Moving to Tracy, CA (San Francisco, Modesto: house, buying, place to live)

[Summertime]

is 900 miles south of the North Pole

and I was told, when in the military, that
the fog there is called 'Thule Fog'

hence, the name in the Central Valley of CA.
Here is the info from the Thule AFB web site:


SUMMER FOG
When the temperatures change dramatically in the summer (and it does), fog develops over North Star Bay and will move into the Thule AB Valley. This fog can be so dense as to obscure the entire roadway. Should this happen to you, STOP! Pull to the edge of the road only if you can do so safely. Leave the motor running, with the headlights and emergency flashers on. Do not attempt to leave the vehicle, as you could be struck by another vehicle whose driver cannot see you. Wait until the fog has lifted enough for you to safely operate your vehicle to your destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been known to cause MANY accidents and deaths
in the San Joaquin Valley of CA. Driving in it would be
a nightmare.

[deelee]

I would have to Disagree with everything except the house prices...I have a child who is currently in 1 of the 2 schools in M.H. The schools are horrible! They are Not listed on the sex offender site (Megans Law) I had to tackle that problem myself with the website -so hopefully the 5 offenders we have will be eliminated soon...Theres No police and its taken anywhere from 20-95 mins for police arrival with the 3 home robberies & my vehicle being broken into within 10days last month alone....Everyday I hear about more crime!!!

[Cali4life80]

Tracy is wonderful!! I've lived there for 20 years and regrettably moved to Idaho 4 months ago. We are moving back to Tracy in 2 months. I'm so excited to move back! Its a sweet, growing town. Its in a perfect location if you had to commute to the bay area or up to Sacramento. I absoltely love it there and can't imagine living anywhere else.

[deelee]

A SWEET GROWING town??? Half of it is foreclosed...and it is CLEARLY NOT a safe town to raise your children in! Tracy is becoming more ghetto by the day! I don't want to live in a town where there is excessive crime on a daily basis...It's NOT A SAFE PLACE! It's the next Oakland

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by Summertime

is 900 miles south of the North Pole

and I was told, when in the military, that
the fog there is called 'Thule Fog'

hence, the name in the Central Valley of CA.
Here is the info from the Thule AFB web site:

It's actually called Tule Fog after the vegetation that grows near sloughs and rivers in the Central Valley. More properly known as radiation fog to meteorologists here is a decent explanation of what it is and how it's formed.

RADIATION FOG INGREDIENTS

[Cali4life80]

Originally Posted by deelee

A SWEET GROWING town??? Half of it is foreclosed...and it is CLEARLY NOT a safe town to raise your children in! Tracy is becoming more ghetto by the day! I don't want to live in a town where there is excessive crime on a daily basis...It's NOT A SAFE PLACE! It's the next Oakland

Uh, I don't think so. Tracy is nothing compared to Oakland. Exaggerate much???? And if you don't want to live there then don't. No one is forcing you to. I've lived in Tracy for 20 years now and I haven't experienced what you call "oakland crime".

[esofast]

Tracy was actually voted the 13 safest city in California and the 2nd safest city in northern california. i live in tracy. clearly there are some kids that need be monitored a little more... but I have never for a minute not felt safe here. i went to oakland for a warriors game yesterday.... tracy and oakland are not even comparable.

[recon110]

This message is to all the folks that have lived outside the state of California and intend of living in Tracy.

I read most of the responses. " I lived here 20 years etc." Those are responses from people that have done nothing to improve this city. Your high school stadiums couldn't even compete with most Junior High schools in Central Texas. Shame on you for seeing that beautiful city hall was built and you have Elementary classrooms with way more than 30 students per class. In 20 years you have a shopping center. Let's hire some immigrants to landscape the city while you crap all over the tax payers and their kids. I consider myself an outsider and not part of the idiots that voted in the current political gangsters running the city budget.

Please don't move here. I moved here in 2006 from Central Texas as part of a job relocation, working in Pleasanton. Yes it is a challenging commute to work but it is the closest city to Pleasanton that we thought we could afford on two incomes.

First, I would recommend you look else where. If you are used to having your tax dollars pay for things like school buses etc like everywhere else around the country then you would not be happy forking out over $270 semester for two kids to ride public transportation. Does the word broke sound familiar.

Second, none of the Junior High (except Jefferson) I think offers any kind of sports for girls or boys.

Third, now that my daughter attends Tracy High as a freshman and playing volleyball we had to also pay for her to get to games. They have yet to offer any water during practices or games. The gym has no running water to date (construction etc) and most of the school is without air conditioning. The sports complexes are run down with no running water according to the Athletic Director Port of Pots. Most sports require you to fork out hundreds of dollars to play.

Lastly, this is a town with no identity and no money. Nothing for kids to do unless you are ultra wealthy. Tracy is turning all of their programs into class warfare where only kids whose parents have money are allowed to compete and take part in extra curriculiar activities. These are just a few of the nickel and dime mentalities that exist here.

California as a whole has a huge budget deficit and is steadily cuting everything with no end in site. Unless they start drilling or hit the lottery (oops they run the lottey too) they will never have what I had back in Texas or elsewhere.

I have nothing good to say about Tracy and I am working to get back to Texas as most Californians have already done so.

Bottom line this town doesn't care about anyone's kids and never will.

[finalfantasyinsj]

Tracy seems to have bad reputations for many outsiders, I was one of them. When I plan to buy a house in this area, I check Mountain House but skip Tracy totally, thinking it is not a nice town. Recently I drove through the town and was impressed by the clean street and nice neighborhoods in many part of the town. I then look it up in the on-line crimereports.com (crime reports in google-like map for the last 30 to 60 days) and compare with San Jose, SF and Oakland.
I am surprised that, while it is not the best city in the Bay Area, many Tracy neighborhoods are still much safer (may have deteriorated in the last few years) than many affluent cities in Bay area. Go check yourself and you may be surprised too.
Since Tracy is a more established town with shops around neighborhood than Mountain House, I decide to buy a house in Tracy.
If more people can find the charm of this city (more affordable housing, proximity to SF, Oakland, Sacramento and SJ, relative safe neighborhoods) and stick around to build and improve the culture, life-style and school of this city, then this city will shine in the near future.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

But selling that proximity as the main positive is part of the area's downfall. The era of buying bigger houses far away from professional jobs is ending for the time being. So who would be moving in? There aren't enough mid-level jobs to support the housing stock, so people pool their resources or take out loans they can't afford, and the cycle continues. There's nothing wrong with Tracy except its location and the assumption as to what that means.