Moving to Sacramento in a few weeks. Things to do? Best places to live?

Sacramento covers a large area. We have kids who live around that area(orangevale, Roseville, Fiar Oaks, Folsom) but not in Sacramento proper. Don't know where you are moving from but housing is cheaper there than in the SF Bay area where I live. Sacramento area has water sports, Trees, a great minor league baseball park, musical theater, pro basketball team, most things that you would find in a major city, it's about 2 + hours from Lake Tahoe, good weather - hot in the summer. I'm assuming that you checked the area out before deciding to move there to and it's only 2 hours from San Francisco - the gratest city in California!

How about Folsom. I think that's were the Intel plant is. Desireable, or not? I'm 32, single female, so want something safe, upscale, etc.

I live in Roseville, just outside of Sacramento. Folsom is a lovely place with the American River running through it. There is a wonderful bike/walking path along the river, you can rent kayaks at Lake Natomas from Folsom. Also, there is Folsom Lake for swimming, picnicing, jet skiing and camping. Old Folsom has interesting shops and restaurants. Folsom used to be a gold mining town and has a lot of history. It is close to Sacramento, where there are many cultural and sporting activities. The Oakland A's triple A baseball team, the Rivercats have a beautiful new stadium in West Sac. and of course, we are all big Kings basketball fans. Old Sacramento is a fun place, where you can take a train ride or ride on old paddlewheel boat on the Sacramento River. This weekend is the Pacific Rim Festival in Old Sacramento and on Memorial weekend every year Old Sacramento hosts the Jazz Festival. There is always something happening. The schools in Folsom are great if you have children. It is close to the Bay area and to Tahoe, so you have access to the beach, and to skiing. It's a great location.

I forgot to say that Roseville is also a great place to live in this area with good schools.

If I were to move to Sacramento, I would choose to live in or close to the older neighborhoods east of downtown. There are some beautiful old neighborhoods in Sac and in the old style of city planning, there are small business districts through out the residential neighborhoods.

The outlying cities around Sac don't appeal to me as much because of all the new construction and sprawl. Some of the developments are nice, don't get me wrong, I'm just amazed every time I drive out to Roseville or someplace and see all the development.

If you want to live in Sacramento (as opposed to outlying areas such as folsom, roseville), you want to make sure you are in the san juan school district (if you have children). nice areas in sacramento include arden oaks, arden park, sierra oaks, and del dayo. Good luck!

If you are going to be working at the Intel Plant in Folsom, that would be where I would chose to live. I think Folsom is a nice town that is rapidly growing. The biggest issue has been closing the Folsom Dam road, which has added traffic to the Folsom-Auburn road.

Personally, I live in Roseville, and commute downtown (anywhere from 1/2 hour to 70 minutes depending on traffic). As J Correa says, the community east of downtown is great, but then you have the commute issue. As for living in Folsom, you are then 20 or so miles from Downtown, but during non-commute hours it is an easy run. Plus I saw that they were busy working on the light-rail that looks like it will go all the way to downtown Folsom. This would be an advantage over the Roseville area.

I'm not sure about the crime in Folsom, but it seems pretty safe to me. It is an older historic town that is currently working to recall 4 of their city council members, including the mayor. Just a little political buzz.

There is a very good outlet mall plus all the big box stores. For a mainstream malls, you will have to go to either Roseville Galleria, Arden Fair or Sunrise Mall.

Folsom is also nestled at the base of the El Dorado Hills. Very picturesque. Price wise, I think Folsom is a little more expensive, but depends on what you are looking for.

SEW - that would be excellent if the lightrail system was extended to Folsom. One thing that really troubles me with the development of outlying areas is the general lack of transportation options. I love it when transportation other than private cars are made part of these developments.

J - I wouldn't have believed it myself, but drove out I-50 yesterday and they are laying tracks. Plus went up Folsom Blvd past the outlet malls and all the intersections have the rail tracks build in to them.

I would like to see the Northeast corridor extended to Rocklin.