Elk Grove vs San Jose (Milpitas) (Sacramento, Roseville: foreclosures, crime, how much)

[40ish]

Have anyone lived in (or heard about) Elk Grove vs. San Jose (Milpitas) areas, regarding safe neighborhoods and schools?

I currently live in Milpitas (North of San Jose) and know that houses over here are more expensive than those in Elk Grove, and that there are more technical jobs in Milpitas/San Jose area (I am a software developer), and that the weather is very hot in Elk Grove. But I am more concerned about crime and schools right now (I have two kids, one new born and another one is four year old). Please let me know if anyone has any ideas. Thank you.

[sonarrat]

I know that north San Jose (Sierra/Piedmont area) is less expensive than the other side of Landess Ave in Milpitas, and is just as nice. I lived close to Landess & Piedmont for a year and really enjoyed it, except for the traffic on Calaveras Boulevard. The schools are solid and crime is low.

[40ish]

Thanks for replying to my thread, sonarrat. Yeah, it is pretty nice in N. San Jose and Milpitas, but buying a home in those places are still too expensive for me. That is the reason why my family would like to relocate to Elk Grove since houses there are much cheaper. However, I am still afraid of the crime/gang related issues that I have read in some recent threads. So do you know if the shools are good and the crime is low in Elk Grove also?

[sonarrat]

Wish I could answer your questions, I don't know anything about the Sacramento area.

[bigdave01]

Why Elk Grove? IMO, Elk Grove is going downhill. I would choose an easter suburb, if cost is a big issue try Fair Oaks or Carmichael.

[40ish]

Hi bigdave01,

We choose Elk Grove because the houses there are fairly affordable and also it is near to San Jose (most of our closed relatives live in San Jose), and we have heard from quite a few people that Elk Grove is a pretty nice place (but we are not sure how nice it is compared to San Jose).

If Elk Grove is no longer a good choice we might want to move to Roseville or Lincoln.

I donot know why but so far I have not seen listings of newer homes in Fair Oaks or Carmichael areas. Also, we are asians and are looking for a place that is diversified and the people are more liberal. I donot recall exactly where I read a thread that says most people in Fair Oaks are whites and they donot like other races! (I do not totally believe in this and need to do more research but it makes me a bit nervous)

[bigdave01]

Well, Elk Grove went from about 15,000 people in 1990 to 160,000 today. There are a ton of foreclosures, and it is slowly going downhill. Unfortunately it is very close to a very bad area of Sacramento, and the crime is moving down.

Roseville and Lincoln aren't exactly liberal, but they are fairly open-minded and somewhat diverse. If you are looking for new homes I would look at Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, and Folsom.

Also, Elk Grove is not that bad. I think I may have made it sound worse than it is. There are some good schools, and nice homes. I just think its getting worse. It is also a lot closer to San Jose.


Hopefully someone else will chime in.

[40ish]

Thanks bigdave01 for your comments. We plan to make a trip to Elk Grove this July 4 holiday weekend and stay in a hotel nearby to actually see how the area is like. Anyway, after reading this and other threads about Elk Grove I am less and less interested in Elk Grove now, but still want to take a look.

Later, we will probably make another trip to Roseville and Lincoln areas to experiment ourselves.

Lincohn seems to be a good place for our budget but I heard that the commute on 65 is pretty bad.

I see on the Internet some newer homes in West Roseville (above Antelope) in our price range (250K-300K). Hopefully it is a good area.

Is West Roseville a good place to live for a young family? Rocklin and the Roseville area nearby are kind of expensive for me. The new homes there are 400K+ at least

[volleyballer]

Originally Posted by 40ish

Thanks bigdave01 for your comments. We plan to make a trip to Elk Grove this July 4 holiday weekend and stay in a hotel nearby to actually see how the area is like. Anyway, after reading this and other threads about Elk Grove I am less and less interested in Elk Grove now, but still want to take a look.

Later, we will probably make another trip to Roseville and Lincoln areas to experiment ourselves.

Lincohn seems to be a good place for our budget but I heard that the commute on 65 is pretty bad.

I see on the Internet some newer homes in West Roseville (above Antelope) in our price range (250K-300K). Hopefully it is a good area.

Is West Roseville a good place to live for a young family? Rocklin and the Roseville area nearby are kind of expensive for me. The new homes there are 400K+ at least

West Roseville and Rocklin are nice, but it would be a real tough drive to San Jose for sure. What about Dixon? It's small, West of Davis, a lot of newer homes (which seems to be what you want if you mentioned Elk Grove and West Roseville), and away from all of the Sacto traffic. It does not have much going for it fun/entertainment-wise, but I know that the Bay Area and Davis commuters live there. This also rises the prices of it. I have no clue how much it costs. ElK Grove might be convenient, but I wouldn't want to be living/buying there because it's going downhill fast. Almost all parts of Roseville and Rocklin are good. They have very good schools, too.

[mariners1]

I live in Elk Grove and hate it here. It's crowded, and crime in really on the rise. I would not recomend that you move here. We are way to close to South Sac and have grown way to fast. We moved here 13 years ago and now we are stuck until the market turns around and we can sell our house and get the heck outta here.

In 13 years we have had 4 bikes stolen. Our house has been robbed, egged,tee-peed,moter oild dumped on our suv and our dog hit and killed by a speeding car. Oh and 2 high speed cop chases where my children almost got killed walking to school. But that's just me. Others just love it.