Sacramento (Davis, Folsom, El Dorado Hills: transplants, houses, movies)

[SoCalGuy]

Hi,

My brother and his wife (early 50's - kids grown) might move to Placerville, Cameron Park or El Dorado Hills in the next few months. Can anyone please give their opinions on the differences between and among these cities? What's the ethnic mix, hiking & camping opportunities, live music, politics, local colleges and/or universities, churches, traffic, climate, etc. Anything you could offer will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guingirl]

Hiya - Actually there is a Sacramento board that it might be better suited to go to - this original post.

There is a gentleman on that board that lives in the foothills. I am in Sacramento proper. Placerville/El Dorado Hills area is transforming with a lot of transplants more EDH and Cameron Park than Placerville. Placerville still seems old townie. It is absolutely beautiful and I would LOVE to retire there if we can afford it by that time .

A TON of outdoor activities. Hiking, biking, 4wheeling (rubicon trail is right up there) and you have a bunch of rivers and lakes. Not to mention Lake Tahoe just an hour or so away from there.

Used to be that the only people that lived out in Cameron Park had planes. They have a little executive airport there and the houses are built around it, so you see houses with these really flippen large garages that house their planes

Politically it is more conservative up there. While Sacramento is the State Capitol and the city is pretty much blue the outer lining areas are pretty conservative - very tolerant, but conservative.

Higher Education you have the best AG school in the country at UC Davis, a great business school in CSUS and several community colleges and sattelite campuses throughout the community. There is also a great law school in at UOP - McGeorge School of Law located in Sacramento.

Hope this helps and if you have anything specific, please send me a pm.

Good luck to you!!

[KidBlue]

I've lived in Shingle Springs (actualy Latrobe) for the past 17 years so I know the area pretty well. It will make a difference whether your brother and his wife are retired or not. El Dorado Hills is a newer city with lots of upwardly mobile people. It's very tolerant for El Dorado Co. which tends to be a Republican stronghold. I've felt that most people in EDC are more fiscally conservative than overly religious or unaccepting of minorities.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the traffic on Highway 50 is pretty bad except when traveling very early, late, or mid day--so the farther you are from Sacramento, the more time in the car or on the El Dorado Transit bus.

Cameron Park and Shingle Springs are both very nice, Cameron Park tends to be more of a community than SS (mostly homes on acreage). CP has a nice lake, airport, and community center. Homes are still affordable, especially if you go farther out from Sacramento.

Placerville is great but the commute.....It's very quaint with wonderful little shops and eateries. No large developments in Placerville, just individual homes.

The ethnic mix is about the same in CP and Pville (largely white, with Hispanic, some blacks, Asians, etc.). EDH has more blacks but about the same mix for other races. Everyone seems to get along pretty well.

The climate is hot and dry in late June through October, wet in the winter (snows in Pville a little), wonderful in the spring (about a week long!) and fall.
The university is CSU Sacramento off Highway 50. It's known as a commuter school, but is a nice place to study.

You can find just about any church in the area from Buddhist to conservative Christian. Not sure about a Mosque or Hindu churches in the area.

The American and Cosumnes Rivers, Sly Park Lake, Folsom Lake are all in the area among others, so lots of hiking and camping available. There is also a bike trail that goes from Folsom to Tahoe (that's what I heard, anyway--may be a tall tail). Stay off Latrobe Road or you could get run over!

There are some places to hear live music in Pville and you can check out Folsom too. Sacramento is only a 50 minute drive in the evening for more spots to go for entertainment. EDH and Pville have threater complexes for movies.

Let me know if I left something out.

[greatbasinguide]

There is also a bike trail that goes from Folsom to Tahoe (that's what I heard, anyway--may be a tall tail).

A tall tale, although you can put together a bunch of dirt roads that will get you there.