Six months here and love it!!! (San Jose, Sacramento: house, schools, allergies)

[mxcolin]

Six months ago we moved here from Orange County. I have to say, it’s been the best move we ever made. The people are friendlier, our house is twice the size it would have been in OC and we prefer the schools.

Sacramento Metro has to be one of the most underrated areas in the country. No wonder it’s growing so much. Weather is awesome. Not as perfect as SoCal but outside of there and maybe San Jose, Sac must have the best weather in the country. The so called “wet and cool” winters were nothing of the sort. Mild, sunny and dry would be a more apt description.

The schools here are great without being math robot torture factories like they are in so much of OC. Parents are much more likely to speak to you and make actual eye contact, which is nice. Social and racial partition is much less obvious here too.

The traffic isn’t bad at all, apart from the 65 near Roseville. Certainly better than most.

The city itself is fine. The homeless problem needs a solution and the city itself needs improvement but it’s heading in the right direction.

Overall we couldn’t be happier with the move and I’d recommend any young family looking to relocate to give Sacramento a chance.

[Kden1036]

Great to hear! Thinking about a relocation with my young family from Denver to Sacramento for a job opportunity. The weather in Denver is pretty great but wouldn’t mind being closer to the ocean and a tad more humidity. Thanks for the report!

[mxcolin]

Yeah the weather here is definitely an upgrade from Denver, which as you say has pretty good weather itself. No snow in the city and the burbs though, in 6 months I've seen frost once and 10 days of 70's in February.

[Lifeadviser]

Originally Posted by mxcolin

Six months ago we moved here from Orange County. I have to say, it’s been the best move we ever made. The people are friendlier, our house is twice the size it would have been in OC and we prefer the schools.

Sacramento Metro has to be one of the most underrated areas in the country. No wonder it’s growing so much. Weather is awesome. Not as perfect as SoCal but outside of there and maybe San Jose, Sac must have the best weather in the country. The so called “wet and cool” winters were nothing of the sort. Mild, sunny and dry would be a more apt description.

The schools here are great without being math robot torture factories like they are in so much of OC. Parents are much more likely to speak to you and make actual eye contact, which is nice. Social and racial partition is much less obvious here too.

The traffic isn’t bad at all, apart from the 65 near Roseville. Certainly better than most.

The city itself is fine. The homeless problem needs a solution and the city itself needs improvement but it’s heading in the right direction.

Overall we couldn’t be happier with the move and I’d recommend any young family looking to relocate to give Sacramento a chance.

If you don't mind me asking... What do you do for a living or what industry are you in?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Everything becomes relative, doesn't it? As i have grown older and moved around a lot, the things I used to find intolerable suddenly seem very tolerable, after living somewhere I found to be much worse.

For instance, I couldn't wait to move from the SF Bay Area when I was young because of the crowds and traffic, etc. After moving to more rural areas that were less crowded and much cheaper, I realized that I really hated living in the boonies and in bad weather. And I missed having lots to do, and lots of shopping options, etc.

And then I learned that healthcare is much more limited in the boonies, and I wanted better healthcare - like I used to have when I lived in a more populated, wealthier area.

And full circle, I'm so glad to be back where I started. I think, though, that to appreciate where you live, you first have to move away to experience living in other places. You need perspective.

I'm glad you are loving the Sacto area, OP. There's a lot to like about it. It was too hot for me, and the air quality bothered me as well. But, I've definitely lived in worse places that make Sacto look like Nirvana.

[mxcolin]

Originally Posted by Lifeadviser

If you don't mind me asking... What do you do for a living or what industry are you in?

IT, but I work from home. Could live anywhere really with an airport nearby and the internet.

[Kden1036]

I’m very much worried about the air quality. Air quality is pretty terrible in Denver almost year round—except spring. Inversion traps crappy air in the winter and high ozone all summer long. From what I can tell sacramento has bad air in the summer but maybe not in the winter?? I worry for my children’s health. My young son already does a lot of coughing when exercisIng etc...

[mxcolin]

That is interesting. You know I’ve never looked into that. I’m going to check it out. I know this is a high allergy area but none of us has ever suffered from allergies (yet) so we don’t notice.

Any app recommendations for checking the air quality?

[49erfan916]

I loved Sacramento but I got priced out. I live in Phoenix, and while I do like it out here, I do miss home. Just like nomoresnowforme said, sometimes you got to leave home to appreciate where you came from. If I do return, I will probably live in a more centralized location like land park or midtown instead of a house in rural elk grove.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I think, though, that to appreciate where you live, you first have to move away to experience living in other places. You need perspective.

That makes a lot of sense. But I think it also works the other way. A lot of people tout how great life is in Ca over other areas and it's worth it to pay a lot more to do so, but a lot of those people haven't lived anywhere else so really they can't be honest with themselves. That said those that live in extreme weather areas, Ca is definitely a step up.