Tahoe Park (Sacramento, Stockton, Alhambra: apartment complex, foreclosure, rentals)

[afdoc]

I'll be moving (w/ wife and two small children) to Sacramento this summer to begin a residency at UC Davis Med Center. Safety and proximity to the hospital are probably our biggest points. We're looking to buy and in a perfect world we'd hit the Lotto and move into the fab 40s or river park- unfortunately we've come to realize that while East Sac may fit our lifestyle it may not fit our budget. We're starting to look in the Tahoe Park area- more realistic- but have heard really mixed things- some say it’s great others say it’s a dive. Any word from the streets? Is this the up-and-coming neighborhood some claim or just another sacto slum???

[KC6ZLV]

I don't know how to answer this because I don't know what your total expectations are.

I think Tahoe Park is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Sacramento. The only drawback is it is adjacent to some not so nice areas. People often judge the neighborhood by what they see on Broadway, which is completely different from what the neighborhood is like.

Prices in Tahoe park are all over the place. UC Davis Medical Center kept the neighborhood stable over the years, but more recently there have been a fair amount of medical students who found the neighborhood kind of quaint and comfy looking and bought into the neighborhood after they finish school. This has pushed the prices up somewhat.

Another nearby neighborhood with the same look and feel is Curtis Park. I would highly recommend looking there as well. Access to UCDMS is very short and easy from Curtis Park.

[wburg]

KC6ZLV sums it up pretty well: it is the best area in a cluster of not-so-great neighborhoods. If you're looking for brand-new subdivisions close to the mega-mall, it's not what you're looking for. If you're looking for houses with a lot of character and a generally stable, ethnically and economically diverse neighborhood, that's close to some of the best Vietnamese and Mexican restaurants in the region, it's worth a look.

If you're looking for other neighborhoods close to UCDMC, look at the so-called "Thrifty Thirties", the smaller homes on the western edge of East Sacramento closer to Midtown, or the neighborhood of Elmhurst just north of the hospital complex. Across Stockton Boulevard is a neighborhood now known as the "Med Center" neighborhood that used to be part of North Oak Park, partially due to the large number of medical staff moving in, but it's still kind of marginal.

One other recommendation is the Alhambra Triangle, between the triangle (!) formed by R Street, Highway 50 and 30th Street. The neighborhood is about half small bungalows, and about half brand-new 280-unit apartment complex (were supposed to be condos before the housing bust) that is just about to open, and it's right next to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op and a really, really good coffee shop.

[kim racer]

While the number of hookers has dropped in the past year or so, there still are hookers on Stockton and Broadway. Keep that in mind when you are trying to figure out where you and your wife are willing to live.

Tahoe Park is a transition neighborhood. The closer you get to Stockton Blvd, the worse the neighborhood is. The owner occupants don't want to live adjacent to the hookers doing the stroll up and down Stockton Blvd. But closer to the actual park in Tahoe Park and 65th street, the neighborhood gets better.

Transition neighborhoods are neighborhoods that could go either way. During the housing boom, urban pioneers went into Tahoe Park and fixed up some of the homes. Right now the neighborhood is being hit pretty hard by the foreclosure boom. A lot of the foreclosed homes are being turned into rentals. Some of the empty homes are attracting social problems (being shooting galleries for the hookers on Stockton).

As housing prices in the region fall, people who were previously were priced out of nicer neighborhoods are preferring to move to them instead.

If the housing bust bottoms out this year, you are probably fine in the areas closer to the actual park in Tahoe Park and might be rewarded for your risk taking in buying a place closer to Stockton Blvd. But if the housing bust lingers on the problems in the areas closer to Stockton Blvd probably will spread closer to the Park.

If you are looking for a safer neighborhood in roughly the same price range, not too far away look more at College Greens or Hollywood Park.

[sacramentosally]

The closer to the park, the better.

Stay between a perimeter of 53rd, Broadway, 62nd and 14th street.

[Awayaway112]

People commonly forget the nicest part of the neighborhood; 4800-5000 blocks of 7,8,9, and parts of 10th & 11th. 7th, 8th, 9th have a lot of the nicer 1920's brick tutors and bungalows which are similar, if not the same as, some of the homes in east sac/Elmhurst area.

I like running through that part of Tahoe Park during my lunch break. (doctor at the UCDMC)

[mattinsac]

The issue is that at night the problems from Stockton Blvd spill into that part of Tahoe Park.

[mattinsac]

What are your alternatives? I personally wouldn't want to live near Stockton Blvd or the parts of Broadway on this map from the SacBee.

Map - Crime, alcohol stores often go hand-in-hand

I would look at the parts of Tahoe Park closer to 65th street and park in Tahoe Park, but I would also look at Tallac Village, North City Farms, Carleton Tract and Hollywood Park. The homes in Curtis Park near the actual Curtis Park itself are nice, but at night the hookers go under the freeway on 2nd Avenue, so I would avoid that parts of Curtis Park closer to 2nd Avenue.

[Sactoslacker]

Originally Posted by mattinsac

The issue is that at night the problems from Stockton Blvd spill into that part of Tahoe Park.

It can happen... there was a fatal stabbing yesterday in 5300 block of 53rd in the middle of the day. It's generally a safe neighborhood.

I'm a long time resident and I live in the NW section of Tahoe Park and it's relatively quite. Been in this area for 6 years, great location- Sac State is within walking distance and UCD is really close.

[bluevelo]

Originally Posted by Sactoslacker

It can happen... there was a fatal stabbing yesterday in 5300 block of 53rd in the middle of the day. It's generally a safe neighborhood.

I'm a long time resident and I live in the NW section of Tahoe Park and it's relatively quite. Been in this area for 6 years, great location- Sac State is within walking distance and UCD is really close.

Chances are that stabbing was a drug deal gone bad, and the GF and I were driving into the CVS (used to be Long's) Pharmacy across from Trader Joe's on Folsom and saw what was very obviously a drug deal going down in that parking lot.

Scum are everywhere. My GF got carjacked out of her driveway in Fair Oaks by a punk wielding a knife; she also got held up at gunpoint at the old Record Factory @ Howe and Arden back in the 80s.

We will continue to have crime until we severely punish it, which we don't do now.