davis, CA nice? (San Francisco, Sacramento, Redding: short sales, real estate, foreclosures)

[anitasum]

Hello,
My husband and I are looking into moving back to CA. We use to live in the crazy OC but are maybe ready for something a bit more quiet but yet exciting. We are very outdoorsey and love the sunshine. We are also into local farmers markets, healthy food, community etc.
However, are there any jobs in Davis or surrounding areas? if one was to live in Davis, where would one commute to work? Sacramento? what are the commutes like? what kind of jobs are there?

We appreciate any input!!

[CityGirl72]

Davis is wonderful

And the commute is very easy to Sacramento

[quasi888]

My wife works in Davis as an elementary school teacher. Highly educated population, well-established close-knit neighborhoods where lots of people bike around, hip/funky college town, along with the diversity and leftward-leaning politics that goes with it. Jobwise, you could look at the university itself, or commute to Sac which as CityGirl mentioned is very easy.

Had we known more about Davis before we moved to the region, we probably would have given it some serious consideration. Real estate prices are still on the high side, though -- some would say undeservedly so.

[ukiyo-e]

I've lived in Davis 6 years now and love it; I worked in midtown Sac for 2 years and the commute was about 17-20 easy minutes door to door. Now I work at the University and usually bike to work on a dedicated bike path that runs right from my neighborhood to the campus. I agree with quasi, the housing prices are still high compared to the free-fall going on in other parts of the Sacramento area. A friend who's a realtor here got stats that showed in December, sellers in Davis (what few there were!) got 95% of their asking price, and those prices are only slightly lower than they were a year ago. Not sure why they aren't coming down more, except the sellers seem patient - not much in the way of foreclosures or short sales here.

[gotpancit]

I too live in Davis and commute all the way to folsom which is a fairly long commute (30mins in the morning and 40-1:20 in the afternoon). If you are in the medical field you could easily find a job in the surrounding Davis area, or you are just a hop skip and jump to the hospitals in downtown sac. If you aren't in that field then most likely you will commute to sacramento, or towards the bay area, i.e. fairfield, vacaville.

House prices in Davis are way over the top for the type of house you get. The realtors really have you by the _____ in this area. I believe they are pricing these houses towards bay area transients or simply because there isn't much inventory.

#1 school district according to sacramento magazine last year. The Davis district even beat out the local private schools in terms of standardized tests.

Do an mls search in the area and check out those prices!

[rgb123]

Is it true that Davis going to generally be much hotter in the summer months than areas in the foothills? Is it unbearably hot in Davis?

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by rgb123

Is it true that Davis going to generally be much hotter in the summer months than areas in the foothills? Is it unbearably hot in Davis?

"It's dry heat."

The entire Central Valley is hot during the summer, but it's actually worse north of here, around Redding. I've gotten used to it, but it took awhile, since I'd lived in San Francisco for many years before moving here.

[gotpancit]

you get a pretty good breeze in davis since its pretty flat. its still pretty hot though.

[Mossy]

My husband and I live in Folsom and were wondering about Davis as well as we have an almost 3 year old. I didn't know the schooling was so good there. Does anyone have personal experiences living there? We have lived in Folsom for 8 years and want a change. We were looking at El Dorado Hills but maybe Davis should be on our list as well.

Thanks for the information.

[gotpancit]

Speaking from experience, Davis and Folsom each have their niche. Folsom has everything that you need right there on bidwell. Also not to forget, you also have the lake, bike trails and the #2 ranked schools (next to Davis).

Davis on the other hand has a very small town feel and sometimes the local shops don't have quite what you need. You'll find yourself driving to the Dixon wal-mart, or to natomas for most clothes shopping or any big stores for that matter. The atmosphere is a lot more kick back, friendly and leftwinged like quasi888 said, than Folsom is.

The deal breaker for me is commute and topography. I work in folsom so I had a bright idea, why dont I live in folsom. Also, after living in Davis for two years I really miss the elevation changes (hills) folsom has. It's no fun riding my bike or jogging on flat concrete all the time.

I can probably go on for awhile about both of these places since I've lived the past 6 years in one of the two.