What's good and bad about Stockton? (San Jose, San Francisco: low income, real estate, apartment)

[nmguy]

Just wondering what Stockton is like.

Any recommendations for moving there or avoiding it?

[StampinTami]

I would avoid Sockton. Do a search on here and you will find quite a few threads about it.

[izzy]

I agree. But there are some surrounding towns and some towns about 35 minutes away that are good places to settle. Lodi, Manteca (okay), Valley Springs.

Do a search on Stockton for the warnings. But I do like Delta College and UOP College is there. I go there to shop.

Izzy

[gizmo980]

I lived in Stockton for 3 years while attending UOP, and you'll find other posts I've made on this subject. But here's a run-down of what I think are the good & bad points...

Good:
- Convenient to Sacramento, San Francisco/Bay Area, Tahoe, and Interstate 5.
- Nice weather in spring, fall, and most of winter (aside from heavy fog).
- Affordable housing by California standards.
- Two colleges in town, UOP and Delta Community, which provide some resources even for non-students.
- Good basic shopping & restaurants; tons of strip-malls and 2 real malls.
- Diversity among the residents.
- Krispy Kreme and In-N-Out Burger next to each other.

Bad:
- Very high crime... gangs & drugs are rampant, particularly in the South/East parts of town.
- Scorchingly hot in the summer... but it's a dry heat, lol.
- Boring and bland suburb, with very little character or scenery.
- No real "culture" to speak of, and big events/concerts are in Sacramento.
- Smelly in parts, especially around the 4/5 interchange where there's a big factory (paper plant?).
- Very spread-out & the freeways don't go through town, so it takes forever to get anywhere.

There are other bad things about Stockton, but it's more of a "feeling" that can't be put into words. Parts of it are decent, and I'm sure some people love living there... if you do move there, stay in the north or west parts of town. Some nice neighborhoods are Brookside, UOP campus area, and Grouse Run/Grand Canal. Good luck in whatever you choose!

[jdmz76]

Although I have been living in Sacramento for the last three years, I lived in Stockton since I was 7, and I am 30 now, so for about 20 years Stockton has been my home. I work there twice a week and visit my parents and siblings there often. Stockton can be a very tough place to grow up and its only getting worse, I don't care what part of town you live in. I am a teacher down there, and I've been all over the north end of town (where I grew up) and it is just as bad as the older parts of Stockton. I also used to work for the county and frequented all of the low income areas in town, and there is just as much violence and filth. I used to work with at-risk youth, and they really are just that, but I have to blame the parents for most of it. There were about 140 documented gangs in San Joaquin County in 2001, not an attribute worth noting unless you are trying to find a safe place to live. Its like they say though, most violent crimes happen between people that know each other. Although Stockton's crime only seems to get worse as the city bulges, and is one of the leading cities in auto theft, there is some good to it as mentioned in other replies.

Location, location, location! Fantastic weather. Excellent racial/cultural diversity. UOP, our Ivy league school atmosphere of the west. Recreational opportunities. A brand new sports arena with minor league teams in hockey, arena football, baseball and a major league indoor soccer team. Revitalization of the downtown waterfront (Arena, Fox Theater, Historic Stockton Hotel, Cineplex, Condos, Sheraton Hotel and brand new baseball park and restaurants). Check out the Haggin Museum, Children's museum if you have kids. The famous Stockton Asparagus Festival draws over 100k people every year. Stkn is close to Lodi (Host of the Lodi Grape Festival), Tracy (Host to the Tracy Bean Festival) and is only 90 miles from San Jose and San Francisco. Only 30 minutes from Sacramento, 2.5 hours from gambling in Reno and Tahoe, 2 hours from Olympic ski slopes in the Sqaw Valley, an hour from Napa wine country, water skiing in the Delta, locally. Personally, if you are looking to move to the area though, I'd check out Sacramento, because it is a lot more classy, not quite as high in crime per capita, but still pretty bad, and if you plan to spend a fortune on a house or rent, these two cities will cost about the same. Might as well go for the better city. Unfortunately, Sacramento can be just as bad. If you are single looking to mingle, you have a great variety from Filipinos, to Latinos or to whatever your heart desires. Caucasians are the minority in Stockton, outnumbered by Hispanics and having one of the largest Filipino populations per capita in the country. Just don't raise kids in Stockton. Keep your nose clean and you'll be fine in most places though, right? I wrote a lot, but I feel the need to talk up my hometown, no matter how much it sucked growing up there, because now Stockton is booming and there are many more things to do. FYI---Apartment rent for a one bedroom will cost between $800-$1000/month. A home may cost you between $350-$500,000. Good luck in your search.

[cdrobert]

If you are going to live in stockton, go to brookside. Its a gated community of about 20,000 people(about 6-7% of stockton) and it is where anyone who can afford a decent life style hides.

[izzy]

Don't forget Valley Springs and the foothills. We are 35 minutes from stockton. In that 35 minutes you go from urban city to small country town. Valley Springs is in the rolling foothills and lots of folks here commute to Stockton. My husband does. The schools here are great. I can't say that loud enough...THEY ARE GREAT!!! My sons kindergarden teacher is in Hawaii this week, and called us at home, to see how he is doing with the sub. teacher. All our kids teachers are great. The schools are safe and everyone knows each other. We are 45 minutes from snow and Big Trees National Park. The housing is cheaper here than Stockton. You can buy a home here for about $360,000. and that is on a half acre and a new home. You don't have to live in Stockton to live in this area. We have lived in Manteca, Lodi (on the Delta), and Valley Springs over the last 15 years.

Okay...a while back I posted pics taken within a hour of Valley Springs on a personal pic page. That makes them within an hour and a half from Stockton. The oak tree ones and the streams are about 45 minutes or less from Stockton. Have a look...there are beautiful things in our area too. Don't get the wrong impression. Stockton is as bad as folks have said...and is on flat farm land with limited views. But Stockton isn't the only city in San Joaquin our commute distance of it.

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


Izzy

[socal06]

theres a reason why most of the new neighborhoods are gated..

[Onager]

Izzy, I looked up some of your earlier posts and my suspicion was confirmed. You are in real estate. No wonder you're selling Valley Springs. Have you mentioned that the commute to Stockton is on a curvy 2-lane highway where people pass other cars over a double yellow daily? Has your husband said he would like to see more cars on 26, where there is a new set of skid marks each week? Do you tell your readers that developers are running rampant in our area? Of course, you don't. You have let on that you are looking at Idaho. You're going to sell and leave the rest of us to deal with the sprawl.

[izzy]

Onager,

If you had read all my posts you would know what I do for a living. I'm a graphic artist, who by the way layouts a real estate magazine for a local company. I live in Valley Springs because it is safe and affordable and a beautiful area with lots of views. There is actually two hwys into Valley Springs one is hwy 26 which is the one you mention. The other is hwy 12 which is most likely a better drive. Most of the folks living here commute to Stockton or surrounding areas. We are considering moving to idaho because we will need to retire on a fixed income and many CA residents are heading that way for the same reasons. All the above info. is in my posts. All hwys in CA are dangerous. Name one that isn't. I'm editing the rest of my post.

Onager...if you are looking to be combative with someone...I'm not that person. I enjoy the chats I have here with a lot of nice folks. I have to admit your post surprised me, and I took offense to it.

I'm done here.

Izzy