Orders to Travis AFB

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I wouldn't recommend Rio Vista for anyone other than a retiree, it's too far from everything and hwy 12 to Suisun is awful, way too many head on collisions. Other than that, it's a neat place to live.

Well yes, and no. Hwy 12 is a bit to the “hairy” side of comfortable. Nice drive through nothing but country ... but narrow and fast, with trucks. 20-25 minutes to the base.

Retirees? Oh yes! . But also near an equal number of family-with-kids households.

Overall, as I said, IF the OP LIKES small, sleepy, river towns with fishing, big trees, quiet parks (mostly ... summer does bring all sorts to hot days along the canal banks ... including motorcycle clubs) it’s a completely different kind of venue compared to shopping center oriented urban lifestyle. But, yeah, if it was what most people look for it wouldn’t be the sleepy town it is

Just offering a nice contrast choice.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by Deriggs007

Anyone else have recommendations? I think I am willing to drive about 40min one way. Not overly concerned about traffic. I live 4 miles from base and takes me 25 to 30 to get there....

Here are some suggested sites that offer rentals in and around the area.

This site has a couple of agencies that cater to our military personnel. If anyone can answer questions you might have about a particular area, these people can. Hope it helps you in your search. Be ready for a bit of wind, though. It can get quite gusty throughout that area.

https://www.travisafbhousing.com/rental-agencies

And this one has some listings available.

https://www.travisafbhousing.com/off-base

https://www.ahrn.com/travisafb.php

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Then please enlighten me and the OP on how you arrived at that conclusion...

Familiarity with the region over a period of many years.

My location says Scottsdale AZ but you DO know I have a house in Silicon Valley, right? My MIL lived in Granite Bay. We visited frequently and explored much of the intervening area, both by car and by air.

What a pity this is not another opportunity for you to shout down someone who disagrees with you.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Familiarity with the region over a period of many years.

My location says Scottsdale AZ but you DO know I have a house in Silicon Valley, right? My MIL lived in Granite Bay. We visited frequently and explored much of the intervening area, both by car and by air.

What a pity this is not another opportunity for you to shout down someone who disagrees with you.

No problem with disagreeing I'm just curious about why you dislike Vacaville so much. I lived there and found it to be a safe well run city. I didn't like it that it stayed hot all night in the summer but outside of that it was ok schools are good and there are plenty of stores and restaurants in the area

[w_mcfly22]

Look at Dixon OP. Little less expensive than Vacaville and not much further.

[Deriggs007]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Agreed, this should be in the Sacramento forum, but I am not sure I agree about 'hole in the wall' apartments for $2500 a month.
Vacaville 2 bdrm house $2300 https://www.padmapper.com/apartments...89694,38.41747

Verdant at Green Valley 2 bdrm $2200-$2658 https://www.padmapper.com/buildings/...806%2C38.29846

Villas at North Village Vacaville 2 bdrm $2153 https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_ren...35_rect/10_zm/

3bdrm 2 ba single family home Vacaville $2200 https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_ren...35_rect/10_zm/

and that's just a few...

Thank you all for input. I’ll look at woodland a little more. As well as explore a few other areas.

@2sleepy - you helped prove my point here. All of those listings are 2 bed places for a family of 5 and very small at that. The house does not allow pets, and I have a dog

For comparison. My 2500 4 bed plus office and decent yard in a 1.6 million population city is $1500.

I am trying to maintain a decent place for the price. What I’ve noticed is that it doesn’t really matter the quality of the home, all the prices are roughly the same plus or minus a couple hundred.

I have a great cousin who lives in Vacaville, leaning towards that but like I said. Trying to live in something at least somewhat comparable to our current home. Mostly to appease the wife .

I could throw a rent for all I care, but she wouldn’t let me. And you all know, happy wife happy life!

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Deriggs007

Thank you all for input. I’ll look at woodland a little more. As well as explore a few other areas.

@2sleepy - you helped prove my point here. All of those listings are 2 bed places for a family of 5 and very small at that. The house does not allow pets, and I have a dog

For comparison. My 2500 4 bed plus office and decent yard in a 1.6 million population city is $1500.
I am trying to maintain a decent place for the price. What I’ve noticed is that it doesn’t really matter the quality of the home, all the prices are roughly the same plus or minus a couple hundred.
I have a great cousin who lives in Vacaville, leaning towards that but like I said. Trying to live in something at least somewhat comparable to our current home. Mostly to appease the wife .
I could throw a rent for all I care, but she wouldn’t let me. And you all know, happy wife happy life!

I apologize, I thought you were looking for a 2 bedroom property. One of the listings was for a 3 bdrm 2 bath home https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...15719971_zpid/ there are 30 + more 3/2 SFHs under $2500 and four in Dixon but none have 2500 sq. ft.

I'm not trying to sell you on Vacaville, but it's a perfect spot for a commute to the base because you can avoid the freeway and drive down Peabody Road.

There is one house with 2346 sq ft in Woodland for $2495 https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...68520275_zpid/ And a 5/3 with 2242 sq ft in Fairfield but off of Peabody and close to Air Base Parkway for $2500 https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...63157095_zpid/

Happy home hunting!

[Deriggs007]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I apologize, I thought you were looking for a 2 bedroom property. One of the listings was for a 3 bdrm 2 bath home https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...15719971_zpid/ there are 30 + more 3/2 SFHs under $2500 and four in Dixon but none have 2500 sq. ft.

I'm not trying to sell you on Vacaville, but it's a perfect spot for a commute to the base because you can avoid the freeway and drive down Peabody Road.

There is one house with 2346 sq ft in Woodland for $2495 https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...68520275_zpid/ And a 5/3 with 2242 sq ft in Fairfield but off of Peabody and close to Air Base Parkway for $2500 https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...63157095_zpid/

Happy home hunting!

Oh I completely agree with you on Vacaville. Right now, that’s my #1 choice - I was mostly trying to find places/ideas around the area that aren’t listed online like apartments.com and other sites. Maybe those with local experience that know of places that fit what I’m looking for (modern home big enough for dog/kids)

Originally, I was supposed to go to Macdill AFB in Tampa FL. And while the housing market there is pretty expensive, all the housing/apartments are top notch. Big apartments with great great amenities even for dogs, like a really nice dog park. Those are the ticket items I am after, but after within my BAH limit of $2500ish which just doesn’t seem to be a thing. I can find much older places OR 2 bedroom places. Or decent places that do not allow pets and lastly, okay places trying to fit a family my size in 1000sq ft where apartments have more. This is why I was considering West Sac because the housing is newer and apartments are newer. Davis is a college town which also focuses on that modern style a bit more than Vacaville.

Again, I prefer Vacaville as there are a few places that I’ve spotted. While the city is older, there isn’t much crime. The schools are better and it is important and it’s a solid mix between urban/country with great social life, especially for kids and older folks. I’m just in that prime age of 30 and want the ‘good’ stuff I was getting in San Antonio hehe.

My point about the homes are that in my current location (San Antonio, TX) the housing market and cost of living here is amazing, so it’s a bit of a shocker to take this cost of living and then adapt in one of the highest cost of living locations in the US.

Example. My house like mentioned is 2500 square feet. I’m okay with less square footage, but I am also giving up a decent sized yard for our dog. I am also giving up a home built in 2014 with PLENTY of upgrades. Any of the houses I’ve looked at so far that are newer with a few better housing upgrades are also not pet friendly or have 0 for a yard practically.

I also have to factor in that utility cost there is more than my current location. I pay roughly $35 for my family in water and about $95-$125 for electricity. All of this is maintained within my current housing allowance.

Gas here is also $2.53 (93 octane/premium that I require) and about double that in Cali. Regular unleaded was $2.12 (might be lower, I’ve been on vacation these past few weeks, but it’s been going down)

Anyways, I’m still on the hunt. Just need to find a good balance.

Edit @2asleepy - I really liked one of the houses you linked. Will send them a message and see if it could have potentially later move-in date. I may be jumping the gun too early, I don’t PCS to Travis until I think mid-September. But I wanted to get a big jump start if possible.

Does anyone know what the commute is like between Vallejo and Travis AFB? Is it worth looking into?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Deriggs007

Oh I completely agree with you on Vacaville. Right now, that’s my #1 choice - I was mostly trying to find places/ideas around the area that aren’t listed online like apartments.com and other sites. Maybe those with local experience that know of places that fit what I’m looking for (modern home big enough for dog/kids)

Originally, I was supposed to go to Macdill AFB in Tampa FL. And while the housing market there is pretty expensive, all the housing/apartments are top notch. Big apartments with great great amenities even for dogs, like a really nice dog park. Those are the ticket items I am after, but after within my BAH limit of $2500ish which just doesn’t seem to be a thing. I can find much older places OR 2 bedroom places. Or decent places that do not allow pets and lastly, okay places trying to fit a family my size in 1000sq ft where apartments have more. This is why I was considering West Sac because the housing is newer and apartments are newer. Davis is a college town which also focuses on that modern style a bit more than Vacaville.

Again, I prefer Vacaville as there are a few places that I’ve spotted. While the city is older, there isn’t much crime. The schools are better and it is important and it’s a solid mix between urban/country with great social life, especially for kids and older folks. I’m just in that prime age of 30 and want the ‘good’ stuff I was getting in San Antonio hehe.

My point about the homes are that in my current location (San Antonio, TX) the housing market and cost of living here is amazing, so it’s a bit of a shocker to take this cost of living and then adapt in one of the highest cost of living locations in the US.

Example. My house like mentioned is 2500 square feet. I’m okay with less square footage, but I am also giving up a decent sized yard for our dog. I am also giving up a home built in 2014 with PLENTY of upgrades. Any of the houses I’ve looked at so far that are newer with a few better housing upgrades are also not pet friendly or have 0 for a yard practically.

I also have to factor in that utility cost there is more than my current location. I pay roughly $35 for my family in water and about $95-$125 for electricity. All of this is maintained within my current housing allowance.

Gas here is also $2.53 (93 octane/premium that I require) and about double that in Cali. Regular unleaded was $2.12 (might be lower, I’ve been on vacation these past few weeks, but it’s been going down)
Anyways, I’m still on the hunt. Just need to find a good balance.
Edit @2asleepy - I really liked one of the houses you linked. Will send them a message and see if it could have potentially later move-in date. I may be jumping the gun too early, I don’t PCS to Travis until I think mid-September. But I wanted to get a big jump start if possible.

Does anyone know what the commute is like between Vallejo and Travis AFB? Is it worth looking into?

Don't move to Vallejo unless you can put the kids in private schools. It's slowly gentrifying but the schools are pretty awful. You might check the house on Digerud Dr. in Fairfield, I have a friend who lives near there and it's a real nice area with all newer homes. and if you were so inclined, you could bike to the base. I don't know what the neighborhood school is, but I'm almost positive it's in the Travis Unified School District and the schools in that district have a good reputation. It has a small yard, 4250 sq ft, but unfortunately almost all the newer homes are like that. Even in the 70's and 80's in Vacaville & Fairfield new tract homes weren't built on anything larger than a 6k sq ft.

If you look in West Sac make sure you check the school district of the house that you are interested in, some of the schools are ranked pretty low. https://www.greatschools.org/califor...%5B%5D=charter

And I agree about Vacaville, it's a good town for families, lots of folks your age with young families including a lot of military personnel and correctional officers who work at the two prisons live there. There are a lot of parks and plenty of activities for the kids, parents take little league very seriously in Vacaville =)

I'm in Sac and I paid $3.09 for unleaded gas at Costco the other day, so it's not too awful, I don't know about 93 octane but you could easily check on gasbuddy.com

[keninaz]

Try Quail Glen in Suisun City. It's located right next to the base with no flyovers to speak of and a nice area.
I used to live there myself.