Davis for families (Sacramento, Woodland, Anderson: apartment complexes, to rent, coop)

[monkeychemist]

Hello everyone,

I have a possible job opportunity in Davis in the coming month or two and we would love to hear your thoughts on the following topics:

Living: If I get the job I will be coming with my wife (we are in our early 30s), 4 year old daughter and twin infants. We are looking for a family-friendly place to live and I've tried to read up as much as I could about the city and it's hard to find neighborhood-specific information. I know that UC Davis takes up a substantial part of the population/residential area and that's ok. I just think we would prefer not to be living next to college kids having loud parties because of the infants haha. Could you please give us a quick overview of what neighborhoods/areas could fit the bill.

Play: We love to do things outside... parks, casual bicycling, hiking in the forest, etc. From what I read it's a great bike town! What are the fun things to do around town?

Food: We pretty much make all of our food at home, so we love farmer's markets, good grocery stores, meat markets, specialty (cheese/bakery) stores. We're thinking of trying to go the CSA route... would it be better or just farmers' markets?

Shopping: How is the mall situation? Is the town mostly mom & pops, more big stores, or a mix?

Daycare/schools: I've read that all the public schools are great around Davis, am I correct in this assessment? How about daycare, does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you very much in advance!

[Malloric]

Davis is generally family friendly. Avoid the apartment complexes, those tend to be student housing. Generally the "square" area bounded by Russell Blvd and 5th Street, Pole Line, Covell and 113 is the "student" area of Davis. There's a lot of families in there too, but it's the area that's a bit louder. You can find quite pockets in there definitely, but you have to pay attention to things like apartments and frat houses. The one area I'd completely avoid is north of Covell around Anderson Drive. That's really student area and gets pretty raucous. Plus there's not schools, so why live there? I lived in South Davis (by El Macero) my last two years of college. There were definitely students there, but not the party types. Again, avoid apartments. One year I was in a house and it was really quite. The next I was in an apartment and that got loud, but that wasn't the college students. It was one particular tenant that got evicted after he got in a fight and threw someone off the second story balcony. Afterwards, the apartment was pretty quite too =D

Definitely a great bike town. You could throw the 4-year-old on the back of one bike (or on one of those trailer training bike things) and the infants in a trailer and get around anywhere in Davis. Good bicycle infrastructure and the number of bicycles means people pay attention for bikes and are very considerate. Davis has good parks, farmers market, Nugget grocery stores are great (sort of a local and less expensive version of Whole Paychecks).

Shopping... well, there's a few boutiques and I think Macy's is still open. It's not a big shopping paradise, go to Arden Fair or the Galleria for malls, which is a bit of a drive. There's also a good number of boutiques in Midtown Sacramento. The Mall on K Street (downtown) Sacramento is dead. Decent chance they'll finally be tearing it down and building the new Kings Stadium there in the next few years anyway. Davis has a pretty solid local community theater, but it's a small town. There's not a whole lot to do. You're fairly close to the beach and Sierras, however. So there's great camping/hiking, but you've got to drive to it. It's not in your back yard.

Schools IN Davis, yes. Around Davis, not so much. Woodlands is certainly a lot cheaper than Davis, but it's basically completely different town.

[cmrubin]

Originally Posted by monkeychemist

Hello everyone,

I have a possible job opportunity in Davis in the coming month or two and we would love to hear your thoughts on the following topics:

Living: If I get the job I will be coming with my wife (we are in our early 30s), 4 year old daughter and twin infants. We are looking for a family-friendly place to live and I've tried to read up as much as I could about the city and it's hard to find neighborhood-specific information. I know that UC Davis takes up a substantial part of the population/residential area and that's ok. I just think we would prefer not to be living next to college kids having loud parties because of the infants haha. Could you please give us a quick overview of what neighborhoods/areas could fit the bill.

You will LOVE Davis -- it's full of families just like yours! But bring lots of money; that will be the biggest determinant of the kind of housing you will get. If you have to rent, try to get a house or duplex rather than an apartment.

Play: We love to do things outside... parks, casual bicycling, hiking in the forest, etc. From what I read it's a great bike town! What are the fun things to do around town?

No forests nearby (but a one-hour drive will give you several options). Davis is a cyclist's paradise. City Parks & Rec has a lot of programs, especially for children. Look into the Art Center and the Explorit science center.

Food: We pretty much make all of our food at home, so we love farmer's markets, good grocery stores, meat markets, specialty (cheese/bakery) stores. We're thinking of trying to go the CSA route... would it be better or just farmers' markets?

Davis has one of the finest farmers' markets in the valley. It's held twice a week and is a total experience, especially for children. You also have the Coop and now Whole Foods for shopping. If you don't have a yard where you live, there is a community garden.

Shopping: How is the mall situation? Is the town mostly mom & pops, more big stores, or a mix?

The malls pretty much tend to an anchor supermarket and tiny restaurants and mom & pops. There is a Target in town and two hardware stores, but for more shopping choices you have to go to Woodland or Sacramento.

Daycare/schools: I've read that all the public schools are great around Davis, am I correct in this assessment? How about daycare, does anyone have any recommendations?

Davis is very child centered -- you have lots of choices in both schools and daycare. City Parks & Rec used to have a list of licensed child care providers, but I don't know whether they do it any more.

As long as you can afford it, Davis is going to be an ideal spot for you.

[Manzanita2012]

I agree with the other responses you got. It's very family friendly.

All the schools are considered good, nice farmers markets 2x a week (Wednesday afternoons in summer there is live music, rock climbing, & bounce houses). Good food shopping: Costco is less than 15 minutes away in Woodland, there is Nugget, Trader Joe's, Co-op, plus Safeway, Foodmart, Grocery Outlet. I like CSA's but prefer to customize what I get... you could go either way here and not lose.

I live in West Davis and it's quiet in most of the neighborhood. I'd recommend it. Lots of families in the area. There is a housing development called Village Homes that's unique and really pretty, filled with gardens and walking paths. Lots of great neighborhoods all over town though, as far as quiet. Just make sure you're not next to a big party apartment complex.

See daviswiki.org for more detailed neighborhood descriptions and to research a given area or complex you're interested in.

Great bike paths and bike lanes, and clean, well maintained city style parks, manicured, with pools, tennis courts, play structures, nothing hike-able like your average California state park though.

For forests & hiking, the closest is a small area by Winters and south of Lake Berryessa called Cold Canyon that's about 1/2 hour from Davis. Most good hiking options will be about a 90 minute drive.

It appears that 90% of the population is either (a) a student at UCD or (b) upper middle class white or asian. It is the most homogeneous place I've ever seen. If you want some diversity Sacramento is 20 minute trip and SFBA is only 1.25 hrs on a weekend, 2.25 hrs on a weekday.

[monkeychemist]

Thank you all for the very detailed information! It sure sounds like a great place, I hope I land this job

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by Malloric

Davis is generally family friendly. Avoid the apartment complexes, those tend to be student housing. Generally the "square" area bounded by Russell Blvd and 5th Street, Pole Line, Covell and 113 is the "student" area of Davis. There's a lot of families in there too, but it's the area that's a bit louder. You can find quite pockets in there definitely, but you have to pay attention to things like apartments and frat houses. The one area I'd completely avoid is north of Covell around Anderson Drive. That's really student area and gets pretty raucous. Plus there's not schools, so why live there? I lived in South Davis (by El Macero) my last two years of college. There were definitely students there, but not the party types. Again, avoid apartments. One year I was in a house and it was really quite. The next I was in an apartment and that got loud, but that wasn't the college students. It was one particular tenant that got evicted after he got in a fight and threw someone off the second story balcony. Afterwards, the apartment was pretty quite too =D
.

Agree with pretty much everything you said, except I might be missing something about North Davis. Immediately north of Covell, like off of F St, is a lot of townhouses and is pretty student heavy, but out towards Anderson, that's all single family residential. Never struck me as having many students--I generally thought it was too expensive. We lived farther south, off of Grande, on a street with much smaller houses, and a lot of duplexes, and even that was mostly families and a few grad students. Very quiet except for the occasional train.

Davis is a great community. Just. Very. Expensive. Not compared to a lot of Coastal California, but expensive compared to pretty much anywhere else outside of a major metro and not near the beach.