Housing in Arden Arcade is insanely varied. There are inexpensive apartment buildings just blocks from multi-million dollar homes. It’s a slightly strange place for that reason – young professionals making it work on smaller budgets, and plenty of wealthy families living la vida loca in their mcmansions. If you want to live just outside Sacramento on a “budget”, this could be your home. If you’re loaded on Sacto/Bay Area tech money and want to live large this could be your home. 


Lifestyle/Housing Variety

The Best Thing About Arden Arcade?

Arden Arcade is an unincorporated community that is Sacramento’s “cash cow” because there is so much business here. The unincorporated status means in spite of all the commercial activity it does not receive typical revenue streams that a “city” its size would normally receive. This means some infrastructure elements lack and locals are vocal about shortages in the police department, poor transit options, and a lock of homeless support services. 


Unincorporated

The Worst Thing About Arden Arcade?

Arden Arcade is a suburb of Sacramento and many live the quiet suburban lifestyle in family-friendly neighborhoods. Much of the lifestyle of those who stick to Arden Arcade is spent shopping at the big box stores and the mall in the area. More adventurous socializers driven into Sacramento, which is just a few miles outside the city center and enjoy the social and cultural options the state capital offers. It’s a classic suburb for that reason - a mix of quiet suburbia and bigger city options close by. 

It must be noted though that the location of Arden Arcade, just east of Sacramento, makes it about as ideal is it can be for heading east to Lake Tahoe, or the Eldorado National Forest, Bear Valley, etc. You’re in about as ideal a spot as you can be for being around a major metro and yet having really quick access to some of the most amazing mountains on the planet. The Sierra’s run just an hour east of Arden and for those into an outdoor lifestyle its a pretty perfect combo. 

As was also noted though, Arden has an incredible variety of housing and neighborhood options and so there are also walkable and younger population neighborhoods for those who are just looking to live a less expensive life outside Sacramento. There are tons of apartment buildings and inexpensive restaurants/bars and shopping if you’re working hard to build a nest egg. For those weekends when families want to stick closer to home but still get the kiddos outdoors, there are tons of parks in the city. [**Arden Park**](https://www.aprpd.org/), [**Arden Creek**](https://www.acrpd.com/) and [**Larchmont**](https://crpd.com/parks/larchmont-community-park/) are great park options, with community pools, sports fields and courts, open green spaces and playgrounds to keep the kiddos (and grownups) busy and healthy.


Lifestyle of Arden Arcade

Arden Arcade is part of the San Juan Unified School District. It rates a B+ on [**niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/san-juan-unified-school-district-ca/). One of the more notable characteristics of the schools is how varied the performance of the school districts is, similar to the great variety of housing types. There are A rated quality schools and C rated quality schools so if you’re paying close attention to standardized scoring on niche.com or Greatschools.com then keep an eye on how the neighborhoods are zoned. 


Schools in Arden Arcade

There was an exodus of families from the San Francisco area to the Sacramento area during covid and lower costs drove much of this. If you can work remotely and want to be in a better position to afford a home then Arden Arcade should be on your shortlist. 


Save Some Dough - Build for the Future

Why You Should Move Here Now?

Arden Park Vista is a hugely popular neighborhood with families. It is rated one of the safest areas in Arden, and has some of the best amenities in the city. [**Arden Park Recreation & Park District**](https://www.aprpd.org/), is here, which has softball/baseball fields, tennis courts, and a nice swimming pool (it gets toasty here). [**Cresta Park**](https://www.aprpd.org/cresta-park) is another great local spot. It has a massive playground for kiddos, plus tennis court and soccer field/green space for general play. All these parks are walking distance of neighborhood homes. 

Perhaps best of all kids walk to school, as all homes within Arden Park Vista are a few blocks from [**Mariemont Elementary**](https://www.niche.com/k12/mariemont-elementary-school-sacramento-ca/) an A-rated school on niche.com. 
Median home price runs high in Arden Park Vista due to the safety/walkability factors and comes in at $970k. There are also properties for rent with the average ~$1,900. 


Families

Arden Park Vista 

Another hugely popular neighborhood with families is Arden Oaks. It’s got an interesting tight-knit vibe among the community who love the persistent events the [**Arden Oaks Neighborhood Association**](https://ardenoaks.org/) runs throughout the year. 4th of July Parade and Games, Fall BBQ and Winter Holiday Lighting and Decorations Contest are just a few of the occasions that pull everyone together. 

Additionally the neighborhood is filled with beautiful, unique homes and there is a walkable scene here to the great [**Orville Wright Park**](https://www.morpd.com/8-orville-wright-park) and the only local Whole Foods. There’s nothing like connecting with neighbors while out on a stroll to strengthen the bonds.  

Homes here run a bit higher than average for the area with a median home price of ~$950k. 


Arden Oaks |

If you’re looking for a luxurious lifestyle then check out [**Sierra Oaks Vista**](https://www.sierraoaksneighborhood.org/home/). It has the most stunning homes and tree-lined blocks in the city, and these homes connect to the American River Parkway and the American River Bike Trail. This means not only are the blocks in the neighborhood providing beautiful outdoor experiences, but you’re also right near some of the best adventuring in the city. There are great walking options to local restaurants and coffee shops and there’s nothing like the strolls locals take under the massive trees running up and down every block in the neighborhood. 

While the public schools here are excellent, it’s also home to several of the popular private schools and locals appreciate the choice. Most homes have an acre of land, 4-5 bedrooms, a pool and full-on modern amenities. That luxury doesn’t come cheap and the median home price is $1.6m. 


Sierra Oaks Vista

[**Timberlake**](https://timberlake.hoaspace.com/) is a popular choice for young professionals and young families not yet ready to buy a home. It’s a condos only neighborhood, available for rent or purchase and it sits on the west side of the town, so convenient for commuting in to Sacramento for work or play. It’s kiddo and doggo-friendly so again, young professionals, couples and young families like the vibe. 

The buildings are surrounded with beautiful foliage so it has a more green-energy than other condo complexes in the area. Many of the building areas have ponds and wrap-around porches and you get all the community amenities you could want including: clubhouse for socializing, fitness center and a nice pool for the kids or the grownups to cool off in on summer days. Average rent is $1,650. 


Young Professionals/DINKs/Families

Timberlake

Arden-Arcade

**Arden-Arcade lowdown**

I live on the “Arcade” side of Arden-Arcade (very near Carmichael) and overall it’s fine. There are nice neighborhoods and not-great ones. Many of the main thoroughfares are lined with dense apartment housing, which mixes things up a bit.

Overall, folks in the nicer neighborhoods seem to send their kids to private schools instead of the local ones, so take that as you will. My local elementary school is like a 2 or 3 / 10, and I have noticed lots of folks who appear to be recent immigrants (lots of clothing that seems less familiar to me) - so perhaps the low scores reflect English language learning, which of course would add academic challenges.

**Looking to move out to arden-arcade area, how is it over there? I've only ever lived in midtown, but rent is so high over here**

Arden-Arcade
I agree. Lived in Arden for about 7 years. The scenery can change in just one block. From multi-million dollar homes to someone shooting up openly on a bus stop bench. Generally I've seen people on this sub say to avoid anything north of Arden, but I think that's BS. I live between El Camino and Marconi and Fulton and Watt. I like where I live.

Pros: Good food, easy access to 80, (generally) cheaper rent than midtown

Cons: Some areas are definitely more sketch than others (but that's everywhere in Sacramento), not very walkable, bad public transportation.

Honestly, I think what you'll be sacrificing the most is walkability and easy access to desirable attractions. If you don't have a car, Arden Arcade could be problematic.

**Moving: how is the Arden Estates area?**

It’s a gamble. Nice neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods could literally be on the same street or block. Though compared to other areas in town, Arden is mild and you shouldn’t have much trouble. Stay away from Howe, Watt, and Fulton at night to avoid the meth users, and everything else is just fine. If I’m not mistaken, Arden Estates is probably the nicest suburb in the Arden area. Natomas, though, is overall nicer than most areas of Sacramento, except when you get to Del Paso. Both are decent choices, but if safety is the biggest issue, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Antelope, and Citrus Heights are the next closest areas with pretty low crime rate. Really, any main street at night is best avoided.

Arden-Arcade, California

Dunmovin

Looklyloo Score: 77

Reviews

What's it like to live in Arden-Arcade?