What is Stockton like? (Sacramento, Modesto: felons, homes, buy)

[209RAIDER]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

Elk Grove is closer to Stockton then Sac. And it's a nice clean area

Stockton itself is a total armpit.

Dont be talking about Stockton like that!

Why are all you hating on Stockton like that?

[Promontorium]

I lived in Stockton for my first 16 years of life (82-about 99). Nearly my whole family is there and has been there since the 50's. I only say all this because it seems everyone is leaving their impressions and not good actual advice.

Is it possible to commute to Sac and back every day? Very easily ( I know a lot of people who work in the bay area which is much farther and they still prefer to live in Stockton) especially if you live in north-west Stockton, which is also the safest place to live in the city.

benefits:

-Stockton is 1 hour from the SF bay area. About an 1 1/2 hours from the legendary Napa valley wine country. 1 1/2 hours from the Sierra mountains (great camping, skiing, etc.) Essentialy you could surf, taste wine, ski, and go back home on the same day, but that's California in general.

-Ridiculously cheap rent compared to anywhere with comparable population.

-Relatively quiet and safe (north west Stockton mostly)

-In recent years has undergone a huge make-over. As far as events, places to go, etc. it would undoubtably be more entertaining than any of the surrounding village-like towns (ex. Galt or Lodi).

Drawbacks:

-Suburbs of Sacramento would be much closer. (Carmichael for example, which is gorgeous) It takes at least 40 minutes to travel.

-Stockton as a whole is ranked 8 in 2007s list of Most Dangerous metro areas beating out every other city in California.

-Any city in the Central Valley experiences weather conditions that are unheard of in any of the coastal cities of California from S.F. to Diego. It regularly gets in the 100s in the summer and below freezing in the winter and plenty of rain (almost never snows).

There's plenty of reasons to bad-mouth my hometown, but being "Country-like" is just a ridiculous claim. The majority of the population is hispanic. Stockton also has a huge diversity of other cultures only comparable to cities like San Francisco, L.A. or NY. Examples being places like "Little Manila" (featured on the History channel) or areas of downtown that have street signs only in Chinese. There's a large population of south-east asians that came over as refugees from Vietnam, Loas, Cambodia.

I have traveled the world since leaving Stockton (joined the Navy) there are few places that compare in diversity in such a relatively small package.

[Sherbear59]

I lived in Stockton since 1985 and I know it's reputation is not the greatest. But I have never been bodily robbed, raped or wittnessed a murder or had friends/relatives murdered. I've had my vehicle broken into twice the whole time I've lived here, once in a parking lot and once in my driveway.
I used to be a meter reader for our local gas company and saw/heard just about everything. Stockton is very "spotty"....you go two blocks and you are in a good area, go two more blocks and you are in a not so good area. That is what Stockton is known for. Stockton is very ethnically rich. I am now a real estate agent and I tell my clients that a good rule of thumb is to get into the better school districts. Lincoln Unified is the best with Linden coming second and Lodi Unified coming in 3rd.
Stockton is revitalizing their whole downtown area...it's so beautiful with a brand new 16 cinemaplex and all kinds of new restaurants.
A lot of people boast that Brookside is the best neighborhood but Brookside has small back yards and some people don't like that. Spanos Park West is very nice and there's a brand new shopping center right by that area as well.
There are other areas in Stockton that are nice too. I'm from another state and I heard rumors about Stockton's crime and when I got here...I thought...what's all the fuss about?? It's not as bad as people make it out to be. Lodi, which is just up the road about 6 miles from Stockton is a cute little town....it might be more of what your are looking for if Stockton makes you nervous.
Also, Stockton is centrally located...you are in the middle of just about everything, from the beach to San Francisco to Tahoe to Skiing to Napa Valley(or you can go wine tasting right here in our own area) to the indian casinos just to name a few.
The rents range from $800 for apartments on upwards. If you want a house in Brookside, it will be a bit pricey...I'm guessing $1500 to start. But like I said there are other areas, I feel that are nice in Stockton too where the rents are a bit lower.
Good Luck!

[Evlevo]

Originally Posted by Sherbear59

I have never been bodily robbed, raped or wittnessed a murder or had friends/relatives murdered.

Now there is a ringing endorsement!

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by cinnabon

Ok, so it sounds like Stockton is trying to clean up it's act, but it has a ways to go. If he gets this job (we hopefully will find out on Weds!), my boyfriend will be working at Dameron Hospital. I will try to look up where exactly that is - hopefully he can deal w/ a commute to Elk Grove or maybe Lodi? But I hear Lodi has a lot of crime/gangs as well?

Either way, I think I really want to be closer to Sacto. Another factor is I am a BIG skier & I want easier access to Tahoe.

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all of the info!

If you're going to be near stockton at all then why on earth would you want to hit tahoe. I-80 is a disaster most of the winter, while kirkwood on hiway 88 or Bear Valley on hiway 4 are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAy closer and the roads rarely get closed like 80 or 50 do.

[Sherbear59]

Yes, go to Tahoe once in a while but Kirkwood and Bear Valley for your regular ski days. Also, my daughter lives in Lodi and loves it there. In the summertime they have a farmers market in downtown Lodi that she loves to go to every week. They also have the grape festival and a fun movie theater there. There are some pretty good shopping centers, but no malls. You will have to go to Stockton or Sacramento for the mall but that's no big deal. We do it all the time. Lodi has a small town feel but with all the amenities. It's not as expensive as Elk Grove either.

[bigtallredhead]

[quote=humboldtrat;913991There are a lot of Hispanic farm laborers living all over this area which lends itself to some crime problems (yeah, I know this isn't PC!!)[/QUOTE]

It's mostly not them committing the crime, but their strong presence likely dose contribute to high crime in the area, -but mostly committed by others. (though some do commit serious crime, -but immigrants have much lower crime rates in general then the U.S. born of the same race and income status). It's more many of their U.S. born grown children, plus other people of all races who are messed up. High crime in the region has to do with the high rates of poverty and social instability in the area in general. Not only is it a farming region, but it is also a region where many in the lower class went to escape the bay area until recently when sky high housing costs spread to out there, too. There is also a lot of manufacturing+plus a prison in San Joaquin country as well.

[bigtallredhead]

Promontorium: -I know some parts of Stockton are mostly Hispanic, but the city as a whole is PLURALITY Hispanic, not majority. I am quite familiar with the city myself, knowing several people who live there, and having been around and all through it many times in recent years, and have also looked up the numbers at the U.S. census site.

[Evlevo]

I lived in Sacramento for 3 years (gonna move back in about 1.5 yrs) and the thing about many cities in the area is that they are 'put together' differently than most other cities.

The cities tend to be broken up into (for lack of a better term) good and bad areas. Sometimes not much separates the areas (just across the freeway, for example).

Stockton has a few more of the "bad" areas than Sacramento (high crime, impoverishment, blight, etc), but that does not mean that there are not plenty of very nice areas to live.

[missoulagrl]

Hello - I am also looking at possibly moving to Stockton -can anyone tell me about the Louis park area? Specifically I am looking at renting a condo along Occidental road. Thanks in advance! Also - I am single mom with a young child and am interested in the park amenities. Thanks again!