Considering moving to Ca. (San Francisco, Sacramento: low income, apartments, rentals)

[Willowmena]

I'm thinking about moving to Ca. from Baton Rouge, LA. I'm not from BR and I can't stand it. People are narrow minded, redneck and lack presence of mind. I'm looking for somewhere cool, diverse but safe for me and my daughter, age 13, who has some problems. I'm on disability but I hope to be off it someday so cost is an issue. I was thinking about Sacramento but I'm not sure after reading some of the posts here. I'm originally from New Orleans, so culture and food is important to us. Any thoughts about good places to live in California or elsewhere? Any help you can give will be appreciated

[dusesean1986]

In California we have no HUMIDITY, in Baton Rouge there's a five month Sauna. Sacramento area is very nice, look into Roseville, Folsom, and there's others, don't know the area too well. But, Sacramento is not redneck, and has liberals and conservatives. The downtown is very beautiful, yet also boring. Have fun with your choice, by the way California is lots more diverse than Louisiana, not with African Americans though, but Asians, Hispanics, and every nationality you could think off. It's a good place to raise your family, yet only 2 hours away from gorgeous San Francisco.

[CityGirl72]

I loved Sacramento and never found it boring and I lived in Midtown (the east of Downtown area) I loved the heat too - and if you can handle BR then Sac will be easy to you.

[Inthesierras]

Sac can be expensive. But, if you are on disability, there are plenty of apartments that should be able to accomadate you. Granted, alot of those apartments are in low income areas where there is crime. But, Roseville and Folsom do have some income adjusted apartments, you will just need to search online for those. I think they are HUD programs, so you might something under HUD. If I remember correctly, each zip code has to have housing to fit needs of lower income people. So that would mean housing is available just about everywhere. I am sure there are waiting lists, but its something to look into. Good luck!

[dennismpat]

I lived in Sacramento back in 1990-91, and yes, it can get HOT during the summertime, but at least there's no humidity like there is down in the South.

[Caliguy2007]

Bakersfield is also a nice area,and even though this city has been in alot of jokes among Californians,it's really not a bad place...If it was really bad it wouldn't be one of the fastest growing cities in the state.

[mazzer]

Well, I have lived in three different areas of CA. First, the Bay Area, which IMO you cannot beat for diversity. It's great to be really close to SF and SJ as well. Both are great places to visit and if you have a family there is plenty to do. Weather is perfect I would say - not too hot but not that cold. however, it is very pricey for rentals even but I think it is worth it.

I then lived in the SAC region for about 3 years. First Rocklin, which is family friendly but as an outsider I found the people to be a bit too into religion and therefore rather introverted and of course lacking in a sense of humor - not completely - but in the most part. Then we lived in Lincoln which is very close to Rocklin (head 65 North towards Marysville). Lincoln was ok, not much to do for families, not many parks to frequent. Where We were in 12 Bridges, it was brand new and therefore they were just getting the infrastructure sorted out - however, there are still 'Safeway coming soon' signs so they haven't got that far yet in their building plans. I thought the centre of Lincoln was just one large traffic jam which I know they are rectifying with a bypass. Anyway, the schools are better in Rocklin than Lincoln and better funded too. Weather as you are aware - HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

I am now living in West Lancaster/Quartz hill area, in the north of LA county (which I personally wouldn't recommend - it's just ok, only advantage is the proximity to LA itself but then all that traffic puts me off venturing even slightly away from Lancaster. So, unfortunately my husband is on a reasonable salary but it is not that good for us to be able to afford a really good area here with great schools...infact, I have read on these forums that you should figure into your cost of living here...a private school because the public schools are in the most part not that great, I think LAUD is the 6th worst school district in the nation. Weather even hotter than Sac here but doable as there are high desert winds which are great as ling as they don't go above 10 miles an hour!!! LOL!!!

Anyway, I am looking forward to moving myself, hopefully to VA, which I know has been in the news of late...but never mind. CA has it's own problems and this hasn't deterred me from living in areas that are regarded as undesirable. - Mumof3

[Mel2882]

Really, don't move to Bakersfield. Yes, people are moving there cause it's cheap. I wonder why...

[mistermoose]

Well I went to school at CSUS and would say it is an ok place to live. People there are friendlier than the people in LA, but that is not saying much. It does get warm in the summer, but is managable. I loved how close Sacramento is to Lake Tahoe. I spent most of my weekends driving up highway 50 to the South Shore of Tahoe. Like most parts of Califonria the housing has skyrocketed, but there salaries have not.

[Angel Bear]

Really, don't move to Bakersfield. Yes, people are moving there cause it's cheap. I wonder why...

Hey, Wanda Jackson, the Queen of Rockabilly grew up there! LOL

But, no, I wouldn't move there either!