Young couple moving back to Sacramento looking to buy

[Elliott_CA]

Granite Bay. Some of the best public schools (top scores), close to I-80, right next to Folsom Reservoir for boating. Some of the older areas have mature trees and are not cookie-cutter tracts. Close to all the shopping and restaurants you'd ever want. And going to the airport 3-5 months isn't too bad -- shortcut available by taking Baseline due west to avoid 80 backups.

I would suggest adding another criteria to your list: flooding risk. Granite Bay sits up high and there is no risk. Natomas, Land Park, and the Pocket are all at high risk in a severe flood event. I would not invest in a home in these areas for that reason alone.

[2sleepy]

Greenhaven?

[CaseyLF]

My fiancé and I are having the same issue. We both work downtown and don't want to commute from Roseville/Rocklin/Folsom. We like East Sac and South Land Park but the schools are concerning. Of course Great Schools isn't always accurate. Anyone have experience with the schools in those areas? I've heard McClatchy HS is good if you get into the HISP program. I'm not to familiar with the Sierra Oaks neighborhood, any cons of the area?

[JohnS_15]

Originally Posted by CaseyLF

My fiancé and I are having the same issue. We both work downtown and don't want to commute from Roseville/Rocklin/Folsom. We like East Sac and South Land Park but the schools are concerning. Of course Great Schools isn't always accurate. Anyone have experience with the schools in those areas? I've heard McClatchy HS is good if you get into the HISP program. I'm not to familiar with the Sierra Oaks neighborhood, any cons of the area?

How old are your kids?

I think there are good public elementary school options all over the Sacramento Unified area. That's partly because the schools are smaller and more localized to specific neighborhoods. Also kids generally don't act out as much until middle school age. But I think that's also because more young families are moving into these neighborhoods and becoming more involved with the schools etc.

There are also some interesting charter/lottery school options - especially in South Land Park. I think there is a lot of flux in where kids go to school within Sac Unified. There is a neighborhood assigned school but there are options to request a different school and that is all done based on a lottery system. Some schools are only lottery based - such as the Montessori or Waldorf style schools.

I don't completely understand it all yet. From what I can tell many of the middle and high schools within Sac Unified have some issues apart from a couple of decent ones. McClatchy being considered one of the best around.

If you have little kids or don't have kids yet then it's my opinion you should have a plan for elementary school but not worry too much about the middle and high schools just yet. That's gonna be 10+ years away and a lot can happen in that time. If you like a neighborhood and nice young families are moving in then that is a good sign.

Of course the Rocklin/Folsom/EDH areas will probably always be sought out for their middle/high schools. But that's a long time to be commuting that extra mileage if you really want to be closer to the Sacramento core.