How about Elk Grove? (Sacramento, Stockton: foreclosures, new home, neighborhood)

[oregonn8v]

I have heard that it is a good idea to steer clear of South Sacramento. What about Elk Grove? THe schools their seem to have higher performance that South Sacramento.

I am looking at commuting into downtown around the UC Davis Medical Center...looks to be around a 30 minutes commute from Elk Grove. Am I kidding myself?

[Majin]

Originally Posted by oregonn8v

How about Elk Grove?

How about no.

Elk grove is a cesspool.

If you are working near UCD, why not live near there? That area is a lot better than Elk Grove.

[NewToCA]

Well, I wouldn't call Elk Grove a cesspool, however the area is somewhat "inconsistent".

However, it is quite a bit better overall than South Sacramento, and you have multiple routes to get to the Davis Medical Center.

Besides Rt 99, you can also take Stockton Blvd, or Franklin Blvd/Fruitridge Rd/Stockton Blvd to the Center from Elk Grove.

[oregonn8v]

The reason why closer is more of a challenge is due to housing prices. We will be selling our home in Portland, Oregon and will likely have around $500K to spend on a home. We need at least 4BR and around 3000 sq. ft. and would also like a pool if possible. Just seems like there is more house for the money and everyhting close in that is in a reasonable neighborhood runs closer to $750K.

I may be wrong and am willing to look, but it is tough.

Thanks to both of you for your frank & honest input.

[Majin]

$500k is more than enough to buy a very nice home in the inner city but I don't think you're going to find a 3ksqt home. 4BR yes, 3ksqt, unlikely.

[Phil Minor]

There are two things going on. First Elk Grove was hit pretty hard by foreclosures. A lot of Elk Grove was built out during the peak of the housing boom and so the area has been hit particularly hard by the unwinding of the housing boom. Second there are a lot of people on this forum particularly among the regulars who respond the most to these threads who just don't like suburbs.

Despite all of the foreclosures, median family incomes are still higher in Elk Grove than in either the city or county of Sacramento. Keep that in mind when people are throwing around terms like cesspool.

Elk Grove CDP, California - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

Sacramento County, California - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

Sacramento city, California - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder

Some parts of Elk Grove are nicer than others. But if you have a budget of up to 500k, you should be able to buy into some of the nicer parts of Elk Grove with the better schools.

Given your needs I think Elk Grove is probably a pretty good match.

You might want to spend some time fooling around here to look at where the better schools are located in Elk Grove.

California School Performance Maps

[Mr. Ozo]

Elk Grove is good for a suburb, I think it's a good mix of peoples and retail(all chains.) You will most likely have to drive everywhere but you can get a "great", large, new home for 500,000 (or a lot less). Yes, Elk Grove is better than most of South Sac. If you work at Med center, you should look close to 99. At Bruceville and Elk Grove there are some nice looking huge, McMansions that are walking distance to Trader Joe's. From there you would be looking at 20-25 min commute. I go reverse commute passed the area everyday. The traffic is considerarbly worse in the afternoon, looking at more like 30-35 min on an average day, however there are carpool lanes. All in-all Elk Grove is not a bad place. At night without traffic, the drive to downtown Sacramento is only 10-15 min from Elk Grove, likewise Baseball and Basketball games are not far.

Btw the way I live at 28th and T and I like my neighborhood a lot. I could walk to the Med-center in 12 minutes, but unfortunately I have to commute 35 mins by car to my job.

[oregonn8v]

I don't intend to come off sounding like some suburban, McMansion, sprawl loving individual.

My wife and I were very fortunate about ten years ago to find a home in Portland (close to downtown) with 5 BR, 2 BA and 3200 Sq Ft. on a double lot (lots in Portland are typically 50' x 100'...ours is 100' x 100').

We have three children and due to gender and age breakdown, sharing rooms is not a good option. In addition, a move to California will be moving us away from family and we would like a place for Grandma and Grandpa to stay when they come to visit.

With the consideration of children, visiting family, room to play/swim, good schools, reasonable commuting distance into downtown Sacramento, and a likely budget of $500K with a possible stretch to $600K, I am simply looking for a good place to locate in the Sacramento area.

I did see some homes in South Sacramento that seemed like they would be a good fit but when I looked at the schools and read some of the responses her I realized not what we are looking for.

Next I explored East toward Roseville, Granite Bay, Folsom, etc and was told that I would have a 45 minute to 1 hour commute each way...not what I want.

I was given some great areas in Sacramento to look but all the home that fit our needs were in the $800K range...I can't stretch that much...or maybe we could but I don't want to be in foreclosure in 5 years.

I did a zillow search and found some hits in Elk Grove. That is the reason for my asking. I understand that it is a suburb. My wife and I are both city kids native to Portland. Here we could not live in the suburbs because we know the city too well. I think if we were to move to another town, however, where we don't know any different, the suburbs might be a nice fit for us.

Just looking at all the options. I appreciate everyone's opinions...as colorful as they may be.

I hope the background information I have provided gives everyone a better basis upon which to make recommendations. I have not been offered the position yet, and I may not accept even if I am. We are simply doing our due diligence to make sure the choice we make is the most informed it can be.

Thank you all again!!!

[NewToCA]

Perfectly reasonable approach to a home purchase, and I think Elk Grove would generally be fine.

You need to go down there and actually drive around to the multiple potential areas to reside in Elk Grove, you will certainly see/feel a distinctive difference in how some have properties that are well taken care of, and some where the properties could use some maintenance. A lot of variety within the city itself.

As an alternative though, you may want to take a look at the Rancho Murieta area, out east on Jackson Highway (zip code 95683 if you want to do a realtor.com property search). My google map search indicated it would be a 22 mile drive and take about 35 minutes. Traffic is pretty light on Jackson Highway, even during rush hour.


http://www.city-data.com/city/Rancho...alifornia.html

[Majin]

Do you really need 3000 sqft or just 4 br? If you don't mind a slightly smaller home I'd look at Land Park you should be able to find something very nice in the 500k range. If you really need that 3000sqft pocket might have some homes that large but I'm not sure you can stay under 500k for that size. Just make sure you stay clear of elk grove.