Living in Vallejo, California?

Question

Hello. I will be moving to Vallejo, California soon. I am curious about the crime rate, and would like to know more about the neighborhood? Is there anything I should worry about this town? Is it expensive compared to San Francisco?

Answer 1

The best thing my parents ever did for me and my brother is move out of that craphole of a town when we were young. I feel if we had stayed there neither me or my brother would be as successful as we are. I've seen what happends to family that stays in that town and it's sad. Basically every young girl is pregnant by age 19.

Two relatives I have were both murdered in Vallejo and pretty much every bad thing that has happened to people in my family has been b/c that horrible town. It it not a good place to raise a family at all.

I feel sorry for all my relatives still stuck in that town and I wish they would move b/c there kids face a much bigger risk of becoming involved in drugs and crime by living there.

Please do not live in Vallejo, it is not a nice town at all. Both of my parents families are all from Vallejo and the ones that are successful and that made somthing of themselves did so b/c they left that town. Listen to those that have actually lived in the town and have family there b/c they actually know what they are talking about. No one that has posted here so far seems to actaully be from Vallejo but seems to be rehashing opinions on what can be found on a Wikipedia article. One poster lived "near" Vallejo but not actually in the city. No one in my family that has moved away from Vallejo misses that town one bit and are very glad they left it.

Answer 2

Vallejo has a bad reputation. Unlike Richmond or East Palo Alto though, the negative attention is largely undeserved. Certainly, Downtown is seedy (especially at night). And Hillcrest is definitely a dangerous area. However, Vallejo also has nice, middle-class neighborhoods like Glen Cove and Meadows.

In many respects, Vallejo is just another boring suburb. The center of community life is, stereotypically: Walmart, Target, and Century Theatres. Not exactly cutting edge arts and entertainment.

But there are some pleasant surprises. Vallejo is only about 20-30 minutes from Napa Valley. It is the home of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. And it also has daily ferry service to Downtown San Francisco.

Next door, Benicia and American Canyon are actually way more dull than Vallejo. They're pleasant enough to live in. But white people seem to like those towns only because, well, lots of white people live there (just being brutally honest here). Be advised that Vallejo is predominantly Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and African-American.

Answer 3

I will echo SFdudes sentiments and add 2 cents... Vallejo is so sprawled out the city cannot be generalized as good or bad, it's both. Newer developments tend to be less troublesome, further away from the freeway tends to be better. I'll just say my friend sold her house on Morningside and moved away because she felt unsafe living alone (even though a cop lived across the street) or walking around her part of town even in the daytime, and it's wasn't even close to the BAD parts of town. I would not live in Vallejo if you GAVE me a house. There's just too many drug addicts, gang bangers and no class wanna be's (of all ethnicities) for my taste. I lived in Solano county for 15 years and was glad to get the hell out. If you have to live in that area Benicia and the parts of Vallejo east of I80 are much nicer places to live.

San Francisco is more expensive but the trade off is there is a lot to do if you live there, while in Vallejo, you are far away from much of interest, though you can take the ferry to/from SF if you must commute to the city.
If you want to check out crime visit the Vallejo PD website link posted below, there is a crime info link.

If you have children/family the following may be on interest. At one time Vallejo had the highest number of registered sex offenders in Solano County. I suggest you also look up the registered sex offenders, A quote from the 2nd link noted below. "According to our research of the California and other state lists there were 252 registered sex offenders living in Vallejo in early 2007. The ratio of number of residents in Vallejo to the number of sex offenders is 466 to 1."

Answer 4

Holdin down in V-Town!!

While I don't COMPLETELY disagree w/ Ms Tapestry6 on this one...Benicia is lovely...I personally would rather live in Vallejo than American Canyon (home to the largest garbage transfer station in NoCal...and more strip malls than you could visit in a lifetime!).

Vallejo is a city of 125,000+ residents...so like any city that size it does have crime. Truthfully, it probably has more crime than other similar sized cities in the Bay....but because the crime rate in the Bay Area is VERY LOW by comparison to other major metro areas...it's not really an issue.

With the exception of PARTS of Richmond or Oakland... which are truly unsafe (but they're also a long drive from Vallejo) the Bay is one of the safest major metropolitan areas in the country (I've lived in Detroit, New York City, LA, the Bay Area and Chicago) so I'm speaking from personal experience...not just a statistic I read somewhere...or some irrational fear that I invented inside my head...like some others around here :o)

I would recommend living east of I-80...it's where most of the newer homes and apartments are being built. It's much less expensive than living in SF....which is a 50 minute ferry ride...or 45 minutes to 1.5 hrs by car (you gotta love that Bay Area traffic!)

Vallejo has a very interesting history...and the people are...for the most part...very nice. There are nicer places to live in the Bay...but Vallejo has it's advantages as well. Good Luck...if you have more questions, please let me know.

**EDIT** While I agree w/ nearly everything that SFDude wrote...my experience w/ Vallejo has been a bit more ethnically diverse than his. Try this link it may help more than any of our answers:

http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/GovSite/default.asp?serviceID1=174&Frame=L1

And, don't let the reputation for fine wine fool you...the problem w/ gang activity in Napa is Napa based...same w/ Sonoma. Vallejo's reputation, as SF Dude correctly pointed out, is based on racial prejudice NOT facts. I lived close to Vallejo for nearly three years...I never witnessed a crime being committed...or met anyone who had been a victim of a violent crime...and Vallejo had a total of maybe 7 or 8 murders...IN A THREE YEAR PERIOD...IN A CITY OF 125K+!!! Haters hate...it's what they do.

Answer 5

There are parts of Vallejo that you shouldn't go out at night in, but other areas, such as the older areas, are perfectly nice. Since Vallejo has a bad reputation among Bay Area residents, the housing cost is lower than most of the Bay Area, but it is still high. Other costs are just as high. A really good alternative which has a low housing cost, but has more of a small town feel, is Benicia, which is only a few miles away.

Answer 6

I only ask why would you want to move there? its not a very nice town to live in, the economy is pretty poor if you need to live near Vallejo because of a job opportunity try American Canyon or Benicia its a bit more safer. Check realtor.com or realty.com for prices on housing.

Answer 7

Personally, I think Vallejo is dirty and there are always crime reports about it and American Canyon. And the gangs from there come over to Napa to rob stores and car-jack. It's in the Register every day.

However, you'd be close to the ferry to take you to SF, there's some good big box stores on Admiral like Costco and such. Other than that, it's a cheap place to live (comparatively) so you can work somewhere else. If you can deal with crime and shootings, go for it. My sis in law just moved out of there because of the crime and drugs since she's trying to raise her toddler.

Answer 8

vallejo used to be nice but it is a very high crime area now. you should avoid it. you are much better off going a little further and moving to dixon or davis. it is expensive in vallejo but cheaper than s.f