Citrus Heights/Carmichael (Sacramento, Oakland, Orange: apartment, rent, condo)

[kcz421]

(I'm from the bay area, transferring through my employer).

I'm looking at two places on Monday - one is on the 6500 Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights. (Google maps seem to depict a bit of construction going on in that area) I know Greenback is pretty much a major road and I don't mind road noise. (My concern is more about hearing an upstairs neighbor walking around/vacuuming or hearing a next-door neighbor do their normal routines.) Construction noise might be a little more bothersome, but it'll eventually end right?

The other place is on Via Casitas off of Manzanitas in Carmichael. The only drawback for me, personally, is that this place doesn't have a garage, and I've read/seen far too many reports and reviews of people getting their cars broken into or stolen, even in gated communities, which this place is not.

Both places seem to be nicely priced, so I'm suspicious, of course.

Can anyone offer some insight on these two areas?
Much appreciated in advance.

[hydro]

I would not live in CH on Greenback. Carmichael, generally, has a better reputation than CH, but it depends on specifically where you are at in Carmichael because it can be equally as bad. I don't know about your specific location, but when I lived in an apartment in Carmichael w/out a garage my roomates' vehicle was broken into and STEREO stolen- which I didn't think was very valuable! Your chances are better if you leave nothing at all in your car I suppose... but a stereo? I thought stealing stereos was popular back in the 80's.

[kcz421]

I don't leave anything in my car and I do have an alarm on it. I'm just nervous since people I know who live(d) in Sac county are telling me basically to count on my car getting broke into. I cancelled my interview with the CH apartment I originally posted about and instead am looking at a place called Autumn Ridge, at one of their cottage units.

[NewToCA]

I'd rate Carmichael as generally a bit better than Citrus Heights. However, car break in's are a major issue throughout the city, and an alarm really doesn't help much. Many break in's are just "smash and grab" costing you your stuff and a replacement window.

I woundn't move here without a garage. I'm not sure why the culture here is so oriented towards this type of crime, I didn't have to garage my car every night in other states I resided.

Oh, well.

[kcz421]

What other areas would you recommend? I'm open to any suggestions; I'll be commuting to Rancho Cordova.
I've been trying to find units with garages and washer/dryer in units - those are the two amentities I really don't want to budge on. The few places that I have found those amentities in, the communities themselves are full of bad news, or the neigbors are bad news, or the neighborhood itself is questionable.
(sigh)

[handiquack]

Originally Posted by kcz421

What other areas would you recommend? I'm open to any suggestions; I'll be commuting to Rancho Cordova.
I've been trying to find units with garages and washer/dryer in units - those are the two amentities I really don't want to budge on. The few places that I have found those amentities in, the communities themselves are full of bad news, or the neigbors are bad news, or the neighborhood itself is questionable.
(sigh)

Orangevale, or if you're up for a tad drive, Roseville/Rocklin. If I had to work in Rancho again it'd be in some area out there. You'd never catch me in "The Heights", and personally not Carmichael.

[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.

[handiquack]

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.

If you don't have to face the usual commute times, you'd be fine. I just know Rocklin and Roseville are places I'm looking at now even though I live and work in Natomas (I have no beefs with North Natomas, I just want a change of scenery since I've lived here for 3 years).

Even if you do the standard commute, driving down Sunrise or something from Roseville in to Rancho isn't THAT bad. But if you face Freeway traffic, US-50 can be a bit of a bear but they've recently widened it to 4 or 5 lanes to ease congestion so I wouldn't see it as that bad.

I used to work in Rancho Cordova while living in Natomas and took I-5 - to US-50 every day, but this was last in October of last year so I don't know how much it's improved since then.

But overall yes, if you want a safer community with a moderate commute Roseville and Rocklin are the way to go.

[mattinsac]

People here are exaggerating the risks involved. Carmichael is probably comparable to Concord. Citrus Heights is probably pretty comparable to say Martinez. Neither of these places are South Oakland. Roseville and Rocklin aren't bad neighborhoods, but they are really far from where you are going to be working and given what your budget is, I doubt what you could afford there would put you in any better neighborhood than what you are getting right now in Carmicheal or Citrus Heights.

What it looks like it that you are looking at renting in two different older condo communities that were built out in the late 60's and early 70's. Neither places has a tremendous amount of charm, but if you looking for relatively cheap rent in a reasonably affordible area, they will probably do fine.

The Sacramento Bee has a crime mapper tool. You can enter a crime and see what crimes have been commited within a given radius from that address. On the advanced search tab, you can identify specific crimes that bug you from a list.

Online feature - Crimemapper - sacbee.com

Given that you are working in Rancho Cordova, you might want to consider living closer to work. Rancho Cordova is more hit and miss. But one place that you might look at would the Trinity Woods complex on Trinity River Drive which is just off Sunrise Blvd, across the street from Gold River.

Here is a skills map for the region. If you look on the left side map, you can also find tabs to see a map of ethnicity, income, etc.

STI: ERsys - Sacramento, CA (Skills)

[handiquack]

I wasn't saying Citrus Heights is comparable to Compton or something, but it isn't the destination for those moving to the area. Carmichael is the same thing. If I had a choice (like the OP does), I'd pick a different area.

I personally don't know anyone who would willingly want to move to anywhere on Greenback in CH, but maybe that's just me.