Info on Oakdale (San Jose, Fresno, Sacramento: salons, real estate, apartment complexes)

[Nature Girl]

We are looking at relocating to the Modesto area from Oregon this summer. We heard Ripon, Oakdale, and Turlock are good options. Is there much as far as shopping in Oakdale? We heard you have to drive out to Modesto for anything decent, but for that size of a city, we find that hard to believe? We tried looking up stores/shopping online for that city and NOTHING came up? What's the deal? We also tried going on "forrent.com" to look for apartments for when we first arrive, and nothing came up? Is there really NOTHING out there? Should we re-think our decision, and look at another nearby city? Thanks for your help!

[ferretkona]

I for one am offended by the use of Modesto and decent in the same thread.
Sadly if you need to purchase many items and want a reasonable price you need to travel to Motown.

For large malls, Costco's and Home Depot's think along the 99. Fresno, Merced, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento.

Have you ever been in Modesto? I know it appeals to many people, but what a culture shock from Oregon.

[Nature Girl]

I am from San Jose, but have never visited Modesto or the outlining cities. When I say "decent" I mean Target, Mervyn's, Walmart, etc. No need to be offended, I meant it only in terms of "nothing being in the city limits of Oakdale". I was just surprised not to see anything "decent" like Target in a city that big.

[Nature Girl]

Oh, and we lived in Sacramento for 5 years, and my hubby attended UOP in Stockton. Ironically, we have never been to Modesto or any of the outlining cities. When my husband was in Modesto for his inerview recently, he did say it was very nice.

[TKD&FBMOM]

We moved to Oakdale 6mos. ago and love it. We live a couple blocks away from a wonderful ,brand new elementary school. As for shopping ,there is a nice K-mart, Ace hardware, nice furniture stores, 3 grocery stores, Payless shoes, a couple Rite Aids and Longs drug stores, a Hallmark, Big 5 sporting and lots of little shops , restauraunts, beauty salons, massage (even an acupuncture and skin care center).Plus a drive thru Starbucks .
For a Target , Home Depot, Kohl's etc., it is only 15 min. away in Riverbank .Modesto and Turlock are not too far (30-40 min. )and would have anything you could possibly need; personally I haven't even gone to either one since I have moved here. There is plenty around .It definitely is not a big town though. There is a lot of pretty new construction as well as beautiful golf course homes and more country estates ( those can run 900k and up though).
Riverbank is so close we take our boys there for karate and football practice .
Hope this has been helpful! If you are looking for a friendly town , with very good prices for CA, I think this is it!I think you will be surprised at how many shops there really are here.I understand though, I tried to do the same thing with the phone book!

[TKD&FBMOM]

I forgot, you are right about the apartments, I don't believe there are many here. I would contact a real estate agent for that. Also, there is no movie theater, again only 15 min. to Riverbank,maybe check out Riverbank!Smile. It is closer to Modesto if your husband is commuting there.Back to shopping though, we bought all our new furniture here, had someone come out and do custom blinds, and a landscaper who came from Hillmar. We have had all our needs met and found a nice church. 2 of the local grocery stores are very nice ,with delies ,bakeries, and one has a chinese food,sandwich counter and coffee counter, they both have a good organic section.

[leavingcali]

I was raised in Riverbank---don't live there! Oakdale is by far your best option out of Turlock, Modesto, Riverbank, etc. Oakdale is a cute town, very close to the foothills, has its own character, and I think it is the nicest looking and most upscale of all the towns you mentioned. If you can afford it, maybe looking into renting a house instead of an apartment--there aren't many apartment complexes there (but they do exist). Good luck!

[TKD&FBMOM]

OOOOps! I did not know Riverbank would not be a good choice, sorry Nature

Girl!From what I have seen,which is not too much, it seemed nice, but I have never lived there or known anyone who has. We took advice from friends who liked Oakdale and we know a family who moved here 2 years ago. We used to live in a small town,Chowchilla, an hour from here and everyone in Chowchilla liked Oakdale;I figured it was because they were similiar. Before Chow we lived in Salinas, which is big and too expensive, but it was nice being so close to Monterey.

[MoMark]

My parents live in Oakdale near the Oakdale Golf and Country Club along the Stanislaus River, actually their decks overlook it and they are on the east side of town as you drive out on 120 East just after road narrows and you go uphill a bit. They've lived in Oakdale since 1979 and love it. There is shopping along the east side as you leave the downtown intersection at the clock tower, lots of big grocery stores and all kinds of shopping. It's not desolate by any means.
Oakdale is an expensive, but nice town.
I like Modesto too.

[TKD&FBMOM]

I was even wrong about the $900k, the prices have dropped here like most. I just went to realtor.com and if you can afford 400k you can get a very nice home in a nice area of town, go to $425-450k and it's even nicer, hardly anything shows up for $750k and up; that is extremely good for CA. That is why we chose to move here! Compare Tracy, Livermore, Ripon,Mantecca, and you will see what a good deal Oakdale is. It is only because it is not right of the 99. For the quality of home you get, in the same type of hood, hands down Oakdale is a good deal. The prices are about the same as Turlock and Modesto. We did a ton of comparing and visited all towns and had a very knowledgable agent. My husband's job had a temp apt. for 6 mos. for us in Livermore so we could scope it all out. I absolutely loved Livermore and Pleasanton, but compare those prices with Oakdale's and you'll see that there really is no comparison.