Southeast Clovis or Squaw Valley??? (Fresno, Orange: crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[rocky mtn mom]

Hi - We are relocating from the Rocky Mountains to Fresno/Clovis -- my husband got a new job with the forest and will be working about 40 miles east of Fresno. We have a 2-year-old, so she's not in school yet but it will come up fast. It does seem like Clovis has a great school district. What is southeast Clovis like? Are there any nice neighborhoods with slightly larger lots or even horse property?? Or should we be looking in Squaw Valley? Are there families there or mostly retirees? How are the schools in SV/Dunlap?

I guess what we're looking for is an area with nice families with young children, but also hoping for a little more space than a typical tract community and quick access to Hwy. 180. Thanks for any advice!

[FresnoFacts]

Since you started this new thread lets I'll just reply here instead of the post on the other thread. I'll do some basic generic stuff but we can get more specific as we go. I'm guessing your husband is coming with USFS to the Sequoia Forest, maybe the Hume Lake District?

Southeast Clovis has a lot of newer subdivisions down to its boundary with Fresno near Ashlan Avenue. Then there is newer (and some older subdivisions) of Fresno heading south to 180.

Clovis Unified School District extends thru that area of Fresno down to just south of Highway 180 (the area between Clovis Avenue and Temperance Avenue). CUSD then also goes east several miles in the area north of Belmont out to about McCall Avenue.

East and South of Clovis/Fresno there are rural homes on a few acres available mixed with larger farms and a couple of gated type subdivisions.

Much of that above area does attend Sanger Unified Schools, but that district has made huge improvement the last 5 years. For example, Quail Lake Environmental School (north of Sanger in the Quail Lake development) has test scores over 900 out of 1000 possible.

Squaw Valley is a rural area, not really a town. It would be a mix of acreage sizes, but I'm not sure about how many families it has, I'll leave that to hopefully someone else to answer. The couples I know that way do not have children at home.

Squaw Valley children are bused to Dunlap Elementary School if I remember right. Decent school right about the state testing average. They then go to high school in Reedley or Orange Cove if you stay that long. So you might want to consider the school transportation time. Dunlap Elementary probably serves Squaw Valley, Dunlap, Pinehurst, Miramonte, etc.

In the other thread you mentioned heat/fog. Squaw Valley is only about 1500-1600 feet elevation so you really aren't rising out of most of the Valley weather at that level.

[rocky mtn mom]

Thanks so much! This information is a huge help. We will definitely extend our house search to Sanger. Too bad to hear that SV isn't really out of the fog though! I guess we'll have to go to the mountains for that!!

[.highnlite]

Why not live closer to your work? A 40 mile commute gets old pretty quick. If you are accustomed to living in the mtns, living in the Central Valley will get old pretty quick.

As a former Forest Service employee, I highly recommend you live near your work, up among the granite and the pines, the lakes and the streams, that is where kids should grow up.

There is a reason John Muir called the Sierra, "The Range of Light"

He also said, with good reason; "“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”"

[rocky mtn mom]

So, we have been looking at houses in Sanger since it would give us access to some of the advantages of town life but make my husband's commute a little easier. Can you give us any more information about this area? Crime, reputation, any nice parks, trail system, etc.? Is it a place that is friendly and welcoming? Can we meet other young families there? Thanks for any help you can offer!

[.highnlite]

Without knowing the location of his work station, twood be tough for me to give much detail. For myself, I never think about crime, most "crime" occurs among gangs, and seldom penetrates to normal folk, or reputation, I don't care much for parks, aside from large open space parks, and the National Forest is full of trails.

[FresnoFacts]

You can find lots of info about Sanger at this link
//www.city-data.com/city/Sanger-California.html

Overall it is a farm town that was seeing growth as a bedroom community before the housing crash. Sanger remains heavily Hispanic due to its farm economy but that may change. Highway 180 is currently being widened into a 4 lane expressway between Fresno and Sanger to assist with the commuting.

Crime is currently about average for US cities, my understanding is that the worse crime areas tend to be toward the southeast part of the city while newer housing is in the northwest.

You should be able to find larger lots up to a few acres in the surrounding area too.

The one thing you might find limited is services. There some medical offices but I believe the small local hospital is now closed. Walmart in Sanger would probably take care of basic shopping but you would probably need to drive into Fresno for other choices.

[DMenscha]

I also worked for the USFS in my youth. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to locate much closer to the work location. Your kids are much more likely to get personal attention from a smaller school district up the hill than down in the flats.

Good Luck!

[munster1]

What's is a good community to move to in the Fresno area? I have a 2 yr old and am looking for a great school system and a reputable medical system? I am from the Chicagoland area.

[jghall00]

Originally Posted by munster1

What's is a good community to move to in the Fresno area? I have a 2 yr old and am looking for a great school system and a reputable medical system? I am from the Chicagoland area.

It depends on your budget and what you're looking for. I would go on Trulia or Zillow and look at home prices. Pretty much anything above 200k and north of Shaw is going to be in a good neighborhood. Clovis has very good schools, but lacks diversity. Fresno is small, so a drive across town to any medical facility would not take more than 20 minutes.