Antelope vs. Elk Grove vs. West Sac (Sacramento, Arden-Arcade: rentals, homes)

[UNITYinternational]

Which area is better in terms of safety, quality schools and community?

Or what are the distinctive differences between the areas?

[NickB1967]

In terms of Quality Schools, Antelope would be the best of the three. Especially east of Walerga Road, which is in the Roseville school districts. West of Walerga road, The Center Unified, is also good. And in terms of Safety too, come to think of it. Antelope may get "spillover" being adjacent to North Highlands, but Elk Grove is adjacent to south Sacramento, and West Sacramento, other than the Southport area, is just dubious. Although if you are a gentrifying fixer upper kind of person, the area along the Sacramento River is stirring. Schools there, however, would still be out of the question.

The only drawback to Antelope is that the commute anywhere is not convenient. If commuting is not an issue to you, however, then I would rank by preference (1) Antelope, (2) Elk Grove, (3) West Sacramento. If commuting IS a serious issue to you, then that order reverses, but in terms of safety, quality schools and community, it would still be (1) Antelope, (2) Elk Grove, (3) West Sacramento, in that ranking.

[ryuns]

That seems like a good analysis. The Southport area of West Sac is certainly a possibility if you want to stay close-ish to downtown. Schools seem decent from glancing at GreatSchools. The commutes from Elk Grove or Antelope to downtown are less than ideal.

[UNITYinternational]

Thanks for the excellent analysis and input.
Planning a mid to late March visit so we can map things out and compare areas.

We hope to minimize commute so that we can avoid childcare for preteens. Latch key not an option.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by UnityJAX

Thanks for the excellent analysis and input.
Planning a mid to late March visit so we can map things out and compare areas.

We hope to minimize commute so that we can avoid childcare for preteens. Latch key not an option.

If close commute is an issue, Antelope is sadly remote and inaccessible to freeways.

THE RULES: You want something (1) Affordable, (2) Convenient, (3) Nice. You can ONLY have two out of those three.

[UNITYinternational]

Hmmm guess we have been breaking those rules for the past 10 years. LOL

[NickB1967]

And why are you leaving Florida again? Although you will like the lower insect population, The Rules apply to California, in spades.

[ryuns]

All of those are totally relative and totally subjective though. Including insect population

To the OP, I still Southport could fit the bill. Feels kind of remote and very suburbia, but not that far away. Also check individual school districts. There a few good schools in Natomas (though they're generally not great). Arden-Arcade could be a possibility, though the commute still might end up lousy.

[UNITYinternational]

@NickB : Not leaving Florida, picked the screen name when Florida was our original relocation destination and thing just didn't work out. So now we are working on plan B. Insects, alligators and sinkholes definitely have a way of turning one off.

@ryuns: Relative indeed. Spotted a few rentals listed in Natomas that I like so I will definitely check the schools too. Thanks

[caligirlz]

1) Elk Grove - excellent schools, more value for the $ of homes, lots of nice planned developments with fake lakes, total urban sprawl. You are more likely to find a McMansion (like you saw in Roseville) here. There is shopping everywhere, but all the malls are located in Sacramento or Roseville.

Toss up between Antelope & West Sac.
All of these areas will require a commute into the major employment centers, although EG & WS have some corporate presence.

Antelope was hit really hard during the downturn. It is a borderline community, and probably the best thing going for it, is that it borders Roseville to the north. But it also borders North Highlands...Shopping is primarily rundown strip malls and Wal-Mart.

West Sac is a really old area with different waves of ethic groups over the years. There are really run down neighborhoods mixed in with newer neighborhoods. The famous Broderick neighborhood is there. And there is one ot two newer neighborhoods, Southport & Riverpark. WS is surrounded by rivers & farmland at the south end...so think "flood zone". Southport has a nice shopping area with a Nugget grocery store, and some other basic stores, really not that much to choose from.

There are plenty of people on CD who actually live in EG and will disagree that commuting from EG to downtown is an issue. I wouldn't want to do it, but we've had this discussion many times, so you might want to hear the scoop from those who live there.