Relocation Plan: SF Bay to Elk Grove (Sacramento, Stockton: houses, neighborhoods)

[hightyde]

Hi all

First post on City-Data. I'm seeking feedback on a relocation plan I've been dreaming up, and also a little background:

Young gay asian couple both late 20s/early 30s looking for a small house with large yard (Is quarter acre possible?). We want to be close enough to Sac/Davis for job opportunities (Academia, Hospitality, Design), close to Davis/Sac/Elk Grove for the Asian community, but far enough so that we can afford a place on our meager salaries.

1. Are there LGBTs living in Elk Grove? Associations/Groups/Clubs?
2. What are the small/large towns south/southwest of Elk Grove like: Hood, Thornton, Galt, Mokelumne City, Locke, Walnut Grove. I know Chinese/Japanese lived in Walnut Grove and Chinese in Locke - but that was back in the early mid 1900s. Are they still there? Are folks friendly?
3. How long would it take (w/ rush hour traffic) to drive from Elk Grove to Sac (downtown) or Davis?
4. If you know of any other affordable rural/suburban areas that are Asian/Gay/Progressive and near medium/large urban areas, let me know. (In California or elsewhere).

Thanks!

[wburg]

Far enough from what that you can afford a place on your meager salaries?

[hightyde]

By "far enough" I had the assumption that the farther you get from an urban area, the cheaper the land/houses would be - though this may not necessarily be true. Thanks!

[wburg]

To some extent, yes--Sacramento's central city neighborhoods are more expensive than most of the surrounding communities. But it isn't necessarily a linear progression, and you may find places as inexpensive in Sacramento as in Elk Grove, if not more so. Most of the small Delta towns are very small, and unable to grow because they are surrounded by water, so they can be kind of expensive. Davis is a college town and very expensive, typically even more so than downtown Sacramento.

The Sacramento region has a large Asian population dating back to the Gold Rush. Locke is still predominantly Chinese, but its population is shrinking. Sacramento proper has several neighborhoods with large Asian populations. Galt is a farming community with gang problems.

I don't know if there is a large LGBT community in Elk Grove, but Sacramento's LGBT community is very large and active. It is focused around Midtown, and while I often get people mad at me for tooting the Midtown Sacramento horn too often, I encourage you to take a look there--or Land Park, Curtis Park, or the Pocket. The only negative would be that a quarter-acre lot is probably out of the question: even the old Governor's Mansion is on barely a quarter-acre, and most Midtown lots are 1/7 acre or 1/14 acre.

Here is an event you might find interesting:
Welcome to the Pacific Rim Street Festival 2009!
It is this Sunday; if you are able, I recommend checking it out.

[edwardius]

The center of the gay community in Sacramento is midtown. If you can afford living there, I agree with wburg, its probably your best match.

If you can't I would actually look more at N. Natomas than Elk Grove. Its not that I am aware of any gay bashing per se in Elk Grove, but gay community in Natomas is better organized.

About « Natomas LGBTQ Community

Also prop 8 passed in Natomas, but it didn't pass in Elk Grove.

Results of the Proposition 8 ballot initiative - Interactive Graphics - sacbee.com (http://www.sacbee.com/1232/rich_media/1355616.html - broken link)

You might also look at West Sac. Even though prop 8 didn't pass in West Sac, the community was broadminded enough to re-elect the current mayor after he came out of the closet.

As for finding a small home on a big lot in a delta community. I would look more at Clarksburg than some of the other areas mentioned above. Its a wine growing area. The wineries have wine tasting rooms and that tends to be a fairly gay friendly environment, so the residences there have more exposure to dealing with homosexuals. In some of the other communities along the delta, I am not sure how well you might be received. Its also not that far from Sacramento or Davis.

A couple of other places to consider or at least look at:

Woodland and Dixon - both of these are farm town that are becoming ex-burbs. These are the places that a lot of people move to when they are working or going to school in Davis but can't actually afford to live in Davis. The older part of Woodland has some charm, the outskirts may have the small home on a large lot that you were talking about.

Greenhaven/The Pocket Area - if you look around this neighborhood you might find something that will work and that you can afford. Stockton Blvd is the primary shopping district for the local Asian Community. But the areas around that street can be a little rough. the middle class to wealthy Asians are moving into the Greenhaven Pocket area. Its probably a good match for finding an area that is reasonably safe with a fairly extensive Asian community.

[Mr. Ozo]

I'm from Walnut Grove and still spend a fair amount of time there. The Japanese community is still there but the population is aging....talking most of the asian home owners are pushing 70, if not 80. The younger generation (people 60 and under) seemed to have mostly moved to pocket area. There are still some Filipinos, a lot of Mexicans and a few Bosnian families who moved there during the war. Walnut Grove is very racially and socially diverse, and fairly socially progressive for the hick delta town that it is. Open Gay couples are not unheard of, although keep in mind it is a rural farm town, although with a fairly "Urban" old town.

All that said, why move to Elk Grove? It's a sprawled out suburb, if you don't have kids, don't move there, there is literally nothing to do but shop and eat at chains. Most of the gay nitelife is based around 20th and K in Midtown, which is the most vibrant neighborhood in Sacramento. And Walnut Grove, unless you work or want to work in Ag, don't move, just visit.

[hightyde]

Argh - just lost a long reply I was typing out. But thanks to you guys for shedding some light about the area. I'm surprised I haven't even heard of Greenhaven/The Pocket Area before. Also, Clarksburg sounds like a nice town - though probably a little pricey. I think I will avoid living in central Sac, because one of my priorities is to have a large yard - but I guess you never know.

I'll have to swing by and see these places for myself. Thanks all! If anyone else has more comments/ideas, feel free to share =)

I looked up a little more about Greenhaven/Pocket, and it does seem a little pricey. Meadowview seems pretty close to it, thought I've heard that that area is pretty crime-ridden. True?

[wburg]

Very, very true. Basically, I-5 is the "moat" of sorts between a very good neighborhood and a very bad one. Why do you want a big yard? Just an aesthetic preference, distance from the neghbors, big dogs, or an interest in gardening? Look more closely at Land Park/Curtis Park, as that might be a better compromise between the Pocket and central city in both price and lot sizes.

If lot size isn't a deal breaker, I encourage you to look at property in the southern end of the downtown "grid," in the neighborhoods of Southside Park and Richmond Grove. Property values tend to be a bit lower than the business district or the fashionable bits of Midtown, a large Asian population (including descendants of the former residents of Sacramento's former Chinatown and Japantown, Buddhist and Tenrikyo churches, and Asian cultural organizations) and a bit quieter than the central city.

Clarksburg is another small Delta town. It's pretty, but like many small towns they can be a little insular and conservative. Great to visit, though.

[18Montclair]

Its arguable that most of Elk Grove moved there from the Bay Area.

It reminds me of Antioch and Brentwood, but in the valley.

[edwardius]

Originally Posted by hightyde

I looked up a little more about Greenhaven/Pocket, and it does seem a little pricey. Meadowview seems pretty close to it, thought I've heard that that area is pretty crime-ridden. True?

If you spend some time looking, there are parts of that area that are more affordible. You just have to do some shopping.

Inside the city limits there can be abrupt transitions from good to bad - this even happens inside different neighborhoods.

The transition along Pocket Road into Meadowview Rd is pretty abrupt. The neighborhood changes dramatically as you cross the freeway. But along Florin Road the transition is a little more gradual. Because of the interaction between Greenhaven and South Land Park, you can go East on Florin Road for a while before it gets too sketchy.

http://maps.cityofsacramento.org/pdf...20streetsE.pdf

Also the Asian community sort of spills out Greenhaven into the adjoining neighborhoods. You will find a lot of Asians in the Little Pocket, in South Land Park even Hollywood Park.

Basically the Asians want to be near the ethnic shops and restaurants on Stockton Blvd but prefer the safety of the west side of the city. What happens is sort of a drive until you can qualify effect, where the wealthier you are the further west you live.

But because of local disamenities like freeways or proximity to meadowview, you have some areas that are more affordible even in the Greenhaven/Pocket area.

You may still end up in Elk Grove after checking the area out. But if I was gay asian, I suspect either this area or midtown are where you will be best recieved with midtown having the stronger connections to gay community and this area stronger connections to the Chinese and Japanese communities. But I think in both of these neighborhoods you will find people respectful of both of your identities.

Socially, Elk Grove is a little more conservative. I doubt you would run into explicit homophobic slurs in Elk Grove, but you may be the only gay people on your block and people may not know how to react if you show up at barbeque with your partner. Its the type of neighborhood where the kids might steal your No on 8 sign at night. That type of stuff.