Davis vs. Chico

[angelbug]

Originally Posted by kjk44

I live in Davis, not because I want to but because my wife's family was here. Davis is expensive!! If you are not a student or associated with the University there is nothing here for you. I have seen post talking about the great restaurants in Davis, well they have closed and have been replaced by Pizza parlors or fast food. Only about 3 "quality" restaurants remain.

The people in Davis are self centered and think they have "arrived". That means they want half a tree, the rest is in your yard; they throw their garbage in the street and call it recycle; their garbage trucks spew toxic oil but that's considered "a cost of doing business". All the time they will tell you how environmentally conscious they are. Davis has insurmountable laws governing how you will act and how you will finally leave the town. While you are stuck here they are ignored but when you sell all of a sudden they are required, that and $160 for the privilege of selling your home.

Taxes are higher than any other town in the general area. They allow the university to vote on should home owners support parks, should homeowners fund libraires, should home owners support schools and those over 65 are exempt. The Police and Fire chief in Davis are paid equal to a Sacramento equivelant. Oh, we got rid of the last Police cheif because he didn't play Davis politics.

Davis has structured their city Taxes in such a way that if you are an old time Davis resident you don't have to pay a lot but if in a new development you are supporting 2/3 of the city. Where is Davis's man of the year Duning on that issue?

Jeez. Move to Woodland or Dixon already. You'd only be 8-10 miles from your wife's family, and you'd add 10 years to your life by not being so miserable that every post you write about Davis has to bash a small town newspaper columnist that no one seems to take seriously except you.

Half a tree and the other half in your neighbors' yard? I don't even understand half your complaints. I lived in San Francisco for 18 years so I agree the restaurants here aren't so hot, but Dixon and Woodland aren't exactly culinary capitals themselves, and all CA towns have fees for real estate transactions and Mello Roos taxes on certain new construction.

Really, life's too short to be so unhappy.

[laupro92]

Chico's not conservative, the places surrounding Chico are on the other hand are but here we are a bunch of liberals. also house for around 300k should be really easy to find, mainly with all the new house that have been built and are not selling its a buyers market. There is one bad part of town and that is by the railroad tracks near the corner west sacromento ave. and nord (highway 32) , plus downtown late at night is not safe but its fine during the colleges' vacations because all the students leave town. Chico State is a very beautiful campus which is located around and creek, which goes all through chico and is surrounded by a large park which is miles long. Downtown plaza has recently been redone, many concerts come through town every month, but i believe its mainly focus on bring in college and high school students. Also Chico is within 3hrs of Lake tahoe, 5hrs of Bend Oregon, 2hrs of Shasta, 2.5hrs from Clear Lake, 3hrs from the bay, and 4hrs 30mins away from Fort Bragg, which are all great vacation spots. One bad thing about chico is the up to 100 degree temperature during the summer time.But if you havekids chico state is rank among one of the top places for medical, it also has a top rank division 2 soccer team for both boys and girls, had a top rank team for baseball but did not do as well last year after their head coach went to Indiana state. If Chico States not the place you want to go Butte is also a very good community college with top rank sports teams, i believe their football team is either 1st or 2nd in the nation for their division. Also the high schools have some top rank teams in the state rivaling that of LA and sacromento, for example chico high girls soccer is rank 16th in state. Yet even with all these amazing athletes it is very hard to get reconized in chico for athletics.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by NoCal research

After living out-of-state for 4 years, my husband and I have just moved our family back to California in order to be closer to the rest of our family in the Bay Area (and also because we love California). I was raised in (west) Marin County and all my family and friends still live in Marin or SF. We would LOVE to live in Marin again, but coming back from out-of-state to the outrageous cost of living after 4 years away is not very possible.

I would say that if Marin is the place of your heart, then you should go there. If it costs a dollar to live in San Rafael or Novato, it costs 99 cents to live in Davis. The difference in cost between Davis and Marin is negligible so why pay that much to move to another Sac Valley location if you really want to be in the Bay Area?

[Ceece]

I love Chico too. My daughter goes to college there now and I take every opportunity to visit her. I'm Bay Area born and raised by I can definitely see myself moving to Chico once I'm an empty nester and if I can find something to do there work-wise.

[Damnitjanet]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

I would say that if Marin is the place of your heart, then you should go there. If it costs a dollar to live in San Rafael or Novato, it costs 99 cents to live in Davis. The difference in cost between Davis and Marin is negligible so why pay that much to move to another Sac Valley location if you really want to be in the Bay Area?

It looks like right now that they can be cheaper.

The median price of a home in Davis is $452,000 (95616) and in El Macero is $555,000(95618).

In Novato its $400,000 (94945), $305,000 (94947),$585,000 (94949).

In San Rafael its $490,000 (94901) and $399,500 (94903)
DQNews - Sacramento Bee Zip Code Chart
DQNews - San Francisco Chronicle Zip Code Chart

Don't get me wrong I like Davis. I think its a good choice if you need to live in Sacramento because of work or family. Its probably the most attractive place for wealthy liberals with kids in the Sacramento region.

But right now its hard to argue that one should pick Davis over San Rafael or Novato to save money on housing.