What about Fair Oaks?

[paula sugarman]

We moved to Fair Oaks about 10 years ago and have been very happy here. It has an active park district and a small village that is a hub of community activity. The closer you can live to Fair Oaks Village the better, although it is more expensive as well.

Regarding the commute, I must say that I left my downtown job shortly after we made the move to Fair Oaks. It was part of the plan. Before 7:30am, it will take 25-30 minutes for the drive. 7:30-8:30, it will take 40-45 minutes to get downtown. After 8:30, you're back down to 25-30 again.

Politically we find Fair Oaks to be fairly balanced. The high schools seem to be pretty good, although the facilities are getting pretty tired. The International Baccalaureate program at Mira Loma is one of the oldest and best in the country. Granite Bay and Folsom have nicer schools and facilities due to housing development taxes.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

Originally Posted by Rigoletto

I posted a few days ago, and I'm reprinting some parts of my previous post:

We will be moving to Sacramento this coming summer, and my job will be downtown. We are looking to rent for approx. 6 months to a year before buying (to get to know the area). My income will be $120K annually, plus any income from my wife's job.

What do you think of Fair Oaks? It looks like there are some fairly nice apartment complexes, and it looks like an older, established, very green area. Furthermore, it appears to be in a good school district, should we look at buying in this area eventually.

However, two concerns:

(1) What is the commute like to downtown? I'm OK with a 30-35min. commute, but not anything too much longer. How long does it take
these days?

(2) Is it very conservative, the way Placer county is? We are not necessarily looking for a Midtown vibe, but we are a fairly openminded,
tolerant couple, who is not religious. As such, we don't want to move to an area where all our neighbors etc. will be fundamentalist Christians and where we will have to join a church to have a social life. We are very tolerant of conservative views, but would ideally like to live in an area that has a healthy mix of viewpoints and where one's private views are
respected.

Any thoughts?