living in Auburn, CA? (Sacramento, Vista: fit in, crime, how much)

[lms.ca]

My family and I currently live in Southern California but are planning to visit Auburn because based on pictures is looks beautiful. We are outdoor people and we like small town but not super small town. It has a Target so I can't imagine that it is that small of a town. If we were to buy a house in Auburn what areas do people suggest? Because it seems like Auburn may be split by the freeway. How are the schools? I get mixed reviews about the schools. Are people friendly? I would think with so many activities in the area that people would be welcoming but I may be wrong. There's also an In-N-Out which is great! My husband will probably work in Sacramento. He currently drives an hour to work and when I say drives I mean he is stuck in traffic for an hour so I cant imagine the drive from Auburn too horrible. Or am I wrong?

We are planning to visit Auburn this month. Any HELPFUL and THOUGHTFUL replies on Auburn would be greatly appreciated.

[2sleepy]

I wouldn't want to commute to work in Sacramento from Auburn, especially when there are places every bit as nice, if not nicer closer to Sacramento. What is your housing budget?

[lms.ca]

I would like to stay in the mid $500k but we could do up to $700k but we like spending without ever needing to look at our bank account. Trees and some hills are a must as well! Homes with character would be ideal. We are not fans of track homes and flat areas. Would the commute be that horrible? Compared to LA traffic?

[2sleepy]

No, it's not like LA traffic, do you know where he would be working? Personally I think Auburn is bland and boring. Without knowing where in Sac he will be working it's hard to give you very many ideas - for homes with character my favorite areas are: Land Park, or South Land Park, Curtis Park, East Sacramento. Greenhaven or Little Pocket are worth consideration as well. You can get lovely semi-custom homes in Folsom but most are newer (there is a forum member who is a Folsom expert and if she sees this she will probably weigh in) and there are some great Craftsman homes in Roseville but unfortunately most are very small. These homes are not in hilly areas, I don't know how much important that is to you. Be careful with homes outside of Auburn proper, a lot of them are well priced but quite remote and require propane and probably no cable for TV or internet- the further out you go the better the possibility of that is. And always check for assessments, rural areas tend to have at least some assessments to pay for local services, i.e. fire protection.


Curtis Park https://www.redfin.com/CA/Sacramento.../home/19428141

Greenhaven https://www.redfin.com/CA/Sacramento.../home/19397807

East Sacramento https://www.redfin.com/CA/Sacramento.../home/19442465

I'm partial to mid-century modern homes, here is one in Fair Oaks 4301 Vista De Lago Way - Listing # 15006164 - Steve Streng

[caligirlz]

The commute is pretty common & it's not horrible depending on your tolerance.

I have several co-workers that live in Auburn and commute to El Dorado Hills. I've only been to one of their houses, and all I can say was that it was off hwy 49, past the shopping. It was a nice area & she had great walking options. It was really peaceful.

I have a friend & coworker who live in Foresthill. The co-worker used to drive in to EDH daily but now she works from home. The friend used to drive down several times a week. An old childhood friend lives near Colfax. I visited her over Thanksgiving. Now that area is absolutely beautiful.

I will check to see which neighborhoods my friends live in & pass it on to you.

Apparently, the area is so beautiful, peaceful & cooler in the summer that any inconvenience, including increased driving costs, is worth it.

As for shopping, there is more than just a Target. I believe a Costco is in progress of being built. They have a really nice little old fashioned downtown with active stores, and they have a fantastic farmers market.

I hate commuting, so I would not want to drive from any of the foothills down into the Sacto basin. The drive would be much easier if one was going to Lincoln, or even along the east side such as Granite Bay, or Folsom.

I would highly suggest that you go check out the area, and do a trial drive into Sacramento. It's just kind of hard since it sounds like your husband doesnt have an offer yet. There is no reason to give up the dream, unless it turns out to not meet your expectations.

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by caligirlz

As for shopping, there is more than just a Target. I believe a Costco is in progress of being built. They have a really nice little old fashioned downtown with active stores, and they have a fantastic farmers market.

I hate commuting, so I would not want to drive from any of the foothills down into the Sacto basin. The drive would be much easier if one was going to Lincoln, or even along the east side such as Granite Bay, or Folsom.

I would highly suggest that you go check out the area, and do a trial drive into Sacramento. It's just kind of hard since it sounds like your husband doesnt have an offer yet. There is no reason to give up the dream, unless it turns out to not meet your expectations.

Agree, though Costco pulled out after the city of Auburn sued Placer County over the deal. There is still a Walmart in the works near Hwy 49 & Luther Rd, though, if you like Walmart.

Commuting from Auburn to Sac during the rush hour isn't LA, but IMO life's too short to spend it doing 30 mph through the Roseville bottleneck. There are a number of cute Hwy 80 communities you might want to look at -- Rocklin, Penryn, Loomis, Newcastle, parts of Lincoln -- that are easy drives from Auburn and Sac.

[xeney]

My dad lives in Auburn, and I pretty much do not visit him during the week because traffic is so awful. He's on the far side of Auburn (the more rural end), and it's 45 minutes from midtown Sacramento with no traffic. But there is ALWAYS traffic. Probably not LA awful, but not worth it, in my opinion, given how ugly and boring Auburn is. The old downtown is picturesque but tiny, and the rest of it is kind of run-down and awful. It's a pretty area blighted by a really ugly suburban town. Crime is also surprisingly high in some areas.

But you should probably see it for yourself, because everyone likes different things. My dad prefers Auburn to Sacramento because it's smaller and more slow-paced. He prefers it to Lincoln and Roseville because it's above the fog line. I like the parks, but that's about it.

Edited to add: I just googled pictures of Auburn and laughed. What a pretty town! Only a very tiny part of Auburn looks like that in real life.

[lms.ca]

2sleepy: You pointed out to some concerns I had as I was looking at properties in more rural areas large properties in Auburn. It seemed as though some amenities would be different than what we are accustomed to. The house in Fair Oaks looks wonderful and I love craftsman homes so you hit the mark.

caligirlz:its nice to know other people make the drive as well. We love the idea of walking to places versus always needing our car. Colfax? Hmm.. I'll have to look into that. Auburn seems beautiful and peaceful and we just need more of that in our lives and we both feel like the drive wouldn't be an issue but I guess we wouldn't know until we did it for a while. I also heard they have a great Farmers Market as well

semispherical: I got really excited about the Costco but that's ok, glad to know right away that it's not happening. I'm not a Walmart person. I imagine its the same over there but here we have a shopping center with a Target and a Walmart literally next to eachother and both are always busy because you have Target people and Walmart people. I would never go into a Walmart here unless I absolutely needed to and never would I go into one at night. And yes life is too short which is why we want to move out of LA. If we wanted to live in quieter place with trees and some green and still a nice downtown it would take us 2 hours to get to work.

xeney: We like (or I guess we think we like) smaller and slow-paced but yes, I think we have to definitely see it for ourselves and I imagine that some areas are not as pleasant as others which is a concern.


To everyone: Thank you for your thoughts. When you look at pictures and hear comments from the very few people who have visited Auburn it seems beautiful and we truly want to move out of LA. However, moving is an extremely difficult decision when all your family is here but you know that you can live somewhere nicer and peaceful. We rarely go out anywhere because when you spend your week in traffic so you don't want to spend your weekend in traffic either. It could be 11pm and still be in traffic. When we leave anywhere especially with a baby and a toddler we check traffic because sitting in traffic with babies is the worst! We want to move before our kids get any older and it becomes even more difficult to move. We are planning to visit Auburn this weekend and also visit a few places you all have mentioned. Thank you for taking time out of your day to reply.

[InGateway]

Originally Posted by xeney

My dad lives in Auburn, and I pretty much do not visit him during the week because traffic is so awful. He's on the far side of Auburn (the more rural end), and it's 45 minutes from midtown Sacramento with no traffic. But there is ALWAYS traffic. Probably not LA awful, but not worth it, in my opinion, given how ugly and boring Auburn is. The old downtown is picturesque but tiny, and the rest of it is kind of run-down and awful. It's a pretty area blighted by a really ugly suburban town. Crime is also surprisingly high in some areas.

But you should probably see it for yourself, because everyone likes different things. My dad prefers Auburn to Sacramento because it's smaller and more slow-paced. He prefers it to Lincoln and Roseville because it's above the fog line. I like the parks, but that's about it.

Edited to add: I just googled pictures of Auburn and laughed. What a pretty town! Only a very tiny part of Auburn looks like that in real life.

Yea its nothing to write home about. I am glad Auburn is finally getting more truthful opinions because it isn't all that. It looks nice as a visitor, picturesque like you said. Seems like an ok place to visit but if you live there, you learn quick. I had to get the hell out of there, I was getting depressed each day living there at my moms house and wishing I was out enjoying a real world somewhere else with less traffic than there, and I got up and moved when I saved the money. I just couldn't stand Auburn. Sacramento isn't my cup of tea in general but the weaknesses are more glowing when you get out to the Roseville area and north. Schools may be good in some areas but the residents weren't. In fact I thought the white trash per capita was extremely high.. not too many gracious kinds of people living in Auburn, most wouldn't hesitate to cut you off or act rude. That was bad for what was supposed to be a quieter small town. I was thinking many times that my mom coulda just stayed in the Sacramento area for all the aggravation there. Plus being Italian/Greek, I didn't fit in very well I didn't find as I was more ethno centric than the assimilated Italians that lived there and talked neutral. I believe some changed their names also to "fit in" out there.

[Hardpan]

Originally Posted by semispherical

Agree, though Costco pulled out after the city of Auburn sued Placer County over the deal. There is still a Walmart in the works near Hwy 49 & Luther Rd, though, if you like Walmart.

Commuting from Auburn to Sac during the rush hour isn't LA, but IMO life's too short to spend it doing 30 mph through the Roseville bottleneck. There are a number of cute Hwy 80 communities you might want to look at -- Rocklin, Penryn, Loomis, Newcastle, parts of Lincoln -- that are easy drives from Auburn and Sac.

It was nice when Auburn had an outright ban on Wal-Mart (China-Mart). A Costco would have been a lot better.