and just recently moved to Waterford. Oakdale is a safe and sane place to raise kids. Great schools, many churches, small town but growning, enough shopping to stay nearby. We are trying to sell our American Craftsman house built 1910, 1950 sq ft, pool, many upgrades but still retains the old house charm. Are you interested?

Been to Oakdale many times. Nice place to settle. House? Tell me about it?

[izzy]

I don't know how far oakdale is from Modesto...but I live in Valley Springs, which is an hour from Modesto. It is in the foothills and has rolling hills and oak trees. You're above the tule fog and it is beautiful here winter and spring. We get frost, some hail, lots of rain. Just like the valley. The summers are hot. Last year this area and the valley reached 115 for a few days. It's nice to be in the hills instead of the flat land.

The schools are great. The town is small...not even a stop light. Most homes are on 1/2 acre lots. You can get a new home here for around $360,000. on a 1/2 acre. Housing is cheaper here than in the Valley. But rentals may be limited. Not a big town. You and your hubby should drive up and have a look.

On my pic webpage the last four pictures are of our neighborhood in Valley Springs. Everything else is within a hour of here.

http://home.comcast.net/~lesrox/photos.html

Catch you later,

Izzy

[LovinOakdale]

I think you will enjoy Oakdale. It is growing, but growth is not always a bad thing. Homes are going up, but so is population everywhere. You can't get away from babies being made. Parts of Modesto are very nice as well. It really depends on what area. Modesto has alot to offer. i love Oakdale. The biggest reason is the people. They are very nice here and always say hello. The traffic thru town can be rough, but learning to get around it is cake. I travel to Turlock every day and it can be foggy, but it is not that way every day. My daughter's school-mate recently moved to ID and they want to come back to Oakdale. My daughter also plays sports here and they are great; the schools are really good too.

[Jenn2010]

I've lived in Oakdale my whole life, ((im a sophmore in high school so you know)) Its a great town in my opinion, small but great. Yes the population is growing but everyone here is friendly. Were the type of people that if your stopped at a red light and theres a car right next to you, and you wave, they'll wave right back. The homes are nice even though they are getting expensive, but yet most of California's homes in general al getting expensive. The education system from what I've gone through is really good too, almost all of the teachers I've had take the extra time to help you out. I know because Im young I have yet to fully experince my lifetime here in Oakdale that you may not really take my thoughts into consideration, but from what Ive seen in my almost sixteen years of living here, its not half bad.

Hope this helps,
-Jenny

[kate-lind]

I am from Sonora (over an hour's drive to Modesto). I have lived here 30 years and raised my kids here. We also have had homes in Waterford and Oakdale, while working in Modesto. We spent 1 year shopping for a house, and we just bought a forclosure in Waterford in a wonderful neighborhood. Oakdale prices are higher than Riverbank and Waterford, which also tend to have nicer neighborhoods overall. Riverbank has the best access into Modesto; Oakdale and Waterford are just a little further. There are lots of small dairies in the area which give off an unbelievably horrible stench day and night all year round, I can't believe people live near them, I know I couldn't. Waterford has lots of orchards around it and no cow smells. Avoid getting out to the south sides of Riverbank and Oakdale - unbearable stench (I guess some people can handle it, cause there are homes there). Almost anywhere in Oakdale, even downtown, there is cow stench when the wind is right. At Modesto elevation, fog is dangerous on some winter mornings especially in February. Not as bad as it used to be, but it is getting worse at higher elevation. We have some bad days in Sonora now, too, not to mention snow and ice on steep windy roads. Stanislaus county has no snow,
ice is rare, and no steep windy roads. If you do decide to move into Modesto, most of the north-east area is pretty good. I can recommend a good honest realtor if you're thinking about buying anywhere around here. Good luck!!