moving to Sacramento for work and need help. (San Francisco, Modesto: sales, real estate)

[Bennymac2]

I am recently married and moving from Georgia to Sacramento, My wife already has a job in the city and i do sales down to Modesto up to Woodland and over to Grass Valley.
I have been out there a few times and know of Folsom and Rocklin El Dorado hills but my take is her daily drive is going to be rough from any of those places and real estate is little high.
30 year old, both white, no kids anytime soon, moved from Atlanta so but would like to get alittle bit out of that lifestyle but still have young business like people around us.
Thank you in Advance

[wburg]

What lifestyle are you trying to get out of, and what sort of neighborhood are you looking for?

[noihoforus]

Roseville, Lincoln are good areas....lots to do....close enough to a freeway to get around.

[Bennymac2]

living downtown, bars every night. we are looking more of a young neighborhood that knows each other. What about fair oaks or Natomas?

[wburg]

Most of Sacramento is not downtown. Heck, even most of downtown Sacramento isn't "downtown" in that respect, and almost nobody lives downtown here (due to a lack of downtown housing.) Fair Oaks is an unincorporated suburban community well outside the city limits, mostly families. North Natomas is a collapsing housing bubble suburb (within the Sacramento city limits) that is at such a high risk for floods that nothing can be built there until the levees are reinforced unless it's on a 14 foot high berm, also mostly families.

My standard advice is to look at Midtown, East Sacramento, Curtis Park and Land Park, the ring of neighborhoods around downtown Sacramento--assuming that your wife's job is downtown or nearby. Alternately, across the river in West Sacramento, an up-and-coming industrial town that is trying to build up its waterfront.

[noihoforus]

Originally Posted by Bennymac2

living downtown, bars every night. we are looking more of a young neighborhood that knows each other. What about fair oaks or Natomas?

Fair Oaks over Natomas....but Folsom sounds more of what you are looking for...Sacramento is a small downtown surrounded by sprawl and suburbs.

[Podo944]

but we recently stayed in Midtown for a few days last month, and we liked it quite a bit. Interesting... beautiful old historic homes, close to restaurants, bars and shops, and there seemed to always be a lot of folks about and about walking around. Even after dark we didn't feel unsafe walking around regardless of a good amount of homeless there, we were just cautious and aware of our surroundings.

We also explored a bit on bike (it's a very bike friendly town) and was surprised how easy it was to get to Old Town, Downtown, the library and Capital Park etc. Coming from Orange County, we were really charmed by Sacramento, and wouldn't mind living there. (The best burger we ever had is at Dad's Kitchen on Freemont near the Landpark area where there're also a lot of really cool old houses! Get the garlic fries!!! )

We also took a drive to Placerville for fun and stopped in Folsom briefly to take a look and it's definitely more suburban, but has a country feel to it with a lake and the bike trail, wild turkeys running around and it also has a nice Historic district.

BTW, a good friend of ours just moved up there this weekend and he's renting an apartment in South Natomas. If I were you, I'd rent for a while (preferable near your work) till you get a good idea of the area.

Have fun! You'll be smack in the middle of lots of wonderful weekend getaways like Lake Tahoe, Reno, Lake Shasta, Yosemite, San Francisco, The Redwoods, Bodega Bay etc. etc.
Hmmmm... I'm getting sort of jealous!

[Aquaboy]

Standard advice Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Folsom. Avoid North Highlands, Citrus Heights, parts of Rancho Cordova, Natomas. Good luck!

[aznguysac]

It kind of depends on your budget or if you'd like to own a place. If you're ok with renting, I'd recommend midtown. Fair Oaks, Carmichael, and Roseville are nice but pretty suburban (think Weeds the series). Perhaps most importantly, go around a look at a few places in different neighborhoods before you move if you can. I know it can be hard, but it really gives you a sense of these places.

[scorpio516]

Just from ease of getting to Grass Valley and the rest of the northern Valley, I'd suggest Rocklin, Roseville, or Lincoln. Still easy to get downtown.

However, if you are going to spend a whole lot more time south of Sac, Elk Grove might be a better choice. Your wife probably won't like commuting on 99 north into downtown, but you'll be happy to avoid that mess out of town.