Is Sacramento a Fit? (San Francisco, Oakland: appointed, low crime, house)

[macalan]

My husband is looking to retire soon and we are considering a move to escape our long, cold winters and high cost of housing.

We live on the coast now, so don't want to be too far from it.

We're looking for something that offers the basic necessities - pharmacy, grocery, hospital, hardware store and vet in town and really would like a 24-hour vet where we live as our dog has a lot of health issues.

Speaking of dogs, we are also looking for a "pet friendly" area - lots of parks, beach access (on leash), natural pet stores, etc.

We love California, but know it is very pricey. Our favorite towns are Sonoma, Carmel, Calistoga, St. Helena, and Healdsburg. We realize Sacramento is way bigger than these towns, but wondered if Sacramento had neighborhoods that might have a similar feel that weren't too urban.

Outside of CA (so you know what we are looking for in "feel") we love Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Nantucket, MA, Chatham, MA, Newburyport, MA (our city), Newport, RI, Sag Harbor, NY, Easthampton, NY.

Our wish list includes good bookstores, a walkable area with shops/restaurants, library, good services (doctor, dentist), low crime, and things going on - farmers markets, movie theater, festivals, etc.


Sacramento looks interesting to us & seems to have so much going for it - close to Gold Country, Nothern CA Wine Country, SFO - and seems to have alot going on itself. We saw (online) an area called Curtis Park that seems to have the charm that we love. We also love all of the trees. The Old Town reminds me a bit of Sonoma.

We don't have kids, so schools are not an issue. We'd prefer not to be in a completely "city" environment, but in a "pocket" neighborhood if that makes sense.

Our budget is under 400K, smallish (1,600 sq ft) 2BR/2BA. We're open to older or new construction, but really dislike cookie cutter and can't afford a total reno project. We'd also like a smallish yard for our dog that is/or could be fenced.

I will still be working, so would like an area with some opportunities. I am a financial advisor not, but open to other things. In fact I'd welcome a change.

Is Sacramento an area that makes sense to look? Is Curtis Park what we are looking for? Are there other areas that we might like?

[wburg]

Curtis Park and next-door Land Park are worth a look and have most of your list--but you might also consider a neighborhood in Sacramento called, believe it or not, the "Pocket."

Pocket-Greenhaven, Sacramento, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Expecting Sacramento to function like affluent small towns you like is going to result in disappointment--we are a city larger than Oakland, with comparable city problems. The quieter, slower-paced neighborhoods are residential suburbs that aren't particularly walkable. The more walkable neighborhoods are busier, with higher crime and a lot of commuter traffic.

I'm a big fan of Old Sacramento, but many who visit it expecting a charming small-town feel will go away disappointed. Imagine old-town Sonoma if it was directly next to the 680 during rush hour (and I mean directly next to, as in the cars and trucks are running past about 50 feet from you as you stroll down the sidewalk), with a dozen or so bars within its six blocks, and one of the busiest freight railroad lines on the West Coast a block farther up. There's a difference between an "old city" and an "old town."

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by macalan

My husband is looking to retire soon and we are considering a move to escape our long, cold winters and high cost of housing.

We live on the coast now, so don't want to be too far from it.

We're looking for something that offers the basic necessities - pharmacy, grocery, hospital, hardware store and vet in town and really would like a 24-hour vet where we live as our dog has a lot of health issues.

Speaking of dogs, we are also looking for a "pet friendly" area - lots of parks, beach access (on leash), natural pet stores, etc.

We love California, but know it is very pricey. Our favorite towns are Sonoma, Carmel, Calistoga, St. Helena, and Healdsburg. We realize Sacramento is way bigger than these towns, but wondered if Sacramento had neighborhoods that might have a similar feel that weren't too urban.

Outside of CA (so you know what we are looking for in "feel") we love Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Nantucket, MA, Chatham, MA, Newburyport, MA (our city), Newport, RI, Sag Harbor, NY, Easthampton, NY.

Our wish list includes good bookstores, a walkable area with shops/restaurants, library, good services (doctor, dentist), low crime, and things going on - farmers markets, movie theater, festivals, etc.


Sacramento looks interesting to us & seems to have so much going for it - close to Gold Country, Nothern CA Wine Country, SFO - and seems to have alot going on itself. We saw (online) an area called Curtis Park that seems to have the charm that we love. We also love all of the trees. The Old Town reminds me a bit of Sonoma.

We don't have kids, so schools are not an issue. We'd prefer not to be in a completely "city" environment, but in a "pocket" neighborhood if that makes sense.

Our budget is under 400K, smallish (1,600 sq ft) 2BR/2BA. We're open to older or new construction, but really dislike cookie cutter and can't afford a total reno project. We'd also like a smallish yard for our dog that is/or could be fenced.

I will still be working, so would like an area with some opportunities. I am a financial advisor not, but open to other things. In fact I'd welcome a change.

Is Sacramento an area that makes sense to look? Is Curtis Park what we are looking for? Are there other areas that we might like?

A place near Sacramento that might be a good fit would be the university town of Davis, home of the UC Davis campus. It's not super urban, separated from Sacramento by 10-15 miles of farmland, but still only a 20-30 minute drive to downtown Sacramento. It's also a bit closer to the San Francisco Bay Area if you like the Bay Area. Housing there is more expensive than Sacramento, but significantly cheaper than the Bay Area.

[shelato]

What it sounds like you are looking for is some of the older gold rush towns in the California foothills. Most are found off highway 49 and some aren't that too far from Sacramento. The economy in these towns can be seasonal making it difficult to find employment, but if you are retired, that probably wouldn't be too much of a problem for you. The two closest to Sacramento that might work would be Placerville or Auburn. Another area that I would look at is Nevada City/Grass Valley. All of these areas are above the Sacramento wintertime tule fog, but are below most of the snow that falls in winter time in the Sierra. These are very quaint picturesque towns.

See here for pictures.

Gold Country Visitors Guide | Amador County | Calaveras County | Tuolumne County | California | California Gold Country Visitors Guide

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/media...LD-COUNTRY.pdf

If you decide that you want to be much closer to Sacramento proper than I would look at some of the of the older historic farming farming cities that later became the historic centers of growing Sacramento suburbs, specifically I would look at Fair Oaks Village in Fair Oaks, Historic Folsom, Historic Roseville, Winters, and possibly a couple of the Delta towns like Clarksburg which less than 15 miles to downtown Sacramento but seems like a world away.

[Colorado to Texas]

This is a terrific thread!
Shelato-Thank you so much for the great info-this is exactly the info I am searching for! I, too, like the poster, am looking to move to the Sacramento area but for work as well will be starting an on-line business.
I am single in my 40's working in health education and am looking for a place where I can hike, be outdoors nearly daily, have my appreciation for health, wellness and peaceful living appreciated. If anyone has any other information about the area, I would be very grateful. Thank you so much!
DD

[ryuns]

400k could get you into nice, but fairly small house in Curtis Park and Land Park. ~1,300 sf, 2 bd/2ba or 3 bd/1 ba from what I've seen recently. They are walkable and reasonably safe, but very close to the center city, for better or worse. We're in Curtis Park and ride our bikes pretty much everywhere (as do many of our neighbors, including some retirees) and have a near endless list of things we want to do, places we want to eat, craft beers we want to drink. Pocket is also nice--money goes a little farther, and/but it's quite a bit farther from downtown/midtown.

In any case, DEFINITELY come and spend as much time as you can. It will take a while to get a full feel for the place and decide what you like and don't like, and whether it's worth the price of admission compared to something farther from the city.

Shelato gave some good recommendations on other places to check out. I'm also a big fan of Davis, but the university, the growth boundaries, and great schools really drive up the cost of housing there.