Possible Sacramento relocation (Alhambra, Roseville, Davis: for sale, real estate, apartments)

[bruuklin]

Nina, that's helpful advice, and good perspective. Anyone have any thoughts on New Era Park, and that vicinity?

[la_cavalière]

We live in New Era Park and love it here. The Marshall School/New Era Park/Boulevard Park neighborhoods are located in a quieter corner of Midtown but still close to restaurants and shops - so it's easy to walk or bike everywhere. We also have easy access to the bike trail and the American River There are a lot of 2/1 bungalows, but you should be able to find a 3/2 in your price range if you keep your eye out. (We have a 3 BR, 3 BA and just under 2,000 square feet). Lots tend to be smaller unless you find a mid-block house.

It's not a huge family neighborhood, but I do know several couples with young children - it seems more and more young couples are coming into the city. In fact, just on our block we have two babies that are due before the end of the year. Washington Elementary just reopened this fall as a STEAM (STEM + Arts) school.

Let me know if you have questions.

[yolonative]

I live in the New Era Park/Boulevard Park neighborhood as well. I may be partial, but I would argue it is the best all around corner of the central city to live in. Mostly residential so it is quieter, yet still close to everything in downtown and East Sacramento, depending how far east you are in the northeastern corner of the the central city (but still west of I-80 freeway). Proximity to the river as well as Grant/Stanford/McKinley Park. Highly recommended, I love it here.

[AlohafromSac]

I live Near New Era park in Midtown and like all are saying I really do love the proximity of where the neighborhood is located with the I-80, restaurants, and stores. The homes are beautiful if you like Bungalows and that craftsman feel. I highly recommend the area, and if you like to go on some walks, you can walk to a great dog park and down to the river as well.

[bruuklin]

Okay, so we've finally made it to Sacramento and toured around. The only neighborhood we didn't make it to that we really wanted to see was Land Park. We just ran out of time. We took a relatively thorough drive through these areas, all of which seemed safe:
- east sac
- river park
- new era park
- boulevard park
- poverty ridge
- newton booth
- Roseville
- granite bay
- Folsom
- Davis

My sense from our trip is that I narrow and bucket our options into two groups:

Group 1
East sac, river park, (land park). Beautiful areas with the style of homes and community we appreciate. Good schools through middle school, and then we'd need to figure out high school. Probably private school by then. But that's 7 years away so might be able to afford it. My sense is that these neighborhoods would hold their value very well and probably appreciate well. They also offer very reasonable commutes to Davis for my wife to make that a job opportunity for her. They would also offer great commutes for me.

Group 2
Folsom, Roseville, (fair oaks). Great schools. Bigger houses. More house for money. Nice communities but definitely more cookie cutter and planned subdivisions so not really walkable. Would also hold and appreciate in value well. Lots of shopping. (Almost too much, if that's a thing). Longer commutes. Davis commute is off the table. I don't include rocklin only because it feels like it just adds to the commute.

As I try to organize now around these two groups, help me to pull my strands of thinking together.

- are group 1 family friendly, family communities, lots of kids around, so lots of potential friends for my kids? Or is it more empty nesters? It was impossible to get a good sense for that from our drive through.

- would you actually meet your neighbors in group 2 or do you close the garage door and live in your back yard?

- is my assessment of the two groups accurate otherwise? Am I missing a major consideration or option? I feel like in a perfect world we'd probably prefer group 1 but feel like we may be pulled into group 2 because of home prices and schools.

Welcome feedback. Thanks.

[WizardOfRadical]

Forget anywhere with in Sacramento, due to sup par public high schools.

Go fairoaks, enough custom ranch homes, safe streets, good schools.

[la_cavalière]

East Sac & River Park are very family-friendly neighborhoods with strong community spirit. (I'm not as familiar with Land Park, but I'm guessing it is as well.) I have friends with children who live there, and they have lots of friends their age and are always going to different activities. There is an amazing playground at McKinley Park that is always full of kids.

McKinley Park - City of Sacramento

Given your tastes and possible commutes for both you and your wife, I think you will be much happier in East Sac, River Park, Land Park or Curtis Park. You may need to bump up your budget a bit and/or buy a a smaller home or fixer-upper, but it will be worth it in the long run.

[hd4me]

Originally Posted by bruuklin

Hi everyone, I'm currently investigating a relocation to Sacramento, and could use your advice on where to live. I've never been to Sacramento, so trying to investigate if it makes any sense.

I would be working downtown. My wife works in education administration and development, so we would need to live in reasonable commuting distance to universities (or high end private schools). UC Davis would probably be the ideal place for her to work, Cal State Sacramento next. Any others?

Our budget would probably max out at $550K. We have two kids, one in elementary school, one still in pre-school. We come from a really safe town with really good schools, so would first want to find the same there. Commute would probably be next--want to avoid anything longer than 45 minutes if possible--shorter better. Would prefer somewhere with a real community feel. Somewhat walkable if possible. Some character. Formal town center would be great, but not required. In other words, if required to get our top priorities, we would take a more cookie-cutter suburban setting, but that's definitely not our ideal. We would take a somewhat smaller home to live in a great community vs. a huge house with all the bells and whistles but stuck in a soulless suburb in the middle of nowhere.

On paper, Davis has struck me as probably the ideal place for us, but I'm discouraged because it doesn't appear that there's any way we could afford it. So I'm stumped and need advice. From my initial reading, my impression is that there's Davis on the West side of Sacramento, and everything else--Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Carmichael, maybe a couple of others--is on the East side. But if we wanted a reasonable commute possibly to Davis, are any of the nice towns on the East side actually options? If you want to work in Davis and Sacramento, respectively, but can't afford $700K-$1M for a house in Davis, where do you live?

What towns are maintaining (or appreciating) their home values best?

How is the Sacramento economy doing overall? Growing, booming, struggling, collapsing?

I'd really appreciate any advice you can offer. This isn't a done deal by any means, but I'm trying to do my due diligence in case it progresses.

Thanks!

If money were not a consideration Davis would be the first choice in terms of schools. Commute to UC Davis would be a non issue and it's also fairly close to Sacramento State. Rocklin would be my second choice. Safe community and good public schools as are the communities and schools found in El Dorado Hills, Folsom, and Roseville. It's a congested commute to UC Davis.

Anatolia and the surrounding neighborhoods (Kavala Ranch and Sunridge Park) in Rancho Cordova are safe neighborhoods and you get more bang for the buck for the house but the trade off is these neighborhoods are isolated and are part of the City of Rancho Cordova which is a city in transition and has unsafe areas. They're also cookie cutter suburbia. However, if employment were at Sacramento State you have the option of two highways (Highway 50 and 16) to commute to CSU. Here are links with pics:

//www.city-data.com/forum/sacra...o-cordova.html

rclife's Library | Photobucket


California switched to more difficult standardized testing (results from 2012,2013 are based on the old testing standards). The link below allows one to get the current test results. Kids in my neighborhood attend Sunrise Elementary, Katherine Albiani Middle and Pleasant Grove High which are part of the Elk Grove School District. Use the links below to find the standardized math and English test scores as well as SAT scores for high schools.


Common Core in California: How did your school score? - Los Angeles Times


SAT Report (CA Dept of Education)

Gold River, an unincorporated area of Sacramento County, is considered an upscale area. It's close to Highway 50 for ease of commute and also has a high performing K-8 school with test scores comparable to Sunrise Elementary. The community has it's own private security patrol.

[bruuklin]

Thanks again for a lot of good advice. So here's where we are: I think the best work options for my wife are in Davis. But she only grudgingly likes the idea of Land Park or East Sac. She'll consider them, but for the money, she strongly favors Group 2--Folsom, Roseville, etc.

That really makes this difficult. Can anyone suggest other colleges in the area outside of Davis or CSU? Any prestigious prep schools that might have development teams? Any large foundations or philanthropies that would have similar? She has impeccable credentials and we can't make a move that would undermine her career to benefit mine. That won't make sense.

Grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.

[la_cavalière]

Sierra College is a community college in Rocklin - it looks like they have a development department:
Sierra College: Dream. Learn. Do.

Top 25 private foundations in Sacramento County:
Sacramento Foundations - The Impact Foundry

Sacramento Regional Community Foundation:
Sacramento Region Community Foundation - Sacramento Region Community Foundation

Roseville would be a really unpleasant commute for you if you work downtown with normal hours. Folsom wouldn't be that much fun either, but you could take RT (light rail).