Relocating to Sacramento but not sure where to live. Feeling overwhelmed (Orange: apartment complex, rentals)

[ilovenoodle]

I'm an RN who's been relocated to Sacramento by my employer. I've been reading forums and checking padmapper, yelp, and craigslist for about a month. I haven't had the time to go to check out any places yet, but am planning to this coming weekend. However, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with where to actually start looking since there are so many options out there.

Sometimes I'll read that Arden is nice. Other posts will tell me to stay far away from Arden. Same with Carmichael and other places.

So far, I'm staying away from: South Sac, North Highlands, left half of downtown, south of highway 50.

I am willing to commute up to 20-30 minutes to work (which means I can live in Pocket, which I am considering). However, I would prefer living near Arden since my fiance is hoping to work in roseville.

We are a young couple in our late 20's. We make decent money so we can afford higher rent, but we are also saving for a wedding and paying off student loans, so our budget is at $800 for now. We are also hoping to rent somewhere that has Surewest. i heard that was a good internet service. We also don't need to live near Midtown. We can always make the trip to explore the city on our days off. I think the most important thing is being able to live in a safe neighborhood.

- Buying or renting: Renting
- Budget or price : max $800
- Employment situation and location: RN, works full time, work is located in Arden Arcade on the intersection of Marconi and Fulton. Fiance will be working in Roseville if he can transfer
- School consideration: none, no kids
- Pets (especially those considering rentals): 1 dog, under 25 lbs, very quiet
- Urban, suburban or rural preference: does not matter. Prefer to have gated parking.
- Need or desire for public transportation: no

Please help. I would really appreciate getting some apartment names to look at or to avoid. I would love to live in East Sac or Land Park, too, but it doesn't seem like there's anything available in those areas right now. Thanks!

[xeney]

Welcome! I would try to live close to where you'll be working, because there is no quick way to get to Marconi and Fulton from other places via the freeway. Your commute from Land Park or even East Sac would be fairly short but maddening, lots of stop-and-go. I live downtown, and I hate when I have something scheduled out there during commute time.

And Arden-Arcade is fine. Lots of amenities. Your fiance's commute to Roseville is going to suck, but that's going to be true anywhere you live except for Roseville itself. It's a reverse commute so it could be a lot worse.

I'll let someone else weigh in on specific apartment complexes or neighborhoods.

[ilovenoodle]

Thanks for your response! Yea I heard that commute to downtown is crazy, so I'm guessing that him commuting from Arden to roseville won't be as bad. I'm also considering other places in between so that both of our commutes won't be so bad. i can always take the inside road instead of freeways to go to work, too.

[hd4me]

I'm thinking Antelope or Citrus Heights since looking for a place convenient to Roseville and Fulton/Marconi at a reasonable price...might want to "Yelp" apartments in those two communities to give you an idea of the environs.

[sacite]

You nailed the places to avoid. Not that they are "all" bad, just not desireable. For all the standard reasons.

Now, your best options are midtown, east Sac, and you have suberbs further out such as Fair Oaks. The area heading east from.Sac on Fair Oaks blvd (towards fair oaks) is nice if you prefer a more suburban feel. Your criteria are pretty broad, but judging by your profession and your basic needs, those areas seem to be the best fit. Fulton/Marconi and Roseville are not exactly centrally located to any particularly nice area that I am aware of, so you may have to compromise a bit on the commute time. And the Pocket may lead you into heavy traffic up HWY 5 and east on 80, just so you know.

[wburg]

A commute from Arden-Arcade to Roseville wouldn't be so bad as it would be in the opposite direction of most traffic, and it's not that long a drive. Carmichael is a pretty nice neighborhood, you can probably found something quite suitable along Marconi and El Camino between Fulton and Watt or farther east all the way out to Fair Oaks Boulevard. Living farther north closer to I-80 will make the freeway commute more convenient but the neighborhoods closest to 80 are more commercial and probably less quiet. No specific apartment complex recommendations, but Arden-Arcade/Carmichael is a fine choice, very convenient for your job and reasonable for your fiance.

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by ilovenoodle

I'm an RN who's been relocated to Sacramento by my employer.

I am willing to commute up to 20-30 minutes to work (which means I can live in Pocket, which I am considering). However, I would prefer living near Arden since my fiance is hoping to work in roseville.

- Buying or renting: Renting
- Budget or price : max $800
- Employment situation and location: RN, works full time, work is located in Arden Arcade on the intersection of Marconi and Fulton. Fiance will be working in Roseville if he can transfer
- School consideration: none, no kids
- Pets (especially those considering rentals): 1 dog, under 25 lbs, very quiet
- Urban, suburban or rural preference: does not matter. Prefer to have gated parking.
- Need or desire for public transportation: no

I would really appreciate getting some apartment names to look at or to avoid.

I really suggest that you increase your budget as your options are very limited at $800/mo. I had a nice, safe, gated apartment (in Folsom) for $1300 on a single RN salary.

Here is the website for Surewest, so you can check out their coverage range. http://www.surewest.com/

There are some nice areas of Arden, and for your budget you are most likely to find to find something there. I would suggest the neighborhood near Whole Foods, Garden of the Gods. I'm not sure if there are apartments in that general area, but there are probably duplexes. I'd also suggest So Roseville, basically north just Antelope west of 80 & north of Citrus Heights east of 80. So Roseville is older, but more easily accessible. Also consider No Natomas.

Probably more iffy, but ok would be the area near American River College, and off Winding Way, between Madison, San Juan & El Camino.

Avoid anything near Edison or Auburn Blvd. I'd suggest skipping Citrus Heights as there are just too many iffy areas surrounding pockets of decent areas. Carmichael is hit or miss also, especially if you are renting an apartment or duplex.

I would suggest looking at some of the condo communities:
Timberlake in Arden, on Monroe
Alicante Villas in Sacramento, on Woodside Oaks
Rollingwood in Fair Oaks/Orangvale on Madison & Hazel
Westwood Village in Antelope on Walerga Rd
Hampton Village in No Natomas, on N Park
Reserves at the Galleria in Roseville
Venu at the Galleria in Roseville

[hd4me]

Originally Posted by sacite

You nailed the places to avoid. Not that they are "all" bad, just not desireable. For all the standard reasons.

Now, your best options are midtown, east Sac, and you have suberbs further out such as Fair Oaks. The area heading east from.Sac on Fair Oaks blvd (towards fair oaks) is nice if you prefer a more suburban feel. Your criteria are pretty broad, but judging by your profession and your basic needs, those areas seem to be the best fit. Fulton/Marconi and Roseville are not exactly centrally located to any particularly nice area that I am aware of, so you may have to compromise a bit on the commute time. And the Pocket may lead you into heavy traffic up HWY 5 and east on 80, just so you know.

Fair Oaks would be a good option. The commute to Roseville and Fulton/Marconi would be stop and go city traffic but it is doable.

I'd suggest the OP also check out City-Data and Homefacts.com for some objective measures of crime. Sacramento, in general, has higher than average crime vs a place like Fair Oaks or even Citrus Heights. However, it could be that the crime rate is skewed because Sacramento has some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the area.

You can also try the Sac Bee's crimemapper map to see where crime is occurring.

[hd4me]

Originally posted by caligirlz
I really suggest that you increase your budget as your options are very
limited at $800/mo. I had a nice, safe, gated apartment (in Folsom) for $1300 on
a single RN salary.

This^^^if the OP could increase the budget by a modest amount better options would then be available.

Cobble Oaks Apartments in Gold River would be an option...(Gold River is an unincorporated area of Sac County...nice neighborhood too).

[bluevelo]

You can get a small 1 bedroom apartment in a multi-unit complex in Midtown, and battle the on-street parking, for around $800. Look at Nielsen Properties for listings - they offer six month leases so you don't get locked into a building for too long if you don't like it. I would take a Nielsen buiding - its going to be a little shabby but maint call is OK - over going to Citrus Heights or Orangevale. A lot more for a young couple in their 20s to do - lots of people your own age - and it will be safer than some of the megacomplexes in that price range in the burbs.

As other posters have suggested, if you can add $200 more to your budget you will have a LOT more options.