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My girlfriend and I are both 27 years young, and very strongly considering moving to the Napa area.
A brief summary..
I currently own a home in MA, and have several great tenants lined up to rent. It's feasible that I could even rent for a profit once the mortgage is adjusted. Neither of us have any debt, and the hardest part about making this leap is the mental anguish of leaving our families. I plan to sell my car and a lot of material things from the house, so there's more $ in our pocket, and very little to move.
We both already have jobs. She would be teaching in Vallejo, and I have the consent from my boss to work from home - I do web design, development, and a freelance on the side. So we feel quite secure financially; despite the dire circumstances in the state of CA, we feel like we can manage.
Just last weekend we flew in to San Fran, and visited the area. We met with the principal of the school, who lived in SF, and everyone we spoke with was very nice. I was amazed at how people drove. I don't think I heard more than two horns, in downtown SF. As an East-Coaster, I'm very fond of my really loud and obnoxious, "Get the F outta my way" horn.
We heard Vallejo was a rough area, but after touring it with the rental car for a day while my gf taught a lesson at their school, I can say it did not seem bad AT ALL. I drove all over the town, and while it's no feast for the eyes, I couldn't find any hookers or crack dealers. We live in Worcester, MA and she teaches in Springfield - one of the worst, crime-ridden cities in the country. It's all relative I guess.
What I'm wondering is, aside from Napa, are there any other suggestions for places to look? Is Vallejo really that bad? We visited Vacaville, Fairfield, Napa, and Vallejo and really liked the "countryesque" setting that Napa offers. Am I missing any hidden gems? We heard that Walnut Creek was good, but also very trendy and more exp.
Napa is nice, so is American Canyon, both would be a pretty easy commute. Vallejo has a few really bad neighborhoods, but it isn't a huge town, so it can't really have huge ghettos. You may want to look into Crockett and Pinole as well, they aren't too far from Vallejo and, in my opinion, are much nicer than V town.
YEa I checked out American Canyon. It seems a bit cookie-cutteresque in terms of the housing. I will look into the other towns as well.
Her current commute is about one hour on the Mass pike, so 20-30 minutes outside Vallejo is no problem.
As for the bankruptcy situation, we do know that. The charter school there is the only one that was granted layoff protection, and after meeting with the principal I liked it very much. They're actually relocating from the modular pods on cement in downtown, to a location on the outskirts, with 650 acres nearby.
Novato is another option, but can be expensive, Hercules isn't bad either. I have a number of friends who have mover to Fairfield over the last few years, they like it, quite a bit.
I currently live in Vallejo, and your right it's not that bad. I love this little city, and the local food is to die for, I hate it. I can't drop my last 10 pounds
Some places you may want to consider: Hiddenbrooke Vallejo, Glen Cove, American Canyon, Napa but you'll probably LOVE Benicia. While Vallejo isn't bad, the resale in these cities are a lot higher. Also, in Benicia is such a nice, FRIENDLY community. It's like family out there. They have a farmers market on Thursday that is soo nice!
Vallejo's crime rate isn't bad like Richmond, but it isn't low either. I am suprised that you didn't see anything as there is plenty of crack dealers and prostitutes within Vallejo.
My family relocated from Northampton MA six months ago and have not regretted it. We now live in Oakland and I seriously think you should investigate this area. There is allot of nice people, interesting parks and great restaurants here. While our friends in New England suffered with ice storms we enjoyed mild weather.
If you have jobs you have been given a gift so you might as well make the best of it.
My family relocated from Northampton MA six months ago and have not regretted it. We now live in Oakland and I seriously think you should investigate this area. There is allot of nice people, interesting parks and great restaurants here. While our friends in New England suffered with ice storms we enjoyed mild weather.
If you have jobs you have been given a gift so you might as well make the best of it.
No kidding..I went to school at UMass, and love visiting NoHo. It's very down to earth there and that's a lovely town. So many good places to eat, and fun stores. I'm surprised you know about the ice storm too lol...trees were down EVERYWHERE. That was a nightmare.
But thanks for the feedback. I guess I didn't explore Vtown thoroughly. I'll take alook at Benicia since I haven't searched much in that area. We'd like to keep the commute to Vallejo under 30 min ideally.
I noticed that renters don't seem to have as many rights as they do here in MA. For example, a lot of people post "no section 8"; if we did that, we'd be sued lol. I guess it's ddependent on the owner.
I worked at UHS at UMASS and often had to white knuckle it down the hills in snow and ice to get to work. No more, commute is so much easier.
Northampton restaurants pale in comparison to the quality of food obtainable here in CA. I think it is all in the ingredients. Food is just so much fresher and tastier here on the west coast.
Can you tell I am sold?
You are correct about the horns, we don't really use them unless someone falls asleep at a red light that turns green.. or is in imminent danger of changing lanes into you. San Francisco is really not bad to drive in, you just have to watch out for the oblivious pedestrians and kamikaze taxi drivers.
Benicia is where pretty much everyone lives if they work in Vallejo (the 911 call center, for example) but don't want to deal with the crime and grime. Very pretty town with a lot to recommend it.
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Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
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