Single mom, moving to Sac. Advice on good/bad areas? (Sacramento: apartments, city hall)

[wburg]

Originally Posted by Jc79movinforward

Thanks for the schools info, that seems to be what I'm finding too. I will be working as a Speech pathologist, and the hospitals may be a place I look into for that...most likely a skilled nursing facility. Median salary for Speech therapists in the area is around $90k, although as I'm starting out it will be lower for me. Having a short time frame to move in, and being too far away to look, I'm trying to hone in on the best area I can with the time and info I have. I'd love to bring my daughter to an area that is not too conservative, forward thinking, has some culture, somewhere where shopping and coffee shops/good food are nearby, streets are safe with families that may have teens in the neighborhood. I love the sounds of Folsom, but am wondering if this is a welcoming, open-minded area, or, if due to our current situation (single mom, lower income than some here), we'll be dealing with pretentious attitudes.
Orangevale is out due to the drug problem I'm hearing about.
Roseville, may be ok, from the looks of pictures I'm seeing it looks rather boring for my taste , I'm sure it's great for others, sorry no offense intended. The streets look a little bare, landscape seems not quite as nice as Folsom, I may be wrong, very possible.

NickB likes to defend the Antelope area as a bastion of suburban/caucasian civilization despite the recent rash of home invasions in his Roseville-adjacent neighborhood. And if your political inclinations are to the left of the John Birch Society, you might not take his neighborhood recommendations too seriously.

That being said, I'll back up xeney and ryuns: there are options in Sacramento proper. The Curtis Park neighborhood might be a good choice: comfortable, close to transit, and near a lot of coffee shops and good food, more likely to have teens in the neighborhood than Midtown, which is still relatively short on kids who live there (although teens love to hang out in Midtown--I certainly did, a few decades back.) East Sacramento is another good alternative. Midtown is even more walkable and adjacent to culture and cafes, but there probably won't be many teenage kids in the neighborhood. There are a lot of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities along the Alhambra Boulevard corridor between Midtown and East Sacramento.

[caligirlz]

OP,

Most of the responders on CD from Sacramento are either from the suburbs or midtown. So there's going to be, unfortunately, a bit of a push-pull over which option is better.

Originally Posted by Jc79movinforward

I'd like to be close enough to big businesses, hospitals etc. for work, close to a good school, out of crime areas and run down areas.

As suggested, midtown or surrounding areas would be good for this. However, the schools are higher rated in the suburbs, Elk Grove, Roseville & Folsom. This website will give you a good idea of how the schools rate. GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Originally Posted by Jc79movinforward

I'd also like to be near culture, shopping, restaurants etc. with not too big of a commute (30 min?) Any advice is really appreciated. Thanks!

Most of the museums, entertainment venues, bars, etc are located in midtown. Every community has shopping, restaurants and depending on where you live in each, most are within walking distance.

Also, you can live almost anywhere in the Sacto region and still have a 30 minute commute depending on time of travel, and from point A to point B.

Originally Posted by Jc79movinforward

Also, I'm looking to rent, apt, townhouse, duplex, house. My budget will be in the $1000-1200/mo range.

Your budget is the biggest limitation. There are options in the suburbs for this price range, but they will be in the older areas of town. That does not necessarily mean, crime ridden, just older.

Originally Posted by Jc79movinforward

I'd love to bring my daughter to an area that is not too conservative, forward thinking, has some culture, somewhere where shopping and coffee shops/good food are nearby, streets are safe with families that may have teens in the neighborhood.

IMO, I don't think there is any area in the Sacto region that would be considered too conservative except parts of Placer County maybe, but I'm not really sure what you mean by that, as everyone has their own definition.

When you say "coffee shops/good food" what exactly do you mean? If you're talking independent, nonchain coffee shop, then you need to go to midtown. If you mean chain, national or regional, then your have expanded horizons.

[wburg]

True enough. If your only requirement is being within a 10 minute drive of a Starbuck's, you're good on most of the North American continent. If you want to be within a 10 minute bike ride of a third-wave independent coffeehouse that will do a pour-over or French press of organic single-origin beans that were roasted within the last week or so, then we're talking Midtown, Downtown, East Sacramento, Land Park/Curtis Park, or Oak Park. Although I think there are also some indie coffeehouses in various parts of the suburbs--and you can get first-class Temple beans (or Old Soul, or Insight) at indie coffee shops all over the region, like in old town Auburn.

[caligirlz]

Actually, Starbucks is rolling that "pour-over or French press of organic single-origin beans that were roasted within the last week or so" thing too.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by wburg

NickB likes to defend the Antelope area as a bastion of suburban/caucasian civilization despite the recent rash of home invasions in his Roseville-adjacent neighborhood. And if your political inclinations are to the left of the John Birch Society, you might not take his neighborhood recommendations too seriously.

Ah yes, the tendentious race baiting. A hallmark of the Commiecrat Left.

Originally Posted by wburg

That being said, I'll back up xeney and ryuns: there are options in Sacramento proper. The Curtis Park neighborhood might be a good choice: comfortable, close to transit, and near a lot of coffee shops and good food, more likely to have teens in the neighborhood than Midtown, which is still relatively short on kids who live there (although teens love to hang out in Midtown--I certainly did, a few decades back.) East Sacramento is another good alternative. Midtown is even more walkable and adjacent to culture and cafes, but there probably won't be many teenage kids in the neighborhood. There are a lot of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities along the Alhambra Boulevard corridor between Midtown and East Sacramento.

Remember, she is a single mom looking for enough space for her and her daughter for less than $1,200.00 / month.

You want Affordable, Convenient, and Nice. You can only have two out of three.

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

You want Affordable, Convenient, and Nice. You can only have two out of three.

To be fair, she specifically mentioned she'd be fine with an apartment or condo, and there's only two of them living there. I had a two bedroom duplex with a decent yard for about her budget a couple years ago in Davis, so I don't really think your "two out of three" applies, unless you add your own expectation for what counts as "Nice".

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by ryuns

To be fair, she specifically mentioned she'd be fine with an apartment or condo, and there's only two of them living there. I had a two bedroom duplex with a decent yard for about her budget a couple years ago in Davis, so I don't really think your "two out of three" applies, unless you add your own expectation for what counts as "Nice".

If she's willing to cram in perhaps, but haven't rents gone up as housing has rebounded?

Anyway, a lot of us chose Nice and Affordable, but definitely gave up on Convenient.

Fabulous 30s-40s-50s in East Sacramento? Nice and Convenient, but not Affordable. Midtown has become same, although the latter is geared for singles and childless rather than families.

[wburg]

A parent with one child is essentially a roommate situation (just with one roommate paying all of the rent) and it's not hard to find a pretty nice 2br in Midtown for $1200 or less. "Affordable" is a matter of degree, and if you're the sort of person who enjoys a whole neighborhood, not just cloistered indoors, square footage is less important than location. Even the "Thrifty Thirties" in East Sacramento is feasible on that budget.

[Jc79movinforward]

Thank you all you've been amazing and I love this forum! To clarify a bit, yes I am specifically looking for an apt/condo/duplex situation for now. Median rent in many of the surrounding areas, except Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin and maybe one or two more, list on avg $1000/mo, so I'm assuming I should find something decent even if it's in a neighboring town? I will not be working right away, this is intentional, and will be looking for work as a speech therapist a few months down the road, tell me if you think I'm crazy. When I say I'm trying to stay away from too conservative, I mean I am not religious and not married, welcome diversity, do not particularly side with any political party and not looking for myself or my daughter to be ostracized for any of these things. If I had to pick "2 out of 3", which I refuse to do unless I absolutely have to, I would choose safe and convenient. Remember my "nice", is a well kept apt with respectful neighbors, some landscape and in a low-crime area, not a house in Folsom. Thanks for the comments, please keep them coming. I really appreciate the help, too bad I can't have all of you as neighbors!

[Jc79movinforward]

Could someone tell me how to find the "thrifty thirties" area? Also, how is the crime here? Car break-ins? can my daughter walk to anywhere from here and it be considered safe? All I see are the crime stats and frankly they don't look great, but that's on paper, and sometimes explanations override that. Thanks again!