Citrus Heights/Carmichael (Sacramento, Rocklin: neighborhoods, living in, renewal)

[mattinsac]

When you move into that part of Carmichael you aren't going to get any points for your edgy hipness - I grant you that. Its late 60's, early 70's suburbia. I am sure the noise on Greenback is something to avoid if it was possible, but I suspect that noise was readily observant to the person looking at these condos.

If the person had a bigger budget there are much nicer parts of Carmichael or Fair Oaks to look at. But the issue is what kind of place would they be renting in Roseville or Rocklin for what they are spending in Citrus Heights or Carmichael. My hunch is that it would be no better.

That part of Carmichael isn't Melrose Place, but given this person's budget, they aren't going to be living in Melrose Place. What matters is finding a place that is reasonably safe, affordible and within a reasonable commute to where this person works in Rancho Cordova.

My primary concern with the locations the op is looking at is the commute. Traffic across the American River on the Sunrise Bridge is bad and there are no alternate routes for some distance across the river. But once you can get across the river, your connections to the rest of Rancho Cordova get much better. The commute gets much less unpleasant. This is why I think Trinity Rivers might be a really good choice. I realise there are parts of Rancho that are marginal at best, but that location isn't one of them.

[MamaToThree]

We looked at those condo's on Via Casitas about 8 years ago and LOVED them!! They were going for about $105,000 at the time for a 3br/2ba. I liked the area and would definitely recommend those condo's to friends or family who wanted to be in a fairly nice area for cheap. I think they are good little starter homes and can easily be kept as rental properties later. Casa Alegra is another street that is near there that I thought was nice. Yes, only covered parking, but I don't think that is a high crime area. Check the crime map that a pp mentioned.

There is a great little pocket of affordable homes in the 95821 area around Pasadena Elementary school that you should look at. 2/1 Streng half plexes with a private park and pool!!

Have you seen this area in Rancho? I think there are some rentals available and I think if you were to purchase them, they are still very affordable:

Capital Village in Rancho Cordova | The Lundquist Appraisal Blog

There is even a You Tube tour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEgrShyrc0

[NorCal Dude]

Wow, some of the people on here talk about carmichael like it's hayward or something. Carmichael has some iffy parts near citrus heights, but the closer you get to the american river and fairoaks the nicer it gets. It is an older more established suburban feel, with good schools and lower crime rates.

Citrus Heights is really hit or miss. Its got some okay neighborhoods, but the general vibe of the area is that the areas better days are behind it.

Have you looked into orangevale???

[Morwyn_7]

There are some nice new apartments in Citrus Heights. I am not sure I would live on Greenback but there are worse places. I do not like street noise but you say you don't mind. Overall the area has made great changes in the last decade. There are still pockets I would not want to live in but if you are working in Rancho Cordova I would not want to do the extra and unnecessary, to me, commute from Roseville or Rocklin.

There are also apartment complexes in the Orangevale area which would put you in good commute range as well.

If it was me I would look for a month to month rental at first. This way when you are actually up here living and working you can get a better feel for the lay of the land and make more informed decisions based on your own first hand experiences.

[Beautifulbrwnbabydoll]

I have lived in Carmichael for almost 3 years now, and it's the only place I have lived since I moved here from the mid west. So far I have had a good experience, my car has never been broken into, and I have no garage. Personally I have never experienced any crime here. Where I live is very quiet and a lot of my neighbors are older people that have lived in the area for 10-15 years. And I live right off of Manzanita not to far past Coyle ave. I have never had any problems here.

[quasi888]

Originally Posted by kcz421

Sounds like if I want to be really picky, I'll have to suck it up and commute from a fair distance, eh? For a few weeks while I'm in transition with my employer, I'll be commuting the standard Monday through Friday 8-5 so I guess I'll be counting on a 30-minute drive if I open my "horizons" to Rocklin/Roseville, which I'll be willing to do if I really can find "the perfect place." (ha.) After the transition period ends, I think my commute will be opposit of standard traffic hours.

30 minutes would be highly unlikely during regular commute hours. The most direct thoroughfare between those cities that crosses the American River is Sunrise Ave, and it can get quite congested. (Hazel also crosses the American River, but it's further east.) I was commuting from West Roseville to Rancho (Zinfandel Drive business park area) for a couple months, and had fairly flexible hours. If I left later in the morning at, say, 9:00AM, I could get there in about 35-40 minutes if I was really hustling. But prime commute hours -- e.g., coming home at 5PM -- could easily take me over an hour. Just getting from Rancho to Sunrise was epic gridlock -- worse than almost anything I encountered when I was living in the Bay Area.

Shouldn't be bad after your transition period ends though.

[hydro]

Fair Oaks or Carmichael as close to FO as possible like someone said. The Rancho idea might be good since she named specific places: Rancho does have some newer, nicer pockets- but a bad reputation as a whole. Folsom is very low crime and not too far. Forget commuting from Roseville/Rocklin- there is not north/south freeway going across the American River. I'm sure you will be fine if you have an alarm and don't leave tempting things in view! Anything on Greenback/Madison/Birdcage would be my last choice- lots of thugs and street racers- City Heights has bad reputation in general- for the record, though, the crime is mostly petty.

[kcz421]

So, I did end up taking a place up in Rocklin. The price honestly couldn't be beat for what I'm getting....
2 bedrooms with their own bathrooms, assigned parking right in front of my door, security gate with a code that visitors can use that calls my phone, washer and dryer inside the unit at no additional fee, balcony and porch, very quiet, no pests, no bad reviews online, very well insulated (I couldn't hear any road noise with the windows shut. awesome!), central air/heat, newer complex (less than 7 years, I believe she said), gas stove, fireplace, dishwasher (some of these amentities I've never had in my life!), swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, 24-hour exercise room.

With the exception of being closer to work and having an attached garage, it's everything I wanted my apartment to be.

Also, thank God for good timing, I won't be commuting during normal commute times!

Sure, it's a little further out than I really wanted to be, but I figure it's a year lease, I'll see what the market looks like at that point once I've kind of gotten used to the lay of the land and find something better that's closer to work at that point. We shall see, who knows what'll happen in a year!

I cannot WAIT to use the washer and dryer in the unit, I've never had a set to myself before.
(It's the little things that bring me joy in life, haha!)
I move August 12th. So exciting, can't wait!!

Thank you all for your feedback, I did take everyone's advice into consideration.

[handiquack]

Nice! Enjoy Rocklin, it's a really nice area.

[NorCal Dude]

Sacramento is a much smaller metro area, living " far out" in rocklin is no where near living "far out" in the bay area or LA. That being said, Rocklin is a wonderful suburb, low crime, some of the best schools in california, and affordable housing for the middle class