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Glossed over? It has been studied and addressed comprehensively. You might want to look at the latest missive from the EPA, the August 2007 letter, in the first link below stating that it would not be taking any further action given its approval of the response of the local municipalities.
Naturally-occurring asbestos exists in the vast majority of counties in California (44 of 58 California counties; see 2nd link below). In EDH, it has been addressed thoroughly. What can be said about NOA in the other 43 counties?
Seriosuly, why it got blown so out of proportion in Folsom/ EDH is beyond me. NOA is all over California. I would understand if there was some sort of a cancer cluster in the area, but there has never been a single reported death from cancer resulting from NOA. But if you wanna be a scurred baby like newbee be my guest.
Because asbestois is cummulative effects disease with a signficant latent period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of asbestois, its tough to cage your risk by just looking at the current number of people who have come down with asbestois in El Dorado Hills.
El Dorado Hills has a relatively small population base and large part of the current population only moved there in the past 10 years. Additionally a lot of the older population wasn't building homes in the areas with serpentine rock formations that have the high levels of asbestos. The small population base and the short duration of residency of the current occupants of El Dorado Hills mean that current reported levels of disease are poor indicators of the actual risk of asbestos.
There may be few reported cases right now because there is a very small level or risk and that risk has successfully been mitigated by the control measures or alternatively the mitigation may have failed, but because the population base is both small and hasn't lived in the area for a long period of time, the disease has failed to show up in the population.
Don't get me wrong, I think El Dorado Hills is a pretty area. But Granite Bay is a pretty area too. When prices are pretty much the same, the schools are pretty comparable, I would probably look more at Granite Bay which isn't built on serpentine rather than El Dorado Hills.
Don't get me wrong, I think El Dorado Hills is a pretty area. But Granite Bay is a pretty area too. When prices are pretty much the same, the schools are pretty comparable, I would probably look more at Granite Bay which isn't built on serpentine rather than El Dorado Hills.
Actually, from my recent househunting, I'd say a home selling for $450K in El Dorado Hills would be closer to $575K in Granite Bay....
That is interesting. I stand corrected. There was a time when similiar sized homes of the same age went for roughly the same price in both places with the primary difference being that the homes in Granite Bay generally were just larger and that made the neighborhood more expensive. But on a per sqft basis homes are now selling for less in El Dorado Hills than Fair Oaks or Folsom. Given the the better views, the proximity to the lake, the quality of the local schools and proximity to employment along 50, I think you might be right. Financially, El Dorado Hills probably is underpriced right now. I would probably make sure the home site itself isn't actually on an area with serpentine, but at these prices I can see why someone is tempted to consider buying in El Dorado Hills. Its cheap for what it offers.
The housing market is changing write now. For the past several years the areas that have been hit the hardest were the places that had a lot of subprime borrowers (people with poor credit). That was why Oak Park was hit.The worst of that part of the problem is probably past.
Who are now getting in trouble are the people who bought with alt-a loans (people with better credit often using exotic finance Pick a payment loans, teaser rates etc). That is hitting the wealthier part of the market. Thus we are starting to see uptake in notice of defaults and foreclosures in the high end.
El Dorado Hills has the same problem with alt-a loans that Elk Grove had with subprime loans. Like Elk Grove it was built out at the peak of the housing bubble and as a result it has a disportionate number of foreclosures. Because there are so many foreclosures in El Dorado Hills its pulling down prices in El Dorado Hills.
If you look at the chart what you will notice is that the price per sqft fell 17% in El Dorado Hills but fell only 12.8 in Folsom. Both El Dorado Hills and Fair Oaks are upscale suburban neighborhoods. But prices have held up much better in Fair Oaks because Fair Oaks was built out in the 60's and 70's were as most of El Dorado Hills has been built out in the past year.
If you click on the link below you will notice how the number of foreclosures in Sacramento County is down by 6.3% whereas its up by 43% in El Dorado County and up by 39.9% in Placer County. The regional economy is pretty much the same in all three counties. The primary difference is that proportionately more of the low income housing in the area is in Sacramento County and proportionately more of the high end stuff is in El Dorado and Placer counties. Making El Dorado and Placer Counties more sensitive to what is happening in the high end of the market. The other relevant difference is that proportionately more of El Dorado and Placer Counties were built out in the past 10 years than Sacramento County.
I would be very reluctant to buy right now in any neighborhood where most of the housing stock was built in the past 10 years. I think Mark Hanson is making a lot of sense.
Try to find out the locations of old dumpsites before you move to the Folsom. There is a large area of dredge tailings beneath Parkway Drive & Scheidegger Circle and a closed dumpsite at end of Leidesdorff Street.
So it depends on what you are looking for. Do you want small town, small town with stuck up people, or medium sized area which offers a lot but not so much small town? I grew up in Cameron Park, and if you like boring, non-diversified life then its the place for you (its very safe and clean cut, but its a bit dull). El Dorado Hills is just about the same only you have the Snob factor to deal with, and housing that is so close together you can reach out your window and touch your neighbors house. Folsom is a little more diversified and offers more "big box" stores, Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond etc, etc. Folsom is close to everything too, not too sure about the schools though. Oak Ridge and Ponderosa are both great schools! Although I think it is a bit dull Cameron Park is a great place to raise a family and I would recommend it! I would not recommend El Dorado Hills but only because I don't like snobby people! And I would recommend Folsom, it has a little of everything, and is still a very safe/good place to raise a family. If you have more questions feel free to ask, I lived in the area from age 6 to 18 (now 25). My family all still lives in Cameron Park. I went to school in southern california and then moved back up north to sacramento. As far as raising a family in Sacramento goes, I wouldn't. But east of Sacramento is a great place!!! You can also check out the roseville, rocklin, granite bay areas.
I can't speak to Folsom's schools, but I can speak to El Dorado Union High School District. The schools are excellent.
Oakridge HS is in El Dorado Hills. For some reason, perhaps socio-economics, it seems to be more culturally connected to Folsom. In other words, higher income. The other El Dorado Union schools seem more bonded to each other. I don't know any families at this school, so other than knowing it is upper income, I can't say much more about it. Yes, it is in an naturally-occurring asbestos area; but keep in mind that there is a dam (and dikes) in Folsom!
Ponderosa HS is excellent. It is strong academically, has a winning marching band, a good assortment of sports, the Regional Occupational Program on campus. It serves Cameron Park and Shingle Springs. The campus is older but well taken care of.
El Dorado HS benefitted when the HS district lines were redrawn, bringing in the Lotus and Coloma families that had been attending Ponderosa. It serves those two communities, as well as Placerville, Camino, and Pollock Pines. I don't know much about its academic scores, but know many students who attend there. There a couple of elementary/middle schools that feed into it that have some student issues, but the students that I know that attend do not report that they have any problems. The band is small but has heart . I would imagine that this school has a slight bit more diversity than the others. This school has a culinary arts program as part of ROP, I'm told. It is an old campus.
Union Mine is the newest campus, located in Diamond Springs, and serves Diamond Springs, El Dorado, a part of Placerville, and a part of Shingle Springs. The students that I know that attend are happy to be there, although I do not have information on academics. Its marching band boosters are supportive of their kids!
Shenandoah HS is an alternative HS located on the Union Mine campus. It is an option for students in the county, and they offer more of a project-based approach, hands-on learning, career exploration type of high school.
As far as communities, as KidBlue mentioned (thanks KidBlue), I've gone over the communities in detail in some other posts, so you might want to search for them. It really depends on what you want. If you want suburb-type living, then you might want to check out El Dorado Hills. It is lower elevation, just over the hill from Folsom/shopping, doesn't get the weather we get a little further up the hill, has piped natural gas and is pretty much on sewer and city water (there are some areas out of the more densely developed areas that are not). Other parts of the county are on propane for heat, have wells, and septic tanks.
We are in Shingle Springs and love it. It is beyond Cameron Park and has a country feel to it, but it is still close-in to the freeway to be able to get to town when we need to go.
Farther up, just be aware that although El Dorado and Diamond Springs has some historical flavor going on, there are big developments slated to go in...it may look different in 10 years if the developers continue to convince the Board of Supervisors to let them develop willy-nilly.
Placerville has old historic downtown.
There are some areas in Cameron Park, Diamond Springs, Placerville, and Pollock Pines that would give me pause....just have your eyes open when you look, you can pretty much tell the areas that have some problems. That is NOT to say that I would avoid those towns, not at all, because the problems are isolated. Just be aware.
Speaking of isolation, keep that in mind. Are you a family that wants privacy? We have friends who are way, way out on some hair-raising windy one-way dirt roads. Scary in stormy weather or in fire season; however, they love it, because they are rewarded by incredible views. But be sure that you are comfortable with it; and know that your teenager will be driving those roads, and so will his/her friends, and your friends, too.
When looking at houses, be aware of what is around it. Get a topo map or go to the county and look at their parcel maps once you zero in on that dream house. We had an ill-informed El Dorado Hills realtor with no experience in Lotus showing us homes there; one was on top of a hill, and they didn't know it backed up to an active serpentine rock quarry! Hello!!! I discovered it on maps.
As far as living here, it is recreation paradise! River rafting, canoeing, hiking, biking, horseback riding trails, historic areas, fishing, forests and meadow exploration, 4x4 (Rubicon jeep trail), skiing just 45 minutes up the hill, snow parks, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, Lake Tahoe, boating, you get the idea !
Our main cause for concern up here is wildfire.
Good luck and let us know if you have more questions.
I lived in midtown Sac for 6 yrs and have been in.EDH now for a yr . I hated it at first; chain stores, corporate minded people with 3.2 kids each, everyone driving a new car, etc. I swear there are more competitive 40+ yr old people than anywhere I have seen even in the bay area. I actually left El Dorado Hills fitness club within a month because of the weird vibe. Dude, you are 45 yrs old. Stop trying to compete with me at the gym. You are well past your prime.
After settling in I have learned to ignore a lot and I really like it. The kids are very respectful here. A lot of great hiking everywhere. It is a little cooler temp wise than Sac. And the river and lake are within reasonable driving distance. All in all it is a pretty nice city.
I actually left El Dorado Hills fitness club within a month because of the weird vibe. Dude, you are 45 yrs old. Stop trying to compete with me at the gym. You are well past your prime.
Are you still going to EDH fitness club? if you are interested in something different, there's lots of really great other types of gyms in EDH. I go to Mini's house of pain, and occasionally to One Body Integrated Training & Therapy. I know there are several CrossFit boxes & a boxing place up there too.
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