Natomas (Sacramento, Orange, Elk Grove: for sale, apartments, rental)

[Taribor]

Hello,
We are relocating from FL. What are your thoughts on North and South Natomas? We have a newborn and I'm looking for a safe neighborhood that I can stroll the baby around. We found a rental home on Winter Garden Ave, off of Northgate Blvd, do you know if that's a safe area?
Thanks

[bigdave01]

correct me if im wrong, but I believe that South Natomas is kind of ghetto and has bad schools.

North Natomas is a nice newer suburb with lots of diversity and close to sacramento. They are in the flood plains.

[MamaToThree]

Originally Posted by bigdave01

correct me if im wrong, but I believe that South Natomas is kind of ghetto and has bad schools.

North Natomas is a nice newer suburb with lots of diversity and close to sacramento. They are in the flood plains.

Exactly. Stay out of South Natomas. Actually, I'm sure Natomas is probably quite nice with all the new housing there (it used to just be called "that area out there around Arco Arena"). Major shopping centers galore and what-not. However, I honestly think that Natomas (and Elk Grove) is just urban decay waiting to happen because of the massive development going on around there.

If you have a newborn, I'd recommend areas like Carmichael or Fair Oaks. They are older established neighborhoods. If you are looking for a newer style home, there are a lot of infills (the area around Gibbons Park, for example). Tim Lewis Communities is also building a new development in Orangevale (check out his website for info.) and they are using organic paints, solar panels on the roof, renewable materials, etc. The San Juan Unified School District is a good school district (i.e. Deterding and Del Dayo public elementary schools). Orangevale Open is just down Madison Ave. (they are moving to Illinois Ave. in the old Roberts Elementary school for the 2007/2008 year) and there are 2 campuses of the California Montessori Project schools in that area. Also, El Rancho is a great private pre-school/elementary and the Waldorf school is right in Fair Oaks (if you're into that type of education). It's a great area. In my *honest* opinion I would not recommend Natomas.

[femjll3]

No way to South Natomas!!!!!

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Taribor

Hello,
We are relocating from FL. What are your thoughts on North and South Natomas? We have a newborn and I'm looking for a safe neighborhood that I can stroll the baby around. We found a rental home on Winter Garden Ave, off of Northgate Blvd, do you know if that's a safe area?
Thanks

Decidedly stay away from South Natomas. Decidedly ghetto. North Natomas is new houses without enough room between them to walk with your arms outstretched and California's version of suburbs which is stip malls, shopping centers (a lot of big box), broomstick trees just starting to grow and postage stamp lawns in front of snout-houses (garage sticks out further than the dwelling). And, yes, it's in the flood plain!

Northgate ain't nothin' to crow about either!

By all means choose an old, established neighborhood.

[Inthesierras]

I agree, stay away from Northgate and South Natomas. My brother lived there for quite a few years and its bad.

[volleyballer]

These people are right. North Natomas is the way to go, if you are certain you want to live in the Natomas area. South Natomas is not safe for walking with a baby, and Northgate is scary. Just take a drive on Northgate, Truxel, San Juan, and West El Camino, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sadly, N. Natomas is going to be just like S. Natomas in about 10 years or so. There are a lot of renters, a plethora of low-income apartments, overpriced houses, graffiti on new walls, and police are almost never around. By the way, I am not insinuating anything negative about low-income housing. You can make your own judgments on that. There is always the threat of floods too.

You might want to consider an older, more established neighborhood in another part of Sacramento. If you see 3 For Rent or For Sale signs on one street, that's not good.

[citigirl]

Originally Posted by Taribor

Hello,
We are relocating from FL. What are your thoughts on North and South Natomas? We have a newborn and I'm looking for a safe neighborhood that I can stroll the baby around. We found a rental home on Winter Garden Ave, off of Northgate Blvd, do you know if that's a safe area?
Thanks

I lived in South Natomas before all the new developements. I loved Natomas. Three years ago we decided it was time to flee, it was getting progressively worse. When the first grafitti started showing up you know it is downhill from there.

One of the problems in North Natomas is the huge $500,000 homes. There are many that bought them, built cubical living spaces in them and rent to as many as they can cram in. Some streets get filled with older trashed cars from all the tenents making the street look horrible. They were going to try and crack down on it but I do not know if they were successful.

While I know it was the right thing to leave Natomas I still miss my beautiful home and gardens.

[Inthesierras]

Originally Posted by volleyballer

These people are right. North Natomas is the way to go, if you are certain you want to live in the Natomas area. South Natomas is not safe for walking with a baby, and Northgate is scary. Just take a drive on Northgate, Truxel, San Juan, and West El Camino, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sadly, N. Natomas is going to be just like S. Natomas in about 10 years or so. There are a lot of renters, a plethora of low-income apartments, overpriced houses, graffiti on new walls, and police are almost never around. By the way, I am not insinuating anything negative about low-income housing. You can make your own judgments on that. There is always the threat of floods too.

You might want to consider an older, more established neighborhood in another part of Sacramento. If you see 3 For Rent or For Sale signs on one street, that's not good.

Your right! I remember in the early 90s alot of people moved to Natomas because it was brand new and more afforable then Elk Grove. The area was really nice. Until recently, my brother lived right behind Natomas High School. The homes are about 20 years old, some are really nice large 2 stories. But, most of that neighborhood has gone to crap. The vandalism was out of control, kids hanging on the corner all hours of the day, etc etc. You can tell who the home owners are, their homes are kept in great shape. But the majority are not. Stopping at the stores right around there was actually fun. It was like a front row seat to a ghetto Jerry Springer show.

[NikkiK]

My husband and I just moved to North Natomas and we love it. We moved from South Natomas, I suggest going north of I-80. Northgate is not a good area. Our new neighborhood has a bunch of young professional families and we love it. We are thinking of starting a family in the fall and we are so far really happy about our move.