Moving to American Canyon (San Francisco, Sacramento: job, new house, construction)

[sirena1481]

I would like to hear any thoughts on American Canyon I would like to buy a house under 500,000 and start a family. I heard that the weather could be bad at times like windstorms, etc. Is it pretty isolated or are their fun things to do out that way i.e. Restaurants, movies, hiking? I currently live in work in San Rafael and Marin is just too expensive to buy a house. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[almost heaven]

It is a nice enough place with green hills trees and warm weather, but the house values have dropped and there is no new construction planned. I would think that you could get a nice home for half what you mentioned, but you better like the area because your chance of resale will be slim.

[NorthernCalifornia]

the area is actually very well located for future growth patterns in the region. I would expect it will be a fairly desirable area in 10 years.

[sirena1481]

Originally Posted by almost heaven

It is a nice enough place with green hills trees and warm weather, but the house values have dropped and there is no new construction planned. I would think that you could get a nice home for half what you mentioned, but you better like the area because your chance of resale will be slim.

Do you actually live in American Canyon or in the surrounding areas? Thanks for your information.

[gizmo980]

I drive through American Canyon every day, on my way to work in Napa... it's actually the most annoying part of my drive, since it's a "fake highway," meaning it has stop lights and VERY slow drivers/trucks! But it's a nice little town, very clean and quiet, with a good number of shopping strip-malls - gorgeous Safeway, Super Wal-Mart, banks, a little poker room (where I'm always tempted to stop on my way home, LOL), game stores, and a number of restaurants. It really doesn't have much aside from that, but the good news is that you're right between Vallejo and Napa, where you can find anything you'll need. I'm leaving my job in Napa this week for one closer to home (I live in SF), but if I'd stayed here on a permanent basis, I'd probably opt to live in American Canyon. Sorry I can't offer any detailed housing information, but I'm assuming it's cheaper than Napa & more expensive than Vallejo - and for good reason, since Vallejo isn't the most desirable place to live. Good luck!

[gizmo980]

Oh, and about the weather... it's often very windy when I drive through AC, but I've never seen any "windstorms" to speak of. But I've only been working here since January, so I can't say if they're common during other parts of the year. As for the movies, it doesn't look like AC has it's own theater, but there are a few nearby in Vallejo and Napa - no more than a 10-15 minute drive.

[northbay_guy]

I've lived in American Canyon for 6 years. It's amazing how much it's grown since then, though I will say it's getting hit HARD by the housing downturn. Builders have been slashing prices on brand new houses, some even under the $500,000 threshold you're looking for. Needless to say it's very much a buyer's market.

The fact of the matter is they built too much, too fast... and without the infrastructure to support it. That said, they have taken steps to correct this (building more shopping centers, more schools, widening roads, etc.) and as someone else already mentioned, it's located in a strategically good area (gateway to Napa Valley, less than an hour from San Francisco and Sacramento...without traffic, of course). Overall, I'm happy here and think it's a nice place to live.

As far as the weather, there is some wind (though no windstorms that I've ever seen or heard of). The closer you are to the Napa river the more you'll notice it, but I don't consider it to be all that bad. In terms of things to do (restaurants, movies, hiking), there are a few decent restaurants (La Strada and Tacqueria Rosita are a couple of my favorites). For movies, you'll need to go either to Napa or Vallejo. There are some hiking trails in town, though I'll admit I've never hiked them. I think you'll find that most of your basic needs can be taken care of here in town, but for most entertainment you'll need to go to Napa or Vallejo.

Oh, one last thing. You mentioned you work in San Rafael. My wife works in Mill Valley and does the commute on Hwy 37/101. Just know that this can be a brutal commute. Leaving at 7:00am, it usually takes her over an hour (sometimes closer to an hour and a half) to get to work. Assuming you work regular hours (M-F), you should plan on roughly the same amount of time.

[almost heaven]

I live in the east bay but I have many contacts in the home building industry and have many friends that have worked in that area on developments. From all the information I have gathered from the construction company I work for and friends in the industry is that areas not part of the "Bay Area" are and will continue to see a slow down if not a total stoppage of new home construction. AC is a nice area and like other people mentioned.

[Alisande]

Originally Posted by sirena1481

I would like to hear any thoughts on American Canyon I would like to buy a house under 500,000 and start a family. I heard that the weather could be bad at times like windstorms, etc. Is it pretty isolated or are their fun things to do out that way i.e. Restaurants, movies, hiking? I currently live in work in San Rafael and Marin is just too expensive to buy a house. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

I loved some of the homes in AC. However, it grew to fast and the roads/schools etc haven't caught up yet. The wind can be high but it's like that anywhere around that area. You can buy some of the smaller homes in the newer communites for around 500k because the builders are slashing prices. My problem is commuting anywhere from AC can be a big problem.