Davis vs. Chico (San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento: real estate, income, rent)

[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. We moved to Chico 6 months ago due to a job offer for my husband. In most ways, we really love it here: charming college town, family-friendly, nice community feeling. But there are a few major things we don't like: a bit too conservative for us, too far away from, well, anything, and the lack of job opportunity in the long run. We are committed to 2 years here in Chico, but I've been doing some research on where to move next. One town that seems very intriguing is Davis, and I would love to find out if my instincts about it are correct. It seems like it has all of the things we love about Chico, but it is more liberal, it's an easy commute to Sacramento, so there is job opportunity, cultural opportunities and easy access to a major airport. Plus, it's closer to the Bay Area, so we wouldn't have to stay overnight every time we went down to Marin.

Are my instincts on Davis correct? If we almost love Chico, will we definitely love Davis, based on our criteria? Has anyone lived both places, and if so how do they really compare?

Thanks so much for your opinions!

[bigdave01]

Davis sounds like a great fit. Just remember it is MUCH more expensive than Chico for the reasons you listed.

Davis has top notch schools, a very educated population, is commutable to Sac, and close to the bay area. UC Davis is also an excellent school compared to Chico.

[megca]

I agree with bigdave01. If you can afford Davis, sounds like you will love it. It is much more liberal.

[LeftCoastRider]

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. We moved to Chico 6 months ago due to a job offer for my husband. In most ways, we really love it here: charming college town, family-friendly, nice community feeling. But there are a few major things we don't like: a bit too conservative for us, too far away from, well, anything, and the lack of job opportunity in the long run. We are committed to 2 years here in Chico, but I've been doing some research on where to move next. One town that seems very intriguing is Davis, and I would love to find out if my instincts about it are correct. It seems like it has all of the things we love about Chico, but it is more liberal, it's an easy commute to Sacramento, so there is job opportunity, cultural opportunities and easy access to a major airport. Plus, it's closer to the Bay Area, so we wouldn't have to stay overnight every time we went down to Marin.

Are my instincts on Davis correct? If we almost love Chico, will we definitely love Davis, based on our criteria? Has anyone lived both places, and if so how do they really compare?

Thanks so much for your opinions!

My wife and I are from the Bay Area but currently live on an island in Puget Sound, where we have owned a home for the past five years. And although it is beautiful here, the weather sucks for nine months out of the year, so we are moving back home. We will probably be moving to Chico this summer to be closer to my wife's children and parents, who all live there. The conservative nature olf Chico is a concern to me as well, although having a university there helps. My major concern is finding a job...I have been a real estate agent for the past couple of years here, but will not be doing that in CA due to the market there. So I am going to have to go back into management, but so far have found nothing. I have visited Chico many times, and I have also visted Davis, as I used to have a girlfriend there. We would consider moving to Davis, but it is too expensive for us now. I wish I had never left Santa Cruz!

By the way, my wife is also from Marin County originally, and although it is very expensive there, you can find affordable homes nearby in Santa Rosa. If I could find employment there, we would consider living there as well.

Good Luck!

[italiangirl]

We are considering a move to Chico or somewhere in northern Ca from Denver. We have $300k to spend on a 15500 square ft house or bugger. I'm replying because if it's conservative in that area, we won't fit. My husband does laser and magnetic healing work including massage therapy and cranial scra stuff, but he also does some pretty far out stuff. Would he have a clientel? Or is Davis better? Folsom? other towns?
The coastal towns are too small to start a practice. we looked at Ukiah, Willits,and are NOT interested in Eureka.
Thanks

[vogeljo]

Yes, your instincts about Davis are correct. I lived there for five years and loved it. Bike lanes bigger than the roads, great community, politically progressive, nice schools and parks, close to the Bay Area.

I'd take it over Chico any day.

[NoCal research]

I posted this message almost a month ago and forgot to check back. Just wanted to say thanks for all your replies! It does indeed sound like Davis would be a good fit for us.

italiangirl- I think Chico is big enough that your husband would be able to find a market for his type of business. Being a college town makes it LESS conservative than some of the nearby areas. You will easily be able to find a 1550 (or even slightly bigger) sq foot house for around $300K. Oh, by the way, when I said I lived out of state? Denver is where I lived - small world! We have found the housing prices in Chico to be very similar to Denver.

LeftCoastRider- if you have family here in Chico, you will like it here. Yes, it's more conservative than I would like, but I figure if we want to meet similar people to ourselves, they are out there no matter what town, we just need to network a little more to find those people. Good luck on your job hunt!

Thanks again for your replies!!

[hdsnowbird]

Chico is also a great college town. I do find that the housing market and rent is much cheaper than davis. I do know that you can get a new 2500sqft home for 265,000 in the Chico / Oroville area. or a really nice Victorian completly redone for 247,000. Rent here ranges from $400 to 900 a month for a 2 or 3 bedroom. $900 being a REALLY NICE Apt.
You can ret a house for 600 to 1200 for a 2 to 4 bedroom and sometimes with acreage.

Bidwell Park in Chico is wonderful.
Bidwell Park contains 3670 acres, about 5.73 square miles and is about 3 times larger than golden gate park. Bidwell park has many recreational areas for hiking, swimming, horseback riding, etc.

Chico has a small mall, but it always seems to have everything you need. There is a Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Costco, Sportclubs, Home Depot, and Lowes, and other retail stores
If your looking for shopping, jobs, etc, then There really isn't much to offer. There are no commerical industries (like Refineries, Production Plants, etc here. mostly retail or private business owners.
the wages here are not as [font=Times New Roman]Lucrative as in Davis or the Bay Area. But Quality of life is at a slower pace.
Davis is a great college town and it is close enough to the Bay Area and Sacramento. Since Davis has been commented on I will mostly comment on Chico
Davis does have quite a few city laws unlike many other towns, one being the smoking ban. you can not even drive through Davis while smoking or you risk a ticket. for myself this is not a problem as i do not smoke but it seems that some of your personal freedom is being taking away I hope this will help you.

[misterdammit]

I live in Chico, and it's not that conservative. The surrounding areas are, though. But Chico's not bad. I've got to say though that the shopping (clothes) situation kind of sucks. We do have alot of big box stores though, like Penney's, Kohls, Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc...so if you buy your clothes at places like that, you'll probably be okay. Really, my main gripe is that we don't have The Limited, Express, or Banana Republic. :-)

I can't really compare us to Davis, except that Davis is alot closer to bigger cities than Chico is. Also, it seems like alot of people ride bikes in Davis (I've only been there once, but I did see alot of cyclists). There are also alot of bicyclists in Chico, but probably not as many as in Davis.

If you decide to live in Chico, don't live downtown....unless you want to be in party Central. The other areas of town are nice. As far as I know (I've lived here for several years) there are no really "bad" areas of town, but downtown is not great to live in given all the drunk college kids stumbling from the bars at night. During the day, though, downtown is great.

Oh yeah, and Chico State has a VERY pretty campus. :-)

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by italiangirl

We are considering a move to Chico or somewhere in northern Ca from Denver. We have $300k to spend on a 15500 square ft house or bugger. I'm replying because if it's conservative in that area, we won't fit. My husband does laser and magnetic healing work including massage therapy and cranial scra stuff, but he also does some pretty far out stuff. Would he have a clientel? Or is Davis better? Folsom? other towns?
The coastal towns are too small to start a practice. we looked at Ukiah, Willits,and are NOT interested in Eureka.
Thanks

I lived in SFO and also San Francisco [also lived in boulder,co for a few years] and have a practice similar to your husband's [currently in San Diego]. My opinion is that yes,chico would be hard to start up in. Not necessarily b/c of conservative,but small town population-it takes awhile to make your niche,get to know people and educate others,while also building a network. And you have that many fewer people,% wise,who would be in the market for such work,based on population in the area.
It's not impossible,but I agree it would be challenging. And the economy does not support the work as readily either,in terms of disposable income.
Ukiah IMO would be easier,even tho' it's smaller.
Davis is a college town-yes,there are healing arts,but it's not a center for it. Marin,SFO and Sonoma,as well as the east bay- berkeley and to some extent oakland-would really be the places for the work to take off. [and santa cruz/some parts of south bay]. But you cannot find housing like you mentioned for that price.
Someone mentioned Santa Rosa;it's in sonoma county,and the nearby Russian River has a number of eclectic funky communities that you may be able to find something in. Sebastopol would be another great spot for your work,though again housing costs are the CA stereotype....

You could also try practicing in sonoma city proper [small town,really],and live in boyes hotsprings or calistoga,or even southern Lake County. In fact,Lake County seems like it's having a bit of turn around; housing prices have gone up(but nowhere near the other areas mentioned),but the area is seeing some refurbishing amenities wise because of it,and there are hot springs retreats up there like the famed Harbin Hot springs. You could commute from souther lake county somewhere to a private practice [20-40 min. depending where you chose your spots],or have two office locations until you built up clientele in your town of residence.]

Best wishes in your search---visiting is the best way to tell for sure,as everyone has his/her own experience in a place.(:
You might want to check out portland,or,too,for what you are looking for...won't get N CA but will get other criteria.