Let's Talk About West Roseville! (Sacramento, Orange: 2009, city hall, how much)

[WarHoover]

Hi Everyone,

I'm leaving the Navy and moving my family back to Sacramento, where my wife and I both grew up and where our parents still live. I hope to be able to take a larger role in being a part of my kids' lives as they grow up.

I've been hired by a great company and am working out of McClellan Business Park in North Highlands. I want to avoid anything more than a 20-25 minute commute (one way) if possible.

As far as living areas are concerned, we're ruling out North Highlands and are a little leery of Antelope. We're looking at West Roseville, Carmichael (both sets of parents live there), Sacramento (the part just west of Carmichael), Citrus Heights, and perhaps Orangevale. I've heard lots of negative comments about Natomas floodplain issues so that's probably out.

I had a chance to visit WestPark in Roseville and was pretty happy with how much house you can get for $350-400K. Of course there is still lots of building to be done and the area seems flat, dry, and sparse at the moment, but I have enough imagination to see that it will probably be a pretty nice development when complete. We want to buy a house in a place we can settle down in and raise our kids, so we can wait for the greenery to grow in.

What are your thoughts on West Roseville? If I moved there I would probably take the back roads (Baseline - Walerga - PFE - Watt) during times when the traffic on I-80 is crazy. Besides WestPark and Fiddyment, what are the developments I should be looking into? How does the area stack up to the rest of Roseville? Everyone seems to have good things to say about Roseville schools in general; do you think this holds true for the Western edge of town?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[DyaneRiemer]

I live on the "western edge of town" in Roseville and love it! I think the schools are great and that the people are very down to earth.

If you are looking for a new home, I really like West Park and Fiddyment Farms, even though they are not well-developed at this time. However, these areas have a great Master Plan and will have a different feel than the rest of west Roseville. It sounds like it would work well with your desire to stay close to McClellan, and still be in Placer County. As far as the schools go, it is too early to tell. The elementary school was finished last year and they didn't open it; the first classes will start in the Fall of 2008. The junior high will be finished soon, but it is not expected to open until 2009, I believe. Either way, the elementary school is in the Dry Creek District, which has a good reputation. Oftentimes (not always) the principal for a new school is already a principal at another school. Perhaps you could call the district and ask who will be principal at Junction Elementary (if they've decided yet) and go to www.greatschools.net and see how the school they are currently at rates. It might give you an idea of what to expect. I don't know what to tell you about the junior high, but I suspect that if you are just getting out of the military, you don't yet have junior high school-age children.

There are other areas of West Roseville, too, which aren't too far from Baseline and Watt. Again, if you're looking new, Crocker Ranch North has some great homes, and the major builder there, JMC, is terrific! (I used to live in a JMC home.) Both of the elementary schools which feed from there are superb. They are in the Roseville City School District, and both rate exceptionally high in their API scores. The two schools are Diamond Creek Elementary and Blue Oaks Elementary, which just received the honor of becoming a "California Distinguished School". Only the "cream of the cream" qualifies for this designation.

If you want to go resale homes, there are so many areas to choose from. There is the area northwest of The Auction, the area southwest of Blue Oaks and Woodcreek Oaks, and the area south of Junction and north of Baseline. All three areas would have homes in your price range, and being in established neighborhoods, there would be more mature vegetation, and schools in which you can find existing and current information on. A Realtor who is very familiar with those sections of west Roseville can help you out there.

In other words, there is so much to choose from... it's all good, and in my humble opinion, you simply can't go wrong by choosing West Roseville!

[volleyballer]

I believe the two new schools, elementary and junior high, are in the Roseville City School District, not Dry Creek. But I'm sure they're going to be great. Another real nice area is Diamond Oaks which is East of Washington and South of Pleasant Grove. Really nice over there.

[Quazi]

I wish my experience with Roseville was as glowing as the previous posters. In general I find the town lacking in many ways. First, the city council routinely votes in unison in favor of developers over its citizens. 300 residents went to city hall to show solidarity against a 4 story high density development next to single family residenence already surrounded by high density development (diamond creek development off blue oaks). The city council sided unamiously with the developer and pretty much called the citizens and called them a mob. It's gotten so bad a non profit organization known as the Friends Of Roseville (FORE) often goes before the council in prptest and has even sued the city sucessfuly for illegal fees applied to citizens in favor of developers. The schools are good if you are allowed to go to the ones near your home. Residents of the crocker ranch and diamond creek developments were hot with Mello Roos to pay for near by woodcreek high school, but their kids are forced to go to Roseville high school (10 miles away) and pay the schoole distirct $300/yr for the privledge of bus transportation to drive by Woodcreek on their way to Roseville High. Also, the city has experimented with teh residents of crocker ranch, diamon creek, and sun city via their undeground water storage. Don't live in these areas as the city loves to screw people ion these areas over and call them mobs and snobs when the object and try and organize resistence. Good luck!

[handiquack]

I love Roseville. That's one of the only parts of Sac-Metro that I don't complain about.

[drjcl]

I would put in a postive vote for west roseville, crocker ranch, westpark or fiddyment farms.