Which is the better area to live in Sacramento? (Orange: middle-class, foreclosure)

[sinkitten]

I am looking at 3 homes.

1 is off of lacam circle which is in the 95820 zipcode between 14th and 21st ave.

1 is off of castle st which is the 95628 zipcode major street is san juan.

1 is off of franklin blvd and mack rd near elk grove. zipcode 95823

The crime mapper is just terrible to look at all over the entire Sacramento area. I am looking for the safer/safest location. I have to put the holding deposit down before moving! I am clear in NY state, so I have no way to see these homes first and the neighborhood!

Please let me know any experience or problems with the neighborhoods associated with those zipcodes. I am a small business owner, I drive a nice sports car, I am pregnant and I have a 2 year old son. I need a safe family orientated area!

Thank you!

[GoLobos]

I've been in Sac two years, and live in Citrus Heights, so have limited knowledge, but was in a very similar situation as you. That said, I would ABSOLUTELY pick the Fair Oaks location (Castle St. 95628).
Many neighborhoods south of I-50 are very hit/miss - and the locations you mention are generally MISS. Also,the daily traffic up I-99 is a nightmare, whereas Fair Oaks if very centrally located to the mid-town areas.
The neighborhoods tend to be pretty nice, 'normal', middle-class areas (I happen to live about 1.5 miles from that area). I would definitely say generally safer than south Sac. Elk Grove is getting a bad reputation, as much was built within the past 3-6 years, and there are entire neighborhoods going into foreclosure, along with bad elements moving in. Most of mid and northeast Sac are 20-30 year old neighborhoods, so not nearly the movement of people and relatively secure market (comparatively, for California). The neighborhoods get nicer and nicer the further north-east you go, if that tells you anything (I'm considering moving right now to either the Fair Oaks/Folsom area or Roseville/Rocklin, and have two very young ones of my own).
Hope this helps, and good luck

[MamaToThree]

I agree that I would choose the Fair Oaks area. I'm in Carmichael on the Fair Oaks/Citrus Heights border and we love it here. We have 3 kids and the school district overall is good and there are also nice alternative and charter schools to pick from (California Montessori, Golden Valley Waldorf charter, Mission Open, Orangevale Open, just to name a few). I would not recommend Elk Grove for the same reason that GoLobos mentioned. Good luck on your move and your birth!

[kiwilover70]

I do not know the location of the one in fair oaks but I would say a big no to the other sites.Not safe hoods.

[edwardius]

You are setting yourself up for problems buying a home site unseen. I would hold off buying until you actually get out here.

[NorCalMan]

Yup, wait till you move out here, there are tons of rentals. Even though Fair Oaks is the nicer of the three zip codes you listed there are still some scummy areas, areas you need to investigate before you buy. I would hate to buy a home sight unseen, move in and discover that my neighbor is one of those people who parks cars all over their yard and who has guard dogs barking every time a car goes by.

That section of Fair Oaks is full of old homes so you would do yourself a big favor to have a professional home inspection done with you present. Castle St. is near one of the nicer area's of FO, it's called the "bird track". Basically all streets nearby are named after birds and the majority of these older homes have been greatly renovated and made to look nice. However, once you get off the bird track things can get ugly really quick. I've never been on Castle Street so I can't speak for what it's like but I think you'd be crazy to put money down on an old home you've never seen.

[quickfingerz]

Even crimemapper shows the 2nd option being by far the best option.

[CaAppraiser]

Absolutely 95628

[misterdammit]

I'm not sure why Elk Grove has such a bad rap. Yeah, forclosures, blah blah blah....I've been researching the area, and according to the websites I've looked at, their crime rate is lower than Carmichael's (a place the people on this forum seem to like). The crime rate is FAR lower than Sacramento's (almost anywhere has a lower crime rate than Sac). I've been looking at houses all over Elk Grove and, yes, there are places I'd like to avoid (mostly the north-eastern area of the city) but there are plenty of great neighborhoods as well (and my price range is in the $180,000-200,000 range; if you have more money, I'd guess you can find much better places than the ones I'm looking at). I guess the town is not as nice as it used to be (at least, according to what I've heard...I haven't lived in this area very long)...but it still seems nice to me.

*shrug*

I'd pick whichever place you like most. :-)

[edwardius]

I actually like both Elk Grove and Carmichael.

I am curious about what websites you were using to compare crime data for different areas.

These guys compare crime in cities over 75K people. In the Sacramento region it gives results for Sacramento, for Roseville and Elk Grove. Crime in Elk Grove and Roseville is pretty comparable. Sacramento is much worse.

http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/CityCrime2008_Alpha.pdf

You can read more about the listings here.

CQ Press: City Crime Rankings 2008

But if you have better data, I would be interested in it.