Vallejo or Benecia for commuting to Sacramento?
My husband works in Sacramento, and we want to move a bit closer to his work. We are very attached to living within the Bay Area, hence we would love to get your recommendation. Thanks.
May 31, 2017
My husband works in Sacramento, and we want to move a bit closer to his work. We are very attached to living within the Bay Area, hence we would love to get your recommendation. Thanks.
Parent Replies
I suggest that you try looking at Davis. Then spend time in the bay area on weekends.
My friend who lives in Benicia says she would not make that decision again. Prices were lower there, but she believes the air quality from the refinery has affected their health and that of others she knows in the community. She developed asthma after moving there.
I worked in Benicia for 5 years (commuting from Berkeley), and spent time in Vallejo for work purposes during that job. They both have advantages of amazing views from many neighborhoods. However, each is still a "good" 45 minute drive w/o traffic to Sacramento (I had to go to Sac many times from Benicia), and a solid 30-minutes (off commute) to Berkeley, and each one has its own "feel". I'd suggest spending a full day in each. Vallejo has a bad rap about crime; Benicia has a large oil refinery in town, with the environmental concerns that entails; you'd want to research each of those issues extensively, as well as your school options, before committing.
Although I have never lived there, I have visited Davis a lot, and suspect that on a daily basis, it's more like Berkeley/Oakland/Albany than either Benicia or Vallejo. My husband and I were starting to plan a move there at one point when we thought he'd be working in Sacramento; alas, that didn't come to fruition, but we were geared up and excited for Davis - you might want to check it out. We also have friends in Roseville who absolutely love its family-friendliness and easy light rail commute into downtown Sac. Needless to say, the houses cost a lot less in Roseville!
Good luck!
Thank you so much for your replies, we will explore Davis and also Napa . If you have advice on Napa, please post !
Davis makes the most sense. Fantastic schools, a good community, and much more affordable than the Bay Area. It's also fairly diverse (each person has their own definition of diverse, but as one point of evidence there are 35 different languages spoken at my child's public elementary school in Davis). The Davis Farmers' Market has been named the best in the country, and for good reason. Sacramento is underrated as a city---it's really on the upswing as people migrate their to escape the prices in the Bay.