Late 20's Couple Moving to Sacramento from Milwaukee - need recommendations :) (Davis: apartment complexes, foreclosed)

[Shiraz12]

I have read many of the historical Forum posts which have been extremely helpful. My boyfriend has been offered a job in the West Sac area and we are looking to relocate in the very near future.

Would like some recommendations on areas that fit our lifestyle - need an area that is dog friendly, active, shops/restaurants hopefully within walking distance, reasonable in price (2Br under $1300), and of course safe.

I love the downtown city scene - but my boyfriend does not. Is there a "burb" that is relatively close that fits our criteria above.

We are open to an apartment complex/condo rental - however we are coming from a duplex with a yard which would be ideal for our dog.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

[wburg]

The Southport area in West Sacramento might fit your needs. It's a new suburb with a lot of retail, not particularly walkable but not too bad either. You're ten minutes from downtown Sacramento, and close to work. Public transit options aren't so great (Yolobus varies from sporadic to nonexistent) but traffic isn't too bad.

[Damnitjanet]

Will you be working as well? Do you know where?

When you say your boyfriend is looking for something more suburban, in what sense does he object to living downtown? Is he looking for some place with a garage and backyard for the dog and that is why he doesn't like urban living. Or is the problem more noise or parking?

Even the so called urban parts of Sacramento are still pretty suburban. You can find plenty duplexes with backyards and garages in midtown if that is what your boyfriend's primary objection.

If you are looking for less bars and noise, you might look at Curtis Park, Land Park, Elmhurst or Hollywood Park.

If your boyfriend is looking for something newer with plenty of street parking, larger kitchens and more likely to contain modern conviences like dishwashers, washers and dryers, I agree with wburg that Southport probably suits his needs well. If you look at Southport and decide that newer suburbs (built in the past 10 years are what you are looking for, you might also look at Natomas). Rents have dropped there. Depending on your budget, you may be able to rent house for what you pay to rent a duplex elsewhere in the region. But it may also be too suburban for your tastes.

[Shiraz12]

Thank you both for the responses. Unfortunately I will be in the job hunt when we arrive. From what I have read, commuting within the greater Sac area seems manageable? Please let me know if I am incorrect.

Also appreciate the note regarding Midtown -- Parking and a yard really are the 2 features that turn off my boyfriend regarding downtown living, awesome to hear that you can find these near the city.

Wondering if there are any local secrets to rental searching in the area? I have been looking on craigslist - but am seeing a lot of sketchy foreclosed properties and repeats of the same apartment complexes. If you have any advice here, I would appreciate it! Thank you for your responses.

-Andrea

[wburg]

If you page through some recent messages in this section you will find plenty of posts by me about midtown. Most of the central city is small-scale residential (about 90% is multi-unit, but most is shorter than 3-4 stories) apartments, duplexes/fourplexes, and a few remaining single-family homes--the surrounding neighborhoods are predominantly single-family. It has a very non-urban feel because of all the trees and historic homes, until one gets right into downtown. You might look at the northeastern corner of the central city (Boulevard Park, New Era Park, Marshall School), as a new dog park just opened at Sutter's Landing near that part of town.

If safety is your very highest priority Midtown might not be your first choice: not a lot of violent crime, but lots of property crime, vandalism and the unavoidable effects of a lot of bars (fights, drunk drivers, etc.) on the weekends. Make sure you have off-street parking--on-street parking is getting harder to find, and since the city is broke they're getting quite vicious about parking enforcement.

[NellieJoy]

You may like the East Sac area. If you are renting you could find a cute house in the Elmhurst area within your budget. Elmhurst is full of cute bungalows and there are lot of bike riders around here. YOu could walk to Trader Joe's and a couple of restaurants from Elmhurst and you could bike to downtown. My husband moved here from Milwaukee (I met him here) and he really likes Sacramento.

Good luck!

[mohunny]

Southport West Sac is a snore and downtown West Sac can be sketchy in neighborhoods. It is also YOLO County and you won't have the resources to tap into as you would if you lived in Woodland (Yolo county seat).

I live in South Land Park where I have a 2-bedroom cottage with a yard for $1200. I found it on craigslist by posting an ad myself (rental wanted) rather than just reading. I will be moving soon so maybe we should hook up? My dog loves it here. Just had to rescue the cat off neighbor's roof after 2-day kitty rave. Agh.

East Sac, Midtown, Land Park, South Land Park are good areas. Stay away from inner Natomas, Meadowview, South Sac (some areas), even Elk Grove (crime going up there).

[jribe]

Originally Posted by Shiraz12

I have read many of the historical Forum posts which have been extremely helpful. My boyfriend has been offered a job in the West Sac area and we are looking to relocate in the very near future.

Would like some recommendations on areas that fit our lifestyle - need an area that is dog friendly, active, shops/restaurants hopefully within walking distance, reasonable in price (2Br under $1300), and of course safe.

I love the downtown city scene - but my boyfriend does not. Is there a "burb" that is relatively close that fits our criteria above.

We are open to an apartment complex/condo rental - however we are coming from a duplex with a yard which would be ideal for our dog.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

Hello,
My husband and I are in a similar situation - I just took a transfer with my current employer to Capitol Mall in Downtown Sac. I would suggest being VERY careful with the downtown/midtown areas. There's some really sketchy parts.. We drove by a few rentals and we literally just drove by.. Bad areas in some parts..

We just found a GREAT rental in "Southport" are of West Sacramento (in the bridgeway lakes development) really nice (newer) house and the area is great!

There were people out jogging, walking dogs- i liked it!

There's a newer shopping plaza within about 5 minutes. And it's about 10 minutes from Downtown (without taking the freeway)

Goodluck!

[bigdave01]

How about Davis, the problem will be expense, but it is a wonderful town. If not than go for Land Park, Curtis Park, East Sac, etc. They will all be pretty expensive.

[manda777]

Originally Posted by mohunny

Stay away from inner Natomas, Meadowview, South Sac (some areas), even Elk Grove (crime going up there).

Can you tell me from what street to what street is inner Natomas? Thanks.