Elk Grove is pure suburb. The city is working hard to correct some of the blandness of that experience but in the meantime doing what suburbs do best - providing families with “affordable” housing, kid-friendly blocks and really good public schools. We qualify the idea of affordability because this is California and the Sacramento area blew up during the pandemic as Bay Area residents moved here in droves.

Here's the pov of a local on living here: 
*Yeah, it'd be nice to live closer to the fun parts of Sacramento. But... if I get a mortgage on a place closer to midtown, I'd save maybe $100 a month in uber fees, but pay hundreds more in mortgage fees.*

*If I bought a house in midtown, I'd be stuck with the higher mortgage payments until I sell the house or pay off the mortgage. If I get a house in Elk Grove I'd have a significantly lower mortgage. If I ever don't feel like paying $40 for uber I could just go to a bar in Elk Grove or drink at home with some company lol*


Raising A Family

The Best Thing About Elk Grove?

Pretty much everyone understands the drawbacks of traditional suburbs for social experiences but we’re still going to hammer Elk Grove for not being quick enough to build out a bigger commercial district. Residents need more to do when they don’t feel like driving into Sacramento. 

There is a section of town called Old Town, a charming little area with a handful of restaurants/pubs but they need commercial development here stat. A recently approved mixed-use project known as Elk Grove Railroad Courtyards will help. http://www.egcitizen.com/news/planning-commission-approves-mixed-use-project-for-old-town-eg/article_a7c4c8da-d301-11ec-9b00-076d0f1805a6.html  

Here's a review of the energy of the city from a resident: 
*Elk Grove is an extremely bland suburbia with zero trace of culture. People commute an hour one way to their 8 to 5 median income state job in Sacramento then commute back to home to their cookie cutter house and watch Netflix and repeat. On the weekends they take their kids to soccer/baseball games or "lay low" and then repeat the cycle until their kids are grown and they can retire and move away from Elk Grove.*

In Need Of A Center

The Worst Thing About Elk Grove?

Whatever you imagine the lifestyle of a traditional suburb, the good and the bad, is available in Elk Grove. Lots of families put their kids through school here, save for college, do little league-type sports, commute to jobs in Sacramento and basically just try to live the American dream in a crazily expensive state. 

The huge bonus you get in Elk Grove is sunshine nearly every day of the year, and a less than two hour drive to Lake Tahoe to the east and San Francisco to the west. If you’re up for the drive it is an amazing place for an outdoor lifestyle. You’re in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range so when you are up for getting the kiddos out of the suburbs the wilderness is close. 

Check out the calendar of events for Elk Grove: https://www.elkgrovecity.org/all-events


 Lifestyle of Elk Grove

There is no business district within the city limits of Elk Grove. Which means you either work from home or you’re doing the 15+ mile commute into Sacramento. That doesn’t sound like much but traffic is brutal so be ready for that. There are legends of super-commuters who make the hike into San Francisco from this area but seriously that is not a life. 


Worklife of Elk Grove

The development plans for Old Town make us think there is hope for Elk Grove becoming a more hospitable social experience to go along with its benefits as a traditional suburb. Suburban cities that have a more interesting commercial district are all the rage and if you want to get in on the ground floor before Elk Grove makes progress in that direction come check it out. 

Hope/Progress

Why You Should Move Here Now?

Laguna West is an upscale neighborhood that families in Elk Grove love. It has three different communities, all with different amenities; soccer fields, parks, waterways, fishing, beautiful walks, newer big homes and excellent public schools. If you pick the Stone Lake community you also get a country club-like community center with a pool, events center, courts and more. 

Another nice option is Foulks Ranch. It's a pedestrian and bike-friendly area and is home to Kloss Park, a 22-acre oasis of play for the kiddos with tons of playgrounds, ball fields and after-school and summer camp offerings. 
- Laguna West
- Foulks Ranch


Families

Laguna West

Elk Grove has perfect weather for retirees. The cost of living is pricier than Arizona or Nevada but if you can make the money work the climate and living options are friendly. Outside traditional housing (lots of master-bedrooms on the first floor) there are great retirement communities like The Park at Laguna Springs. 

The Park is more campus than retirement home and like a campus it's pretty much a self-contained city. It has housing options for every taste, independent living or assisted/memory Care, first-class food, fitness facility, movie theater, full-time housekeeping staff, fitness coaching and just about everything else you can think of. 
- The Park at Laguna Springs
- WellQuest of Elk Grove

Retirees

The Park at Laguna Springs

Elk Grove

**How's Elk Grove like?**

Elk Grove is an extremely bland suburbia with zero trace of culture. People commute an hour one way to their 8 to 5 median income state job in Sacramento then commute back to home to their cookie cutter house and watch Netflix and repeat. On the weekends they take their kids to soccer/baseball games or "lay low" and then repeat the cycle until their kids are grown and they can retire and move away from Elk Grove. There are no interesting events, no interesting architecture, no interesting businesses, or interesting geography and ever since Laguna Larry moved to Vegas there are no interesting people. The only bars are at Applebee's, chili's, etc. The infrastructure sucks as there is only buses and all the housing communities were built to encourage car culture. All the surface streets are full of traffic. Traffic and gridlock is only increasing as well.

When I lived there briefly I felt it was like a type of middle class prison. Like if you surrendered all your desires and interests just to have a stable lifestyle. I'd recommend living in North Natomas instead. Atleast you'd be closer to downtown, the bay and the airport.

**How's Elk Grove like?**

Yeah, it'd be nice to live closer to the fun parts of Sacramento. But... if I get a mortgage on a place closer to midtown, I'd save maybe $100 a month in uber fees, but pay hundreds more in mortgage fees.

If I bought a house in midtown, I'd be stuck with the higher mortgage payments until I sell the house or pay off the mortgage.

If I get a house in Elk Grove I'd have a significantly lower mortgage. If I ever don't feel like paying $40 for uber I could just go to a bar in Elk Grove or drink at home with some company lol

To be honest the main reason I go to popular bars or restaurants is to go on tinder dates or something. Unless someone else suggests it, I rarely feel the urge to go to popular/expensive bars or restaurants. I'm pretty easily satisfied when it comes to bars and restaurants. As long as they serve decent tequila I'm happy lol.

When it comes to socializing, I usually prefer just spending time outdoors with people.

Being close to the popular bars would still be great! But it's not really #1 on the list of priorities for me at the moment.

If I were married with kids I'm not sure I'd be super eager to go out every weekend anyways lol

I want to buy a house before it gets too expensive. I'm worried that if I wait too long to buy a house, I won't be able to afford it once I start a family. Houses in/near Sacramento are already way more expensive now than they were 5 years ago, and it's probably going to keep going up. I want to get an affordable monthly mortgage while I still can.

Midtown seems cool, and I'd like to live near it, but there aren't any decent homes for sale there that are within my budget.

Places like Land Park and East Sacramento seem nice, but I probably couldn't afford to buy a nice 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with nice front and back yards there. I could afford to rent there, but that's not really my goal at the moment.

Pocket seems nice, is relatively cheap and has a relatively low crime rate. It's also pretty close to midtown. But it's significantly more expensive than Elk Grove, and the schools tend to be significantly worse. Schools in Sacramento tend to be surprisingly bad in general. And I think Pocket a high risk of flooding. I think Natomas does too. I kinda wanna choose Pocket just because of the proximity to midtown/the rest of Sacramento, but I'm not sure if the drawbacks are worth it.

Sorry for the long post, haha. I'm mostly writing this out to help me articulate my own thoughts. I appreciate the input! I might still change my mind, this is a pretty big decision for me, and I'm still in the very early stages of researching and weighing out all the pros and cons.

**Considering moving from St.Louis,MO suburb to Elk Grove, CA, Is it worth it?**

Considering moving from St.Louis,MO suburb to Elk Grove, CA, Is it  is growing rapidly and the new casino is well on its way to completion, possibly opening this summer from what I’ve heard. The city is also trying to lure the Sacramento Zoo to a plot of land in the south end of town. Having lived here for over 20 years I would say try to find a spot on the west side where things seem more calm than other parts. Sadly for us, housing costs are about 100K higher than 18 months ago and I don’t know if we will be able to buy a house here anytime soon. The elementary schools including Sims and Stonelake are very good. The middle school that my oldest attends has had trouble with fights almost daily, resulting in a police presence on campus often. I wish you the best in your decision process! As mentioned by another commentator, it does get hot in the summer, and the last couple winters have been pretty dry, for what it’s worth.

**Considering moving from St.Louis,MO suburb to Elk Grove, CA, Is it worth it?**

PRO:

Large school district

Nice regional park

Maybe a zoo in the future

Access to two major freeways

Typical suburbia with typical crimes

Typical suburban shopping with major chains

Developing a faster route to Folsom Area



CON:

Bad traffic

Nowhere close to a traditional mall (Arden Fair Mall is closest)

Try to move south of Sheldon Road, some rough areas north of Cosumnes River College

Train tracks cut portions of Elk Grove off, horrible when a train has to stop (runs north/south)

Elk Grove, California

Gold Country

Looklyloo Score: 79

We're on it!