Need some honest feedback on Roseville area

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by PinkElephant

From what I saw of Roseville, I liked it! But I did notice a couple of times when the conversation turned controversial/political, I was accused of being like a SF person. I don't know what I said or how I got labeled, I admitted I didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about and could they explain themselves further. What the heck? I was clueless to the local issue and trying to not offend anyone anyway!

I would expect anywhere outside the Bay Area to be somewhat more conservative. That doesn't bother me much. I would imagine the Sac area is probably similar to Denver in regards to the political landscape - a good mix of liberal and conservative ideals. It's when it leans too much one way or the other that scares me a little.

[NoCal research]

Hi Ludachris,

I may be able to offer a unique perspective. Though I don't live in Roseville, my husband and I are seriously considering it. Our background: I'm from the Bay Area. Born and raised in Marin, moved away for college, then moved back home after college and lived in The City (SF) during all of my 20's. I met my husband at the wedding of mutual friends, and we started a long-distance relationship. At the time, he was living in Denver. He moved with his family to the Denver area at age 15, lived in and went to high school in Littleton, then went to college at CU and lived in Boulder for a few years after college, then moved back to Denver, which is where he was living when we met. So, safe to say I am very much from the Bay Area and my husband is very much from Denver. After dating long-distance for awhile, one of us had to move to be with the other, and it worked out best for me to do the relocating. I moved to Denver with the caveat that if we worked out, I wanted to be back home by the time we had kids, because (a) I love the Bay Area and (b) I'm very close to my family and want my kids to grow up near them. Well, it's now 5 years later, and we do have kids now, so my husband started job-hunting last year to get us back out to Northern California. The job that he ended up getting relocated us to Chico, a small college town about 1.5 hours north of Sac. Not our first choice, but we figured at least it got us back here, and then after we fulfilled our 2-year relo ageement commitment, we could look at moving to either Sac or the Bay Area. We have been in Chico since November.

All told, I lived in Denver for 4+ years, first in an apartment in Capitol Hill, then we bought a home in Park Hill. Coming from San Francisco (I lived in Cow Hollow for 6 years before I moved to Denver), Denver was a HUGE culture shock and I spent my first two years hating it. You mentioned that you found Denver and SF to be similar. Having lived in each city, I did not find that to be the case. I will say now that I grew to love Denver and LoDo is great, but coming from SF, Denver was considerably smaller, less culture, less great restaurant options, etc. Like I said, I grew to love it and appreciate it for what it is: a medium-sized versus large city that allows you to have everything you're looking for very easily (ie. good dining, the occasional night out, though that's harder now with kids, easy access to a major airport, lots of stuff to do with children, everything located very conveniently). Now that we're in Chico, we go to Sac a lot, since that's the closest place for shopping, the zoo and other kids events, etc. I find Sac to be VERY similar to Denver. Are either of those two cities as cool, hip and otherwise fantastic as SF? Not even close. But are they both amazing cities in which you can "have it all" as far as being very kid-friendly, yet still having options for dining out and the occasional night out at a bar for us parents? Absolutely! As for the suburbs, I find Roseville to be very similar to Lone Tree, where I think you said you live. You get more for your money than you do in the downtown area, bigger houses, but a little less diversity. My husband does overnight trips to Sac and Roseville every two weeks, and he LOVES Roseville, because he likes the restaurants and the size of the houses. We says he likes it because it's "high-end" (his exact words). The restaurants in Roseville are more of the chain restaurants and you go to Sac for more of the local-type restaurants with more character (which, in my opinion, is a similar situation to Highlands Ranch vs. Denver). And I think that downtown Sac is really cute -- they've done a lot with it over the last 10 years. I read a "Best of" list (I think it was Forbes) for the 10 best mid-sized cities, and both Sac and Denver were on that list (and they said that Sac is probably the best-kept secret in California). Honestly, I think that the Sac area still gets a bit of a bad rap from Bay Area people, but I predict that Sac will become the up-and-comer within the next decade, with all the Bay Area transplants and such. Ideally, I would love to live in Marin again, but I just don't think we can afford it (or even if we can, we'll get so much less for our money then if we live in the Sac area). So, after much research, my husband and I are finding that Roseville is a great compromise of my Bay Area background and his Denver background. It's still a 2-hour drive to the Bay, so it's not like you'll see your family every week, but the point is, you don't need to get on a plane or even spend the night if you don't want to. I see my family and friends about once a month at a minimum (and, remember, I live an hour and a half further than Sac) -- when I lived in Denver it was once a year, twice if I was lucky. Plus, you've got a quick jaunt to Tahoe.

Oh, as for the heat, I don't find it to be humid at all. East coast is humid, midwest is humid, the south is humid. Sacramento is not bad as far as humidity at all. In Denver we did not have air conditioning, and summers there were MISERABLE --we NEVER cooled off, even at night. Here in Chico (which is about 5 degrees hotter on average than Sac) we have A/C, so even when we go out for the day, sure it's hot but I've never felt THAT much hotter than I did in Denver, and I get to come home and cool off in my nice air-conditioned house. If you can handle Denver heat, you can handle Sac heat, just make sure you have A/C (and also would be great to have access to a pool). And on the flip side, you don't get the snow in the winter, which is a HUGE plus.

Sorry so long, but as you can see, I have a lot to say on the Bay Area/Denver/Sacramento subject. Hope it helped a little!

[clongirl]

Yeah, it's definitely more conservative leaning in Placer county so the best thing for a Bay Area type is to not get into it with people. Once ,when I took my little one to the park (a pretty busy morning), my daughter started playing very well with another little girl the same age. The mother sat down next to me and commented on how well they got along- then she asked me if I was new to the church mother's group. I told her that I was there on my own and not part of the group. She immediately rounded up her little one and took off the to end of the park with "Christian mom" friends!

As for sushi, the best (but most expensive and busy) is Mikuni. When they would be too difficult to get into we would head to Samurai Sushi in Fair Oaks. Both are family friendly but I really liked the booths Samurai (so the kids won't escape!). My family always had a harder time finding really good Mexican and Thai in Roseville itself. I think heading into Sac is the best bet- I'm confident that authentic places exist! There used to be an excellent Thai restaurant called Thai Cottage - I've heard they relocated to a new location though (somewhere in Sac).There is also very good Indian place in Roseville called Bombay Bistro. Also a must try when in Sac for gourmet sandwiches and deli food is Selland's. We still head that way whenever we're anywhere near Sacramento.

[zen_klown]

If living among liberals is important to you, I agree Roseville isn't your best choice. But there are wealthy liberal neighborhoods in the Sacramento region as well. If that is important to you, I would look at Davis, McKinley Park, Curtis Park, Land Park, East Sac, even the Pocket area. If you needed to live closer to the foothills, Nevada City and Grass Valley are fairly liberal as well.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by NoCal research

Hi Ludachris,

I may be able to offer a unique perspective. Though I don't live in Roseville, my husband and I are seriously considering it. Our background: I'm from the Bay Area. Born and raised in Marin, moved away for college, then moved back home after college and lived in The City (SF) during all of my 20's. I met my husband at the wedding of mutual friends, and we started a long-distance relationship. At the time, he was living in Denver. He moved with his family to the Denver area at age 15, lived in and went to high school in Littleton, then went to college at CU and lived in Boulder for a few years after college, then moved back to Denver, which is where he was living when we met. So, safe to say I am very much from the Bay Area and my husband is very much from Denver. After dating long-distance for awhile, one of us had to move to be with the other, and it worked out best for me to do the relocating. I moved to Denver with the caveat that if we worked out, I wanted to be back home by the time we had kids, because (a) I love the Bay Area and (b) I'm very close to my family and want my kids to grow up near them. Well, it's now 5 years later, and we do have kids now, so my husband started job-hunting last year to get us back out to Northern California. The job that he ended up getting relocated us to Chico, a small college town about 1.5 hours north of Sac. Not our first choice, but we figured at least it got us back here, and then after we fulfilled our 2-year relo ageement commitment, we could look at moving to either Sac or the Bay Area. We have been in Chico since November.

All told, I lived in Denver for 4+ years, first in an apartment in Capitol Hill, then we bought a home in Park Hill. Coming from San Francisco (I lived in Cow Hollow for 6 years before I moved to Denver), Denver was a HUGE culture shock and I spent my first two years hating it. You mentioned that you found Denver and SF to be similar. Having lived in each city, I did not find that to be the case. I will say now that I grew to love Denver and LoDo is great, but coming from SF, Denver was considerably smaller, less culture, less great restaurant options, etc. Like I said, I grew to love it and appreciate it for what it is: a medium-sized versus large city that allows you to have everything you're looking for very easily (ie. good dining, the occasional night out, though that's harder now with kids, easy access to a major airport, lots of stuff to do with children, everything located very conveniently). Now that we're in Chico, we go to Sac a lot, since that's the closest place for shopping, the zoo and other kids events, etc. I find Sac to be VERY similar to Denver. Are either of those two cities as cool, hip and otherwise fantastic as SF? Not even close. But are they both amazing cities in which you can "have it all" as far as being very kid-friendly, yet still having options for dining out and the occasional night out at a bar for us parents? Absolutely! As for the suburbs, I find Roseville to be very similar to Lone Tree, where I think you said you live. You get more for your money than you do in the downtown area, bigger houses, but a little less diversity. My husband does overnight trips to Sac and Roseville every two weeks, and he LOVES Roseville, because he likes the restaurants and the size of the houses. We says he likes it because it's "high-end" (his exact words). The restaurants in Roseville are more of the chain restaurants and you go to Sac for more of the local-type restaurants with more character (which, in my opinion, is a similar situation to Highlands Ranch vs. Denver). And I think that downtown Sac is really cute -- they've done a lot with it over the last 10 years. I read a "Best of" list (I think it was Forbes) for the 10 best mid-sized cities, and both Sac and Denver were on that list (and they said that Sac is probably the best-kept secret in California). Honestly, I think that the Sac area still gets a bit of a bad rap from Bay Area people, but I predict that Sac will become the up-and-comer within the next decade, with all the Bay Area transplants and such. Ideally, I would love to live in Marin again, but I just don't think we can afford it (or even if we can, we'll get so much less for our money then if we live in the Sac area). So, after much research, my husband and I are finding that Roseville is a great compromise of my Bay Area background and his Denver background. It's still a 2-hour drive to the Bay, so it's not like you'll see your family every week, but the point is, you don't need to get on a plane or even spend the night if you don't want to. I see my family and friends about once a month at a minimum (and, remember, I live an hour and a half further than Sac) -- when I lived in Denver it was once a year, twice if I was lucky. Plus, you've got a quick jaunt to Tahoe.

Oh, as for the heat, I don't find it to be humid at all. East coast is humid, midwest is humid, the south is humid. Sacramento is not bad as far as humidity at all. In Denver we did not have air conditioning, and summers there were MISERABLE --we NEVER cooled off, even at night. Here in Chico (which is about 5 degrees hotter on average than Sac) we have A/C, so even when we go out for the day, sure it's hot but I've never felt THAT much hotter than I did in Denver, and I get to come home and cool off in my nice air-conditioned house. If you can handle Denver heat, you can handle Sac heat, just make sure you have A/C (and also would be great to have access to a pool). And on the flip side, you don't get the snow in the winter, which is a HUGE plus.

Sorry so long, but as you can see, I have a lot to say on the Bay Area/Denver/Sacramento subject. Hope it helped a little!

Great insight. Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. Your view on the Roseville area is almost exactly what we have initially seen as well. It's nice to hear someone else with similar experiences make the same comparisons.

I don't think Denver is very similar to SF, though. Maybe I mentioned something to that effect, but I can't say that's my true opinion. SF is SF, there's no place like it on earth. I think Denver lacks a lot of what makes SF great, but is much 'cleaner' and has a lot of great attractions. And the attractions are nicer than many other big cities I've been to and lived in (like San Jose).

Again, thanks a ton for the insight.

[calimama]

I moved from the Bay Area (Pleasant Hill) where I grew up and I have now lived in Roseville for 2 years. I honestly would rather live in the Bay Area again. I prefer the people and the weather. There is more to do and I really liked the proximity to San Francisco. In Roseville it is FREEZING in the winter and MISERABLE in the summer. People say they like it here because it is close to SF and Reno/Tahoe, but it is still about a 2 hour drive to each. To me, that is not close.

[Iceprincess50]

Just a quick reply regarding the humidity. I have lived both in Denver and the Central Valley and I found the humidity to be about the same. Actually Denver is a bit more humid then the Central Valey but not as warm. I am living in the Seattle area but am homesick. I am trying to get back around Sonoma County but the home prices are still high.

[TKN]

We originally moved from San Ramon (along the 680 corridor near Walnut Creek) to Rocklin for affordability and to start a family. Overall, we've been happy with our move, but it definately is different from the bay area. Here are some of my own observations:

Restaurants: the restaurants are not as unique and diverse as the BA. There are a lot of franchises here, and not so many family-owned, unique restaurants.

Weather: it is a lot warmer here in the summer time than the BA, not unbearable, but definately warmer. I really miss having the fog come in during the evenings to cool things down.

People: although its not diverse like the BA, I (being asian) have never felt uncomfortable anywhere. I find that, in general, people are more friendly and less rushed than the BA, which is an aspect I really enjoy a lot here.

Landscape: one of the things I miss the most are all the nice hills in the San Ramon Valley. There are hills here in Rocklin, but they are not as plentiful and big as in San Ramon.

Overall, I think that when I compare the two places, both are very nice places, and it will depend on your priorities. The affordibility is definately a BIG plus for us.

[kittie7]

Originally Posted by calimama

I moved from the Bay Area (Pleasant Hill) where I grew up and I have now lived in Roseville for 2 years. I honestly would rather live in the Bay Area again. I prefer the people and the weather. There is more to do and I really liked the proximity to San Francisco. In Roseville it is FREEZING in the winter and MISERABLE in the summer. People say they like it here because it is close to SF and Reno/Tahoe, but it is still about a 2 hour drive to each. To me, that is not close.

I have to agree with calimama. I grew in in the bay area (San Jose) and I just love it. We've lived here for eight years now and I miss the bay area. The two hour drive doesn't sound like it's that bad until you do it. We've done it several times and it always seems sooooooooo far away.. It's not close. the drive just wares you out..
This area(Roseville/Rocklin) is nice, but after eight years of this heat and cold. I want to move back. I miss the weather & family in the bay area and the fact that you are 30 minutes away from the beach..