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Shelato and Wburg, I can't thank you both enough for all the helpful knowledge you've shared. I'm sure I'm going to have to reference this thread several more times as I plan my trip up there to survey the area.
Apologies in advance as I do tend to have dark humor but the image of some farmers on meth made me laugh as I could imagine taking my son to look at a farm "see son, they're picking corn and milking the cow. Whoa? They're really fast and talking to themselves. Okay, never mind, let's go now" and also the idea that there's actually more Asian on Asian crime vs white on Asian crime. I could imagine myself walking down a street full of Asian people feeling relaxed as I say "Hello my fellow Asian brothers, nice to be with you" when they suddenly pull out their knives and guns on me and while I'm running away, I'm saying to myself "I should've moved closer to the farmer tweakers"
In all seriousness, this is exactly the info I was looking for and don't mean to make light of either situation so thanks again
@wburg - I'll def check out the State of Jefferson as I'm always open to new knowledge. But full disclosure, I'm independent. I don't swing left or right and believe the powers that be are truly a uni-party and keep us divided as that's their monetization model and due to lobbying, is fundamentally corrupted by corporate interests. But I do thank you for opening up my eyes to this sad situation in rural areas. Yes, I definitely want to keep my son away from that environment and will try your advice about starting small at first. No cows yet!
@shelato - Thanks for filling me on the details of the Asian gang activity. I sadly grew up around that type of environment in San Jose during the 90s and luckily for me, was lucky to steer clear of that but know that it can still have an influence on my son, so would prefer to be in a decent neighborhood where maybe even if he is the only Asian kid, so long as the neighboring families are decent with good morals, will be okay. I agree with your idea in that it's okay to live in a crappy home for now until he goes to school (he's 2 years old BTW) so good schools isn't a huge concern at this point in time. Additionally I anticipate moving in 5 years regardless as I don't see myself staying in California long term as I've spent my whole life here already.
As for Texas, I'm pretty set on Dallas, specifically Plano, as I've spoken with many Asian and white people there and they all say it's a nice place. It's funny because when I've spoken to many of my friends in liberal cities, they all say "yeah but it's a red state" which shocks me as all the violence has been occurring in blue cities. But Toyota moved their headquarters there from Torrance a few years back and if you do a search, you'll see there's a Mitsuwa there along with not one, but two H Marts and as mentioned earlier, several Ranch 99s.
As for the jimjilbangs, apologies as I had mistakenly assumed you were Korean but prior to Covid, they were GREAT. At least the ones in Korea and there's one here in LA that has thousands of positive reviews: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wi-spa-los-...osq=korean+spa
You pay $20-$40 and get access to a sauna, steam room, hot rocks, etc. There's a small gym in the nicer ones, families, groups of females (so not just dudes) all go there to eat, relax and hang out. It's really a nice cheap way to relax and recharge, not to mention to sleep if you need to travel. If American culture were more civilized and kinder to each other, this could be implemented everywhere and put all the Motel 6s and Best Westerns out of business. But anyways...
Life is simple when you're single with no kids. I live in a small condo a block away from the beach here in SoCal. It's great as it's convenient to just walk everywhere and hang out. But now that I've got a toddler running around, realize I need more space via a yard and as there are some homeless near where I live, I'm super paranoid that one day my wife and him might experience some trouble as she's not as street smart having grown up in China.
Oh, could I trouble either of you for your opinion on these three places? If you had to choose, which area would you prefer? I know the houses aren't the best but assuming you just need a place for a few years, which neighborhood would you prefer?
(This one is just south of Land Park but also south of Fruitridge which some other thread mentioned was sort of the dividing line of nice-ness vs not so nice)
And just for fun, this is one of DOZENS of homes you can find in $300k range in suburbs of Dallas. This particular one is listed for $250k, a 5 min drive away from Ranch 99 and HMart along with a Gen Korean BBQ House (if you've never been, BEST Korean BBQ I think) https://www.redfin.com/TX/Carrollton.../home/31208345
Thanks
Last edited by musicsaverdude; 06-18-2021 at 11:35 AM..
This neighborhood is in a transition area. Curtis Park is very nice. Carlson Tract on the (other side of the railroad tracks) has a lot of student housing student housing for Sac City College (and would be a much better neighborhood to look at). Oak Park is Sacramento's historic African American Neighborhood. It is gentrifying closer to Broadway, but you will be living closer to 12th Avenue and that part of Oak Park has lots of problems. Franklin Blvd is Hispanic and it gets worse the further South you get from Sutterville. I wouldn't want to bring my wife and young boy here. Drive down 12 Avenue and drive down Franklin Blvd to see for yourself.
The biggest issue with this house will be noise, you are living directly under the flight path of a runway for the airport. There was a big accident back in the 1970's where a plane crashed into a Farrell's Ice Cream Shop and I don't know if they abandoned that runway afterwards. But if not that might be an issue. On Freeport Blvd as the neighborhood gets closer to Florin Rd the neighborhood gets worse. This neighborhood is going to be majority rentals and not a lot of owner occupied housings. Schools will be an issue.
The big issue here will be proximity to the freeway. It might be pretty noisy. This neighborhood is also mostly rentals and not a lot of owner occupied homes. Schools will also be an issue, what this neighborhood does have over #3 is that there are a lot more Korean shops, restaurants and Churches nearby. Your wife should be able to meet other Koreans at the KP (Koreana Plaza) International Market or if you are religious at one of the Korean Churches in the area.
That said I am not that enthusiastic about any of your Sacramento choices, so I would probably looking more at Dallas/Plano. At the price point you are looking at, I think this is your best choice.
I don't really know the locale in Rancho Cordova but would be comfortable with the choices in Land and Curtis Park, in fact I'd consider those two places a little quiet for my tastes. Both are near the neighborhoods where my cousin grew up (he's in his late twenties now). He recently finished his master's in bio-engineering at Berkeley and is working for some big biochem firm in Emeryville now, and he attended public schools in that neighborhood.
Regarding Asian gangs, as I recall that was kind of a larger issue in the 1980s and 1990s, but am not familiar with the current state of things; I live in Sacramento's central city and it has been a loooooooooooong time since gangs were a major issue of any consequence here.
I vote for Plano, I think that is your best choice. None of those neighborhoods are that great. I would be concerned about walking around at night in the house on 16th Avenue. The house on Claudia Ave is better, but still not great. I would still take the house in Rancho over the one on Claudia.
But none of these places are neighborhoods where I would want to raise a family in with kids.
Sacramento Public Health put together a social vulnerability index by census tract map, this might be a good way of getting a sense of which neighborhoods you do and don't want to live in. Then when you look at the real estate listings online, you can get a sense of what type of neighborhood the house is located in.
I would not be comfortable raising kids in any of the proposed three Sacramento locations. Among other things, public schools are very weak there. I am not sure that wburg takes this into account.
A sad sad reality is that it is practically impossible to find anything decent for 400K or less in Sacramento.
Texas might be a more realistic possibility.
Hi all, thanks again for sharing all of your helpful opinions and perspectives. I appreciate the diversity of thoughts and helps tremendously.
@shelato - Thanks for the reverse ratings, social vulnerability index and church links. Hmmm. Curious if proximity to a church has any bearing on the immediate neighborhood? Sorry, just thinking out loud. I'll also reference the index as well. I've recently become a fan of https://censusreporter.org/ which was shared with me by another city data member in Upstate NY that I've used as a reference. Lastly, thanks for the vote on Plano haha. It's just a normal suburb but very close proximity to Dallas which seems like it would at least be comparable to Sacramento if not more lively as it's a large city.
@wburg - Thanks for sharing your perspective as well along with your cousin. I can also share your perspective as well since when I first moved to LA 10 years ago from SF, I did tons of research on different areas and from what I read, it seemed like there were gangs and shooting on every block, which wasn't the case at all (although sadly, there are areas where it is prevalent) But with that said, I also think the experience is very different for a male vs a female, especially someone who's street smart vs someone who's never grown up in that environment. Also, I have this new data point that I've found to be a very good indicator of an area. I'm going to call it the "Female out at night by herself" filter. Please let me explain. When I first moved to LA, I chose Pasadena which I knew nothing about. I was very worried and I still remember driving around at night with my gf at the time, checking out the surrounding "hood" when we both saw a single white female, in her early 20s, just walking down the street. About 15 min later, we saw another female in the same age range just walking around. Later on we found out we had chosen an area right by CalTech Institute and PCC Pasadena City College lol. Long story short I felt like a big wuss right after and it ended up being a great, affordable place to live and while not being Beverly Hills, a very fun cool place to hang out. The next experience I had this was in Long Beach. If you're a Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre fan, you've probably heard all about the LBC, great for rap songs, but not sure about living there. So again my spidey senses were on full alert. There's this park right by the ocean and if you read many of the older reviews of LA life in general that isn't Beverly Hills, many commented that parks were notorious for gangs to congregate and it just so happened the condo we were considering was fairly close to it. So we went driving by the park on a Thursday night and at 10PM, this cute blonde white girl passed us by on her bike on her way back from the beach without a care in the world haha. Turns out the area right by the beach has been gentrifying for the last few years and they even have Yoga in the park twice everyday lol. Anyways, sorry for the long reply but I'm curious if those areas pass the "Female out at night by herself" filter. They don't have to be blonde and white but any ethnicity (but ratchet ones don't count haha) Either case, I'll still check out the area and if I was single, I'd definitely be bored out of my mind if an area was too quiet but the kid factor changes everything for me.
@Damnitjanet - Thanks for joining the conversation and for your blunt opinion. I've expanded my search to those areas to see what's available. This would only be a 3-5 year hold and then I'd be moving so in regards to raising a family, school and neighborhood kid influences wouldn't be so much a concern as much as safety in just walking around for my wife, toddler and mother-in-law. Other than my wife wanting to stay in CA, the proximity to Silicon Valley is also one other aspect that's making me consider Sacramento since I'd probably have to fly in at least once per quarter anyways if I did move to Texas. But if they can't even walk around safely without worrying about whether a gang member or racist will harm them, then I'm a firm believer there's always a Plan B or Plan C. We are never locked into our situations.
@norcalsocal - Thanks for sharing your short and sweet opinion as well. As mentioned earlier, my toddler is 2 and we'd be moving in 3-5 years anyways so if you took schools out of the equation, how about personal safety of just walking around the neighborhood and/or to a local park?
Oh question for anybody please? Is the American River an actual river where people can go visit to go fishing, swimming or just hang out and meditate? Or is it just some cement water way that nobody cares about where homeless people live and urinate?
I'm neither young nor single, and I exaggerate just a little bit about the boredom level of those locales, in that there are a lot of activities that are much more family-focused, like zoos and parks and libraries and all-ages community festivals, than in Midtown where I live, where there are most certainly kids, but events and activities tend to have more of an adult character (including older adults--lots of seniors live in Midtown.) My cousin's experiences (and my aunt & uncle's experiences in selecting that neighborhood to raise their child) weren't a rough & tumble youth in a gang-infested place, it was apparently a fairly idyllic experience where the greatest battles of his youth involved building fighting robots. He's the son of a scientist and a data engineer who also became a scientist. Based on my brief discussions with him and other cousins of his generation, the main comment they made about race was people assuming they were Latino (he's Chinese and Italian, his cousins are Chinese and Portuguese.) Land Park and Curtis Park are not "gentrified" in that they have been the home of Sacramento's gentry since the neighborhoods were built out, and they're still wealthy neighborhoods for the most part. Regarding a young woman out at night by herself, my main concern would be that the neighborhoods are very quiet, and a major factor in nighttime safety is "eyes on the street"--other people being present is a deterrent to crime, and there aren't many late-night businesses in that part of town.
The American River is most definitely an actual river where people can go visit for fishing, swimming, or hanging out, with a wonderful 22 mile bike trail that stretches from Folsom to Sacramento, which is one of the most popular and well-utilized trails of its kind in the country. However, it is also fairly notorious as being inhabited by the unhoused, and attacks & fires do happen there. There are multiple points of access for recreation, from Discovery Park where the American meets the Sacramento, the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail and Sutter's Landing Park with its dog park and skate park near Midtown, Ancil Hoffman Park and Effie Yeaw Nature Center out in Carmichael, and lots of other lovely parks on the way up to Lake Natoma and Folsom Lake, plus many more beautiful trails and river access points in the foothills. We have a few of the "cement water" variety waterways, but they're mostly small creeks out in Citrus Heights etcetera, while others like Arcade Creek are still natural creeks for the most part.
Hi all, thanks again for sharing all of your helpful opinions and perspectives. I appreciate the diversity of thoughts and helps tremendously.
@shelato - Thanks for the reverse ratings, social vulnerability index and church links. Hmmm. Curious if proximity to a church has any bearing on the immediate neighborhood? Sorry, just thinking out loud. I'll also reference the index as well. I've recently become a fan of https://censusreporter.org/ which was shared with me by another city data member in Upstate NY that I've used as a reference. Lastly, thanks for the vote on Plano haha. It's just a normal suburb but very close proximity to Dallas which seems like it would at least be comparable to Sacramento if not more lively as it's a large city.
In Los Angeles there are neighborhoods like Koreatown, that are majority Korean. So by just moving into the neighborhood, you will meet other Koreans. That likely isn't going to happen anywhere in the Sacramento region, not by just moving into the neighborhood by itself and your wife may be complaining that back in LA she had a lot of Korean friends in the Korean community in LA and that is not happening here. But there is a Korean community here, one of the ways to interact with this community is attending a Korean church. That is a place where you can meet other Korean couples with kids your age. If your wife wanted to set up play dates so that these kids and your kid get together, church is a place where that can happen. The largest concentration of Korean churches in the region are in Rancho Cordova, because Rancho Cordova is the area with the highest density of Koreans (even if that density is pretty low compared to Los Angeles). So if you are living in Rancho Cordova, attending a Korean Church in Rancho Cordova, a majority of the people attending that Church will be from Rancho Cordova, and that is how you can reach out to these people.
Now if you and your wife aren't religious, I get that. But in immigrant communities Church is often about reaching out to other fellow ethnic members as much as God.
Quote:
Originally Posted by musicsaverdude
Oh question for anybody please? Is the American River an actual river where people can go visit to go fishing, swimming or just hang out and meditate? Or is it just some cement water way that nobody cares about where homeless people live and urinate?
Thanks and have a nice weekend!
American River is a real river. In Los Angeles, you have cement drainage ditches referred to as rivers, but in Northern California, it rains more and we have real rivers. You can't water ski on the American River, but you can water ski at Folsom Lake when we aren't having a drought and you can waterski on the Sacramento River. But there is a bike trail along the American River, you can fish there, you can canoe, you can take out fishing boat with a small engine. Downstream of the business 80 overpass into Discovery Park, there is quite a collection of homeless people living near the American River, but between Folsom Lake and the Business 80 over pass, there aren't that many homeless people on the river.
Thanks shelato and wburg! I owe you both a beer, smoothie or whatever your choice of poison if I do move up. I'm in the process of getting pre-approved now so once I get the go-ahead, will venture up to survey the area. I'll make sure to bring my bullet proof vest just in case, jk.
Both of your comments have brought a whole new dimension to my home search. The biggest drawback to moving right now is leaving the ocean. It's a 5 min walk and I'm only realizing now how much I take it for granted. It's definitely not Malibu but it's still the ocean so having a river nearby would actually be really nice to have. That's one huge drawback to Plano. So just to confirm, other than the Discovery Park area by the River, there aren't any other huge homeless encampments (that you know of) along the river? Not sure if you heard of this, but in Venice beach, there are multi-million dollar beachfront properties who now have homeless encampments in their backyard: https://nypost.com/2021/05/10/califo...ss-encampment/
I don't want to make it seem like I'm heartless as I do feel sorry for them and have even volunteered for homeless orgs in the past. It's a shame that our cities don't have the knowledge or capacity to deal with human lives. But with that said, there's always that small % of transients who have violent tendencies so would want to avoid that altogether. But yes, going back to the positive, I happened to find 2 places in the mid $350k range right by the river? Am I missing something here? Are these decent areas? For the first time, I'm actually a little bit excited about Sac (haha sorry)
@shelato - Thanks for the opinions on church. Makes sense and completely agree with your idea. I grew up Catholic and my wife is Buddhist but we both respect anybody's religion so long as it gives them happiness and peace of mind. Oh coincidentally, I took the family to the Botanical Garden yesterday in Palos Verdes and made a stop by Aldi's in Gardena so remembered your comparison. Not sure if you remember the exact street names in Gardena but would you say it's closer to Artesia or Redondo Beach Blvd closer to the 110? As a reminder, Artesia is closer to Torrance and has the Ranch 99 grocery market.
@wburg - Thanks for giving more of the background story. While I'm definitely excited about living by the river (although in a house, not a van: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8) I will still check out the areas around Land Park. Assuming there's no gang activity that I find, it would nice to have a diverse community as that was my upbringing in SF.
Thanks all!
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