Virginia to California move (Sacramento, Davis: real estate, apartment, rent)

[killgore]

I am planning a move to the Sacramento area from the Washington DC metro area. I have a couple of questions:

First off: the people. What am I going to see there?

Rental and real estate prices- I am single and want to know if I am going to live paycheck to paycheck or will I be able to find a decent job that pays the bills etc and eventually be able to afford a home?

Whats the general feel out there of the people? Laid back but functional? Lazy, Yuppie's, etc?

[CityGirl72]

very vague questions

We don't know what you do for a living, if you are educated and how much you think your income will be to tell you if you are comfortable or if you are pay check to pay check

Plus we don't know what you want in a rental, or if you buy how much house you'd like.

I easily lived in Midtown when I was single, in college I made 18K a year, and it felt like a million.

When you say "the people" - are ou looking for politeness or ethinicity? My opinion on "the people" is they are the most friendly of any West Coast city I've found.

[killgore]

I am an Architect. I design additions for residential houses be it sunrooms, decks, improvements, etc. I currently work for Four Seasons Sunrooms. I currently make the median income for this field at around 33k-35k. It's not a fortune but enough for one person typically. I am paying 3.70 a gallon in gas here, my rent is $800 a month w/ utilities and all it comes to be around 1k per month. I deal with double travel times for anywhere I have to go here in Virginia.

I am interested in renting for a few years in the Sac, Manteca area hopefully making at least the same income there. I eventually would like to buy a piece of land somewhere near the Gold Country like in Tolumne county, Calaveras etc. and possibly build my own home on a nice quite tract of land where I can live in somewhat peace.

I want to be around people who are freindly yet stay out of your business. IE not caring what your doing in your personal life. I can't stand Yuppies in thier BMW's and Saab's who think thier holier than thou. Then on the other hand I dont really appreciate the 'good old boy' lifestyle, lazy, dirty, not a care in the world, 15 kids running around and 5 cars parked in the front yard. AKA rednecks. There's too much of a polar opposite mix here in Virginia to find your niche.

I also dont want to deal with the typical gang realted BS California is known for in most of it's larger cities. Is it really a problem?

I want to work, not struggle and be able to get up on a saturday morning, enjoy the weather, and get into more outdoor activities.

Can you feel me out better now?

[julesbeek]

Might want to use spellcheck/grammar check before sending off posts bagging on yuppies and their beemers. Ah, but I digress...

I split my time between Humboldt county (aka, land of rednecks, and most of 'em are HARDLY lazy, so check your stereotypes at the door, you'll be a lot happier) and Sac. I'm not a City person, per se, but if you don't mind heat, Sac isn't a bad town to be in. If you want the lifestyle of folks leaving you alone, you might consider looking at Gold Country as you've mentioned, but then, the commute might be a bit painful if you're hoping to work in Sac proper.

LOTS and lots of outdoor activities abound here. The Sierras are but a mere 2 hour drive (snow, gorgeous hiking spots, etc.). Hiking, biking, fishing, you name it. It's available. But the gas prices? $3.70? We can only DREAM of that price. California has the highest prices in the nation, with the exception of Hawai'i. I believe the price in Sac right now is about $4.05. Better than in Humboldt, where it just hig $4.29!!

Gangs? Well, there's gangs in most cities, no matter where you land. Not in all areas, of course, and once again, it's QUITE the stereotype to assume that everything in SoCal is gang-ridden (having grown up in SoCal), but again, I digress. If you've been around gangs, you'll know what to look out for (taggings, etc.). Yeah, there's gang activities in some parts of Sac, but it's not like it's the main feature of most areas.

Check out the Sac Bee for jobs. Or craigslist is a good place to look too. Not sure what the market is for architects out here, since it's way out of my experience (State worker for a University), but it's a big city, I'm sure you can find something in the salary range you're talking about. You can find a decent apartment for $800 in Sac, for sure.

I've found that in considering a move to a new area (and that's quite a move from VA to CA!!), subscribing to the local paper (in this case, the Sacramento Bee - Northern California local news and information from The Sacramento Bee - sacbee.com), so you can get a better feel for everything, is a really great idea. This IS the state capitol, after all, so politics are everywhere - it's in the air. But it's also a place of many diverse backgrounds - from ethnicity, to income, to sexual orientation, to, well, you name it. It's a cosmopolitan city that's overshadowed by politics, at least in my experience. Others' may vary. Political persuasions run the gamut out here. The further you go into Gold Country and up into the Ag lands (it is the Central Valley, after all), the more conservative you'll find it to be politically speaking. Sac, and Davis (a college town), tend to be a bit more moderated for all walks of life.

Anyway, that's just this one person's take on it. My brother lived in Virginia for a while, and I visited once. Not a state I'd prefer to live in, I can tell you. Best of luck in your decision.

jb

[julesbeek]

Might want to use spellcheck/grammar check before sending off posts bagging on yuppies and their beemers. Ah, but I digress...

I split my time between Humboldt county (aka, land of rednecks, and most of 'em are HARDLY lazy, so check your stereotypes at the door, you'll be a lot happier) and Sac. I'm not a City person, per se, but if you don't mind heat, Sac isn't a bad town to be in. If you want the lifestyle of folks leaving you alone, you might consider looking at Gold Country as you've mentioned, but then, the commute might be a bit painful if you're hoping to work in Sac proper.

LOTS and lots of outdoor activities abound here. The Sierras are but a mere 2 hour drive (snow, gorgeous hiking spots, etc.). Hiking, biking, fishing, you name it. It's available. But the gas prices? $3.70? We can only DREAM of that price. California has the highest prices in the nation, with the exception of Hawai'i. I believe the price in Sac right now is about $4.05. Better than in Humboldt, where it just hit $4.29!!

Gangs? Well, there's gangs in most cities, no matter where you land. Not in all areas, of course, and once again, it's QUITE the stereotype to assume that everything in SoCal is gang-ridden (having grown up in SoCal), but again, I digress. If you've been around gangs, you'll know what to look out for (taggings, etc.). Yeah, there's gang activities in some parts of Sac, but it's not like it's the main feature of most areas.

Check out the Sac Bee for jobs. Or craigslist is a good place to look too. Not sure what the market is for architects out here, since it's way out of my experience (State worker for a University), but it's a big city, I'm sure you can find something in the salary range you're talking about. You can find a decent apartment for $800 in Sac, for sure.

I've found that in considering a move to a new area (and that's quite a move from VA to CA!!), subscribing to the local paper (in this case, the Sacramento Bee - Northern California local news and information from The Sacramento Bee - sacbee.com), so you can get a better feel for everything, is a really great idea. This IS the state capitol, after all, so politics are everywhere - it's in the air. But it's also a place of many diverse backgrounds - from ethnicity, to income, to sexual orientation, to, well, you name it. It's a cosmopolitan city that's overshadowed by politics, at least in my experience. Others' may vary. Political persuasions run the gamut out here. The further you go into Gold Country and up into the Ag lands (it is the Central Valley, after all), the more conservative you'll find it to be politically speaking. Sac, and Davis (a college town), tend to be a bit more moderated for all walks of life.

Anyway, that's just this one person's take on it. My brother lived in Virginia for a while, and I visited once. Not a state I'd prefer to live in, I can tell you. Best of luck in your decision.

jb

[julesbeek]

heh - sorry about that - two identical posts in one minute! Stoopid webmail...

jb

[killgore]

Yeah pal you might want to hop off the Starbucks or coke binge your on...but I digress and thanks for twice the info...

Don't worry, I'm not laughing at you, just with you...

Wow, if I'm in for this type of people who like to 'set ya straight' from thier first sentance, I'll just stay where I am.

[wburg]

That's a very large area you're talking about. Calaveras and Tuolomne County are out in the sticks to the southeast of Sacramento County, Manteca quite a bit to the southwest. Within the area you've defined, you'll find just about every kind of person, yuppie, redneck, gangster, or otherwise, so it's a bit hard to characterize who you're likely to find.

Finding a job as an architect in the rural parts of California might be kind of a stretch: normally architecture firms are located in the larger cities. $34K-35K is considered low enough to qualify for low-income housing in Sacramento, and that's probably the cheapest "big city" in California. Typically architects make more than that at the journeyman level. $800 a month will get you a small one-bedroom apartment or a fairly nice studio. It probably isn't enough money to buy a chunk of Gold Country land: land in California is very expensive, even out in the country.

[killgore]

Thanks for the advice...

[woogexx]

good stay there.....we hate clueless out of state people who expect the stereotype bullcrap...