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Old 02-12-2013, 10:25 AM
 
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We currently live in Minnesota and we cannot wait to move away from here. We are originally from eastern Europe, mediteranean climate area and ended up in Minneapolis for work. Now my husband and I work remotely at home so this enables us to move anywhere in US. We agreed on California as the best place for us. We like green, sustainable living, mediteranean climate. Ideally we are looking for a small town, safe and family friendly for our toddlers. It is ok for us to be 60-75 minutes away from the city since we dont need to commute anywhere. I am envisioning a small town with a cute downtown area and with people know each other. An old settle town is ideal with houses that have character, land that is somewhat affordable. I kind of researched Auburn and Folsom areas. I truelly want the right climate as well because I want to be able to do some gardenning and grow trees like pomegranite, quince and such. Any ideas I will truely apprciate. One more thing the place have decent schools, and internet connections
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Old 02-12-2013, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Northern California
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Check out Jackson in Amador County

About Jackson, California
www.amadorcountychamber.com
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Old 02-12-2013, 12:35 PM
 
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Auburn or Placerville might meet your some of your needs. They don't really have too much of that "green" influence, but are not considered to be stuffy. In the foothills, outside of the Sac metro area, you'll find a lot of live and let live types. They might vote conservative, but they seem open-minded, at least from my experience.

Davis meets a lot of those requirements, but it's pricey and, at 60,000 people or so, not exactly small.

Grass Valley might be worth a look. Also, have a look at Chico and it's foothill neighbor, Paradise.

Like humboldtrat said, Jackson and some of those other gold country are beautiful, and relatively affordable. I don't know much about the culture and schools up there, but I like the vibe and scenery when I'm up there for bike rides or wine tastings.

You shouldn't have too much trouble growing fruit trees. Our pomegranate was performing well just stuck in stuck in the ground and occasionally watered. You'll get minimal frost down in the valley, with decreasing temps (and increasing number of frost days) as you head in to the hills. Other challenges in the foothills will be rocky soils and hungry deer.
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Old 02-12-2013, 12:55 PM
 
Location: El Dorado Hills, CA
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Folsom isn't really that small and you probably won't find a lot of land with the houses.

Go just a bit further east to Cameron Park and Shingle Springs. Lots of properties that are reasonably priced with acreage. Not such a huge downtown, but schools are good there and it's a family friendly area.
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Old 02-12-2013, 08:09 PM
 
Location: Folsom
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I didn't think anywhere in the foothills was "affordable." The most affordable places in California would be the flatland valley, Kings, Tulare, Fresno- type counties. if you want to be close to Sacramento, perhaps consider some of the surrounding counties.

OP, what is your budget?

Also, when you say "green" do you mean as in foliage or environmental friendly?
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Old 02-12-2013, 09:17 PM
 
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We would like to buy land and build so land + house maybe around $350-400K budget. Green meaning both foliage and environmental friendly/sustainable community.
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Old 02-12-2013, 09:41 PM
 
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Pomegranites and quince should grow ok for you up in the Sacto Valley wherever you settle in.
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Old 02-13-2013, 08:21 AM
 
Location: El Dorado Hills, CA
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While you can certainly buy a home with a good deal of land in the foothills for that price, the building becomes problematic. Expect to pay $180-200/sq ft for the new construction, plus the cost of the land. The costs just to get started on a new home are quite high and make it difficult for custom homes to be built in that price range.
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Old 02-13-2013, 10:00 AM
 
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With the numbers Nina's quoting, it seems like you'd do better with existing home anyway. That's usually the "greener" approach anyway.
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Old 02-13-2013, 10:55 AM
 
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This answer is a little bit out of the box... but honestly everything that you describe doesn't exist in one place. The immediate answers that come to mind are Camino, Nevada City, Sutter Creek... but these don't fit the bill exactly. Camino is right wing, and not the right climate. Nevada City/North San Juan is not the right climate, but good for your "sustainable living" community, sutter creek is again, not the right climate exactly. Foothill living is not easy gardening. The lower elevations (auburn, placerville/shingle springs) might work, but finding a flat lot will be difficult. Hillside gardening and harvesting rain water could work, but the soil is not the best, so you will definately need a tractor and will have to amend the soil aggressively. Perhaps Fairplay, out by the wineries, would be good to look into. So, back to my "out of the box" response... I believe that you would find the likeminded community in Fair Oaks. Fair Oaks does not typically offer the property that you seek, but the neighboring city of Orangevale does. If the lot is flat, you can grow a lot on less than one would think. It has the climate, it is flat which is easier for your gardening wishes, and Fair Oaks could very easily be the community you belong to.
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