Best Place to Live in CA? (Sacramento, Redding: house, neighborhood, school)

[Sage113]

Originally Posted by teklanika

Hi there all,

I'm in the midst of searching for a new place to live, and I've narrowed it down to either CA or FL. I was raised on the east coast and am pretty familiar with Florida, but I'm stumped when it comes to picking a place in California to even research. My primary concerns are safety (as in small town safety, not "it's relatively safe for a large-city"), sunshine and warmth (got to get away from the nor'easters), and availability of houses (not apartments/condos/townhouses) for rent. I know I can get what I'm looking for in certain parts of Florida, and still live near or on the ocean.

Any ideas on which places I should focus on in CA, or should I just scratch the idea all together and go on ahead to Florida?

You can email me with questions, too. I live in Sebring, FL, kinda grew up in Miami, went to school in Tallahassee and was stationed in Sacramanto for 2 years and Victorville for 3 years. I just came back from a scouting trip to Cali to look for a decent place to move to. So, that should give you an indication that Cali has more to offer than FL. As far as scenery, people and climate are concerned, Cali is the place.

I will tell you that there are places in both states that are still affordable. In my other posts, I mentioned that we went to Paradise, CA which was a really nice looking place where homes are available for less than $200k and you're in the foothills with wonderful scenery and mild climate. Chico was about 10 miles away and has lots of college kids, a cute downtown and plenty of nightlife, culture and things to do. Oroville was not recommended by some locals. Sacramento is 2 hours south. Another nice little place you might like as a writer is Tehachapi. Its affordable, in the mountains and a really cute place. We did not get to places that are near the ocean except for San Fran which is pretty expensive. We checked out some small towns south of San Jose, though. We were told Turlock and Gilroy were ok. We liked the look of Morgan Hill but the housing market was outta sight. It was a really cute little town, fairly new with friendly people but the houses were selling for $700k and up. Anything within 2 hours of San Fran is pricey, except for some places up the northern coast, which we didn't get to see.

In Sebring, we bought a house 3 years ago on a canal to 2 lakes. My boat used to be tied up in my backyard (before the current drought drove water levels down). The house is a 2400 sq foot, 3 BR 2 BA with attached Mother-in-Law suite (another 1 Br 1 Ba), concrete block/stucco construction with new roof, palm trees in the front yard, orange and grapefruit trees in the back, and very friendly neighbors...all for a whopping $94k. My mortgage was $548 per month PITI. You can't find that in California. The weather is surprisingly wonderful here in the winter. From Nov thru May, the temps here go from 50-60 at night to 60-70 during the day with fairly low humitity for Florida(50% or so). During the other half of the year, the humidity climbs into the 66% and up range, and temps are 70's at night to 96 during the day, which my wife hates. We've been thru Charlie, Frances, Jeanne (which tore our screened back porch off) and some of Katrina, all of which raised our insurance significantly....so we're looking at Cali.

The central parts of Florida are still very affordable if you don't mind the heat, humidity and hurricanes in the summer. Although, last year we didn't have any at all. There are some of the best beaches in the world here along with all the water sports you can imagine, you just need to live a little inland to escape the hustle and bustle. Parts of northern Florida like Tallahassee actually have some hills as do some areas south of Clermont. Some areas are depressed and have great home values. Crime in the bigger cities is a major consideration. Even crime here in Sebring is fairly high but I just don't see it. The real problem is that it's a senior region and seasonal. It seems that half the county's population is 65 or older. They all come down here from Dec thru April and try to drive their big, brand new caddies and towncars 20 mph under the speed limit while the teenagers are racing around in their little Honda's with the loud, megaphone mufflers and kickers in the trunk.

Anyway, we saw lots of California that are affordable with great scenery, nice people and tolerable weather. The gas prices are totally ridiculous in Cali too. We were paying $3.03 for gas in Las Vegas and the price changed in Cali to $3.33 to $3.59. Gas in Florida was only $2.90 and over the line into Georgia was $2.75. Whatever happened to that guy in Tampa who invented an engine that ran on on water? Took him 1 oz of water to drive from Tampa to Ocala.

Do some research before you go to either state. I would highly recommend going and checking places out in person. If you're open-minded, try other places as well. Athens, GA is a fun little college town with a progressive attitude, great nightlife, nice scenery and great climate. It also has a very nice "Green" to it. Many of the downtown restaurants are vegitarian with some having their own farms. The music scene is really hoppin. Check out Myrtle Beach, SC. It's still affordable, has beaches and great seafood and plenty of nightlife. This forum is a great place to get some good information to start with. Good luck and I hope this helped.

Sage

[Luke9686]

The best place in California is probably Bel Air or Beverly Hills. Not only are they very affordable, the schools are great. Also Santa Monica and Malibu are relatively affordable.

[kateseth]

My boyfriend and I are in our 20's and decided we want to move to CA. We would really love to live around Sacramento area (not in the city, but outside it, towards Lake Tahoe). We really don't a lot of money yet, so we would love some advice as to where we should move to (so not too pricey please)?!
What city would be ideal for us since we dont know CA at all!
We want the best of both worlds : Skiiing & Swimming, warm in summer but can easily get to the mountains to ski in winter. We don't need the beach, just a beautiful Lake! although it would be nice if we only had to travel about 2-3 hours to get to the shore.
Any advice would be great!
and I hope to see you all within a year!

-Kate & Seth

[ShastaLiving]

Hello Teklanika,
You might want to consider the North State (California that is). I read your post and people who move here love it for many of the reasons you pointed out: Safety, Affordable Housing, Close to Water (although it's not the oceans but the most beautiful rivers and lakes) and rural yet hip! My husband and I are realtors here in Redding, CA (population of 90,000 and 150,000 for the entire County) and 90% of our clients are out-of-town folks anywhere from Bay area, Reno, So. Calif, Oregon, you name it. Primary reasons for their move here is housing affordability (median pirce is $280,000) and better family life style (excellent schools, very little crime, clean, fresh air since we're surrounded by mountains and lakes) and the best part is we're considered the 2nd Sunniest Place to live in the US! Plenty of sunshine (sometimes too much!) but we do enjoy the four seasons with a mild winter climate, no SNOW! But we're 45 minutes from Mt. Shasta (a skiing resort, our version of Lake Tahoe if you will).

You can go to any of these websites and learn more about our area Chris & Maria Jeantet : Redding Real Estate - Real Estate in Redding CA - Shasta County Real Estate - Redding California Homes- Homes for Sale in Redding, Redding, CA. Welcome to VisitRedding.com, Redding.com : Redding, California, News, Business, Homes, Jobs, Cars & Information

[Stancy]

We just moved to the Murrieta area (Inland Empire) and we absolutely love it. Besides the homes being affordable, I love the new malls being built all over, and everything is mostly new. The people are neighborly too. I would recommend it to anyone.

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by Stancy

I love the new malls being built all over, and everything is mostly new. .

Yikes,to each his own I guess,,this sounds like strip mall hell to me

[thedeazy]

From reading your inital post, i know JUST the place your looking for in CA...

I'd like to go on and on about my hometown, San Luis Obispo (or SLO town) but many have already done it justice. I just moved to Florida (Bradenton, near Sarasota) and am already ready to go home. I came out here for one reason... my girlfriend. She is worth it, but I still LOVE San Luis. I'd say head West, young man. It might not be as afforable, but look into the surrounding cities, like Morro Bay, Cayucos, Los Osos, Arroyo Grande, Avila and Pismo/Shell Beach if your looking for coastal towns. Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton, Santa Maria are more affordable but still about half hour's drive from the coast. Warmer temps but more affordable. SLO County in general. Either way, you're golden!! Good luck! I wish I was going back!

[Ingamar1960]

I have to add a disclaimer to Chico, although it is quite a nice place with the University and the Bidwell Park through the middle, with a natural pool off of a creek, it has a very bad Meth problem, and if you were to move there, really check out any neighborhood or home you might consider moving into, as it could have been or is a Meth lab, and that's not good...just to give a "heads up".

[RenaissanceGirl]

Wyldeflower,

I lived in Grass Valley for 15 years before moving out of state, and it is pretty much the only place I would live in CA. You get:

--Hot summers
--Seasons, sort of, compared to the rest of CA
--Lots of rain (55-60 in.) in winter
--The best schools in CA not counting Marin County, which is insanely expensive, not to mention insanely liberal
--Small-town, rural atmosphere.

Good luck!

[tinasgt2005]

A little unknown town in California is Tehachapi. It is not near the Beach but is in the Mountains. It is about 40 minutes from Bakersfield elevation is 4000+. If you go a little higher up in the mountains above Tehachapi you have Bear Valley Springs. It is absolutley beautiful. The summers are about 90 compared to Bakersfield which can get up to 115. Tehachapi does not normaly get any of the fog we get in Baskersfield. They do get some snow. If you live in Bear Valley you will get lots of snow. Tehachapi is a small community pretty spread out. Bear Valley is a gated community and is very quiet. You are close enough to a larger city for any large purchases. Farm land all around. If I planned on staying in California I would move their or to the Redding area but I plan on moving to Colorado in the next two years.