I will be a graduated resipratory therapist soon, I live in arctic Minnesota. I want to move to Northern california. I would like to find a city with about 80-100 thousand people,similar to my hometown. Somewhere that is close to the big city. I will need to have the option of working at different hospitals. I will also need an area with an excellent school system. I have a 5 year-old child that will be moving with me. I am looking for somewhere safe, with excellent schools, not a ridiculously high cost of living, and a warm environment. Oh and i hate spiders so preferrably w/o those : )
2007-03-23 07:23:21 · 14 answers · asked by stargazer503 1 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Sacramento
I know everyone is telling you that Roseville/Lincoln/Folsom are the places to live. What they are not saying is that while those are great cities (good schools, clean, nice communities) they are not telling that those are also the most expensive cities in the Sacramento area to live. I also notice that since you said you want a warm climate that they assume you want to burning up hot each summer. The Sacramento area has weeks of 100+ degrees days. Anyone who says you become accustomed to the heat is mistaken. I lived in the Sacramento area for over 5 years and never got used to the heat!
Here is a different point of view. I would suggest living in Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, Brookdale or Felton. They are all small cities in the Santa Cruz mountains. They are very cute towns with friendly people. There is a hospital and a couple of clinics in Santa Cruz about a 15 minute drive and there are over 25 hospitals and clinics in the San Jose area which is about a 30 to 40 minute drive. The cost of living is slightly higher in the Bay Area vs. Sacramento. In Sac you will pay $1000 to $1200 for a decent 2 bedroom rental. In the Santa Cruz area you will pay $1200 to $1500 for a 2 bedroom rental. The wages are different too. In Sacramento you will earn $20 to $25/hour. In the Bay Area you will earn $25 to $30/hour. There are not usually extreme hot or extreme cold temperatures in the Bay Area. There are many things to do especially for kids.
2007-03-25 11:06:30 · answer #1 · answered by Elizabeth 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Although it isn't too far north, and actually right in the middle of the state, Merced is a very nice town around 80,000 people.
There is a lovely large creek running all through the town, with a bike/walking path beside it that stretches for miles.
There is a wonderful lake about seven miles outside of town, for boating, swimming, etc. Huge old trees, barbeques, etc. The new University of California has just built a new campus right across the road, a wonderful setting. It's about three years old.
It does get very hot here, 90 or 100 or a little more, during summers, but fall and spring are gorgeous. There are some lovely parks, and it's a very nice town for bike riding or walking.
One advantage of Merced is its proximity to many neat places in California. Yosemite National Park (gorgeous) is 1.5 hours away; the Monterey and Carmel (and Big Sur and Santa Cruz) are 2 hours away; San Francisco is 2 hours; Sacramento is 2 hours; L.A. is 2.5 hours, all in different directions!
Housing is expensive, but prices are dropping like mad, as they were way overpriced. There is a new medical center going up, but the present one is fine anyway.
I think some of the public schools are excellent, but it depends upon so many factors. Spiders are everywhere, unfortunately....
Good luck!
2007-03-24 12:30:34 · answer #2 · answered by Woman from California 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, first of all, congratulations on your accomplishment. Moving to CA will be expensive; I'm not going to lie about that. There are several cities where it's still affordable and have a good school system. It depends on how far north you want to go. If you want to live near the SF Bay Area, you could try living in cities like Ceres, Tracy, or Modesto. They are a bit cheaper than the Bay Area but the weather tends to get hotter there. If you want to go further south, try Hollister or Greenfield. Greenfield is actually a small city with brand new communities and schools being built right now........good luck!
2007-03-23 07:36:20 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Granite Bay/Roseville/Rocklin/Lincoln
Very Close to Sacramento. I hour to snow, 1 1/2 to beach, 1 1/2 hours to SF, close to lakes, hiking etc. Excellent Schools, great parks, awesome place to raise a family. Close to Sutter and Kaiser Hospitals, half an hour to UC Davis Med Center. Not super affordable, but affordable for CA and much more so then anything closer to SF. Most everything in the area is very new since development here has exploded in only past 10 years (with most of it in the past 3).
2007-03-23 08:15:49 · answer #4 · answered by thatswhatshesaid 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
One of the other answers states that Elk Grove is a suberb of Sacramento. Elk Grove is not a suberb it is a city and has been reported as the fastest growing city in the United States. This would not fit the small town that you say that you want. It is also very close to South Sacramento which is where you definitely want to stay away from. I agree with some of the other answers, Rocklin, Lincoln, and Folsom are nice. I would check out local Chamber of Commerce offices for info on cost of living, schools etc. Good Luck!
2007-03-25 06:53:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Unfortunately spiders are all over CA.
I would recommend the Sacramento Area. Cheaper than Bay Area, some good hospitals, nice neighborhods (some bad ones too, be careful) and VERY warm (90-100+ all summer long).
A smaller town is Redding, but it is even hotter and stuffier in the summer, and rather isolated from big cities.
2007-03-23 21:17:42 · answer #6 · answered by jellybeanchick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
davis, calif. its a small town feel where there only thing going in are the tons of bikes people (mostly college students) ride to get from place to place. its relatively safe and is looked upon as a fairly well off, affluent community. its the home of UC Davis a real damn good school....with some elelmentary schools nestled in there somehwhre as well. its a quiet town that is about 10 minutes west of sacramento and go another hr or so west and u'll be towards the bay area
not too familiar with hospitals but i think there is mercy general, udc med center and kaiser permanente in the sacramento area...while u also have a kaiser hospital in vacaville (about 20 min west)
unfortunetely, it is in cali so cost of living is a task.
2007-03-24 18:11:14 · answer #7 · answered by carlos l 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would suggest the Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln area. Its a very nice area and about 40-50 miles from Sacramento. One area I suggest staying away from is Elk Grove.
2007-03-23 09:42:16 · answer #8 · answered by thejenns22 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I grew up in Lodi, CA. It is a very nice city. about 80,000 people. Close to Sacramento which is about 30 minutes away. San Francisco is about 1 1/2 hours away. Good schools and pretty safe. There are spiders sometimes but not a lot.
2007-03-26 11:52:17 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Elk Grove, CA. it is a suberb of sacramento. the elk grove school district is one of the best in the western part of the united states. the city is growing and is about 120,000 strong. there are multiple hospital choices to coose from, sutter (excellent hosptial system), methodist (CHW), Kaiser (biggest and most popular HMO in CA), UC Davis hospital. we have the best weather here, mild winters, hot summers, dry heat! The moquito vector unit is in elk grove, keeps the bug population down out there
2007-03-23 19:40:11 · answer #10 · answered by rubbingbirds 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋