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Looking into Chicago Park area, seeking information on buying ten acres of land to build on, quality of schools in Chicago Park, commute length to Roseville
I'm looking into the Chicago Park and surrounding areas. I would like information that would help me figure out where to settle my family in the Sierra Foothills and above. I will be exploring the area in earnest in April and any informtion would help me focus my search.
-Are there 10 acre land parcels out there that can be built on? Land budget would be about $300,000. max. Is the county building friendly? Are there any geographical or environmental anomalies about the area that I need to be aware of? Any friendly realtors/area specialists I can look up when I go?
-I sensed that there is a great elementary school in Chicago Park, what can locals tell me more about that? What about high schools there, are there exceptional ones serving the area?
-How far of a commute is it to the Roseville area for shopping? Is roughly 25 miles right? Is the commute ok during off work traffic times?
-Is the elevation high enough to avoid the smog from the Sacramento Valley?
Is it significantly cooler than Sacramento in the summer?
Using Google does not yield much useable info/impressions about Chicago Park and surrounds. I hope someone in that area or knowledgeable can share info,
or direct me to internet resources about the area like local forums. I would be very grateful. Thank you.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,302,067 times
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I have a sister-in-law who lives in Meadow Vista very close to Lake Rollins. I can only answer part of your question about the weather.
Generally, the high temp of the day is going to be very close to Sac's, the difference is that at night the temp cools off much more than down in the valley. You'll also be above the fog. You are generally downwind from the valley so you can get some drift from the pit. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find 10 acres or so for under 300K as 10 acres around here can be had for half that. I don't remember any real estate names from the signs when we were there a couple of weeks ago.
Thank you sir, for your quick response. Looking at city information, Meadow Vista is a little town. I did not see any grocery stores in the map of the town central or list of merchants. Your information on the weather is welcome news.
Meadow Vista's elevation @ 1700 feet is nice but your take on the smog situation in the area is discouraging. Thanks again.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,302,067 times
Reputation: 6471
MV has a very nice grocery store. Smog is not smog in the classic sense. Most all the time the temperature inversion layer keeps the stuff in the valley proper and it's not like it was in the '60's. I think MV is a very attractive location compared to any other place along the I-80 corridor.
My advice to anyone looking to see if they are going to like someplace or not is to hang out in the local grocery store for a couple of hours. You'll get a feel for the locals and vice versa.
Seems like sound advise, I will make it a point to swing by MV to check it out. Spring is not the ideal time to see the worst of the smog condition but I may get some idea. Does your sister in law have kids that go to elementary school there, what is her take on schools in the area?
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,302,067 times
Reputation: 6471
My sister-in-law doesn't have any children, but she has a masters degree in English and used to teach at a junior college. She also writes a column for the Auburn Journal. My thinking is the farther away one gets from big cities, the better the educational experience. My son has gone to schools that aren't particularly outstanding, but he achieves excellent grades. I went to excellent schools and was a rotten student.
If your kid(s) are good students, I think they will do well anywhere, If not, I guess I'm an example of how you can be successful even if you're a bad student
Does anyone in the know about the area forsee the suburban creep moving up the I-80 towards Meadow Vista, Chicago Park and Grass Valley areas eventually? As poor as the transportation corridors are now in handling the load, does the growth pressure march on up the hill unabated? In 15 years time, do you think
this area would resemble Roseville, for example. I understand that no one can really know how it all eventually pans out but getting people's opinion about the near future of this area is important when considering an area to live in. Thanks.
Does anyone in the know about the area forsee the suburban creep moving up the I-80 towards Meadow Vista, Chicago Park and Grass Valley areas eventually? As poor as the transportation corridors are now in handling the load, does the growth pressure march on up the hill unabated? In 15 years time, do you think
this area would resemble Roseville, for example. I understand that no one can really know how it all eventually pans out but getting people's opinion about the near future of this area is important when considering an area to live in. Thanks.
The following are my "best guesses" with some rationale. However, first let me say that I don't think any of the three areas has a chance of becoming another Roseville. Roseville had a "perfect storm" of factors that promoted rampant development. To wit: tracts of flat land, immediate access to I-80,
costs lower than Folsom or downtown Sac, reasonable commute to the airport, reasonable commute to the hub of government and jobs in Sac, a core of essential services, the appearance of a "semi-rural" lifestyle, etc.
Meadow Vista would be my candidate to grow the fastest. The main reasons are that it already has the easiest access to I-80 and probably the quickest access to jobs in the Auburn, Roseville, and Sac areas. Most of the new development has catered to the young executive demographic and there are more quality houses for resale. While none of the three areas you listed has an easy drive to the airport, I believe a need to use the airport for people flying 2 to 3 times per week may factor in people moving here compared to the other two.
Chicago Park is further "up-the-hill" making a commute to Auburn OK, but going back and forth to Roseville will wear on you, and the roundtrip to Sac every day will tempt you to move further in even though you will love Chicago Park. The area has larger tracts of land coupled with older houses.
Therefore, I don't think the total number of properties for sale is high and I don't see much motivation for "subdivision" type development. Check this out with a realtor. You should be able to pull up the numbers of properties on the market and compare each of the three areas.
Grass Valley and Nevada City are wonderful areas, but most people prefer to live AND work there. The commute to Auburn on highway 49 consists of a large amount of two lane highway and it can be dangerous (head-on collisions). There are good jobs in these areas, but they are not as plentiful, and the salary is generally lower than comparable positions in Sac.
A significant number of Bay area and retired people have settled here so prices are not cheap. I won't generalize to say the attitude is anti-development, but many of these people escaped from the big city and scrutinize any large development projects carefully. They tend to be active on the city counsel and success in previous careers has taught them how to use the system.
One final point, in addition to commuting distance and the status of the roads, topography will be a big factor in mitigating development. Chicago Park gets steeper as you get away from I-80, and Grass Valley (and especially Nevada City) are foothills with some narrow canyons. Developers generally like large tracts of flat farm land which yield 6 to 8 houses per acre. This is why they abused areas such as Elk Grove and Natomas.
As a purely personal choice, if I had anywhere toward Sac I would live in Meadow Vista, or even closer just outside Auburn. If I could work locally,
I would live in Nevada City. If I were retired I would live on 20 acres in Chicago Park.
I think the relative lack of jobs, commuting distance, and the lack of desire to be near a country club or on a golf course will prevent any of these from becoming another Roseville.
Thank you for your input. Your rationale seems reasonable and sound. This is the
type of assessment that is invaluable to me in deciding where to live because I will be investing myself in the community I end up in and likely retire there when the time comes. I am now 46 years old.
You make Meadow Vista sound attractive, I will make the time to take a close look. Thanks again.
-I sensed that there is a great elementary school in Chicago Park, what can locals tell me more about that? What about high schools there, are there exceptional ones serving the area?
-How far of a commute is it to the Roseville area for shopping? Is roughly 25 miles right? Is the commute ok during off work traffic times?
-Is the elevation high enough to avoid the smog from the Sacramento Valley?
Is it significantly cooler than Sacramento in the summer?
MannyfromCali
We live in the Chicago Park/Peardale area (Hwy 174), approximately 15 minutes between both Colfax and Grass Valley. We've been here for eight years and love it. We are above the winter inversion layer in the winter and a bit cooler in the summer than the valley.
The proximity to both Grass Valley and Hwy 80 is really convenient. Getting to Hwy 80 to go up to the snow or down to civilzation is quite simple and quick and it certainly beats the traffic hassles on Hwy 49 (That is, if you have to travel during commute hours.)
As far as the schools are concerned, we feel incredibly fortunate to
have excellent schools from which to choose. Nevada County schools usually rank second or third in the state, and, in addition, there are many alternate choices in education should you desire something a little different for your children than the traditional school setting. Try [URL="http://www.greatschools.net"]GreatSchools.net[/URL] for more info.
As for the elementary school in Chicago Park, I would say it is a little gem in the country. My children have been attending school there for several years, enjoy it and are doing well. It is a very small K-8 school with approximately 165 kids. The K-3 grades class size averages around 17, and the 4-8 grades, around 20. Academically, the school consistently ranks at the top of the K-8 schools in the county. The school offers afterschool sports, music/band, upper grade electives, a technology lab, a before-and-after-school program in a beautiful rural setting. The principal/superintendent is doing a wonderful job maintaining programs and quality education (given the economic state of California schools) and is really committed to the kids. He oversees a "character trait" program in which children are acknowleged at the weekly Friday morning "flag salute". (If you want to check out the school, you should come for a flag salute.)
The school is in the beginning stages of an expansion project--a gym addition, a science/art lab and several additional classrooms which will house music and resource programs, among other things.
The atmosphere is friendly and many parents, grandparents/relatives volunteer their time in the classrooms. I love it when I drop the children off and the roosters are crowing and the horses are whinny-ing. But most importantly, I believe that my children are getting a great education and I know they are in a very safe environment. [URL="http://www.nevco.k12.ca.us/cpark"]Home Page[/URL]
(Note: When looking at property and schools, there are "grey areas" in the county with regards to school district boundaries. Any seasoned Nevada County realtor should be able to tell you about this and point out whether or not the property you are looking at is located in one of the "grey areas".)
Getting to Roseville takes about 40 minutes from the Chicago Park area. It's not too bad- at least the drive is pretty. If you travel off peak, it's a breeze. However, living in a small town, where the local businesses are so generous with regards to school/charity support, most of us attempt to shop locally as much as possible. You get used to it- and it certainly saves on gas! Although sometimes, you just HAVE to go down the hill.
We don't have visible smog up here- maybe you were speaking of the "inversion layer" I mentioned earlier?? Nevada County, as well as the entire Sierra foothills areas have air quality issues that are being addressed by activist groups. I'm not that much in the know about it, but I'm sure you could google it...
Anyway, hope this info helps.
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