# Moving to Sacramento. Where to live and ride?



## zeeno (Mar 13, 2002)

Hey I am transferring to Sacramento from the Portland, Or. area and will be working at the airport. I wanted to know where is some good places to live in the Sac Met area with some good road riding nearby? I would like to stay within a 30 mile commute. 
Thanks


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

Davis is probably the nicest town within proximity of the airport (I assume you're talking Sac International). Also, the traffic coming out of there will be a lot better than what you'll encounter in much of Sacramento during rush hour, which has become pretty brutal in recent years.

The riding? Very flat, pretty uneventful aside from some wind (though the low traffic on the country roads is nice), unless you head west out past Winters (another nice little town, and probably cheaper rents than Davis) and get near Lake Berryessa.

The summers are also very, VERY hot. Get your riding in in the morning then, you'll be glad ya did.

Upshot:
If you want proximity to the more interesting riding, but with about a 25 mile work commute (all hwy or country roads tho', and little traffic), live in Winters. 

If you want the short commute (maybe 12 miles), and a nice (but expensive) college town, live in Davis.

If you want tons of traffic, more than a few ********/dumbasses, and some crime, live in Sacramento. 
Don't get me wrong, there are some nicer areas in Sac, but it's also swiss-cheesed with mediocre-to-bad ones.

You might also be looking at the map and be tempted by the town of Woodland. I used to work there, and it's not that great... pretty much a mini-Sacramento. I wouldn't call it a meth-lab town, but it's not light-years away from being one of those either.
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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Folsom. Close to hills, good roads, reasonably bike friendly, some good shops (and a few good mechanics), reasonable schools too.

No way I'd move West of Sac like Davis or Woodland. There's no climbing. I'm not sure I'd ride without hills.


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## zeeno (Mar 13, 2002)

How is the Roseville, Rocklin areas for living and riding? Also I like MTB ride and it would be nice to be not far from trails.


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Roseville/Rocklin are nice areas too, though a little more crowded than Folsom.


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## Andy69 (Jun 14, 2008)

I spent a couple of months there last fall. Rode both in the Folsom area and Davis. Davis is flat, Folsom hilly, and both were reachable in short order from where we were staying in West Sac. One thing I noticed is that a lot of the roads I saw were pretty narrow, particularly the ones along the rivers.

Personally I thought Davis was a nice town.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

JoelS said:


> Folsom. Close to hills, good roads, reasonably bike friendly, some good shops (and a few good mechanics), reasonable schools too.
> 
> No way I'd move West of Sac like Davis or Woodland. There's no climbing. I'm not sure I'd ride without hills.


Thing is, Sac International is northwest of Sac (again, I'm assumin' he isn't talking about the other Sac airport). If you live in Sac proper, you gotta go through Sac to get to it, and you don't wanna really do that during commute hours. 

Though I guess you could live someplace like Roseville or Rocklin, and take Riego Road out to the airport, staying north of most of the mess. There are a few hills out there, so that's good.

And yeah, Davis is flat as a pancake. But west of Winters isn't, and it ain't all that far away. West Davis or Winters, I'd at least take a look.
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## zeeno (Mar 13, 2002)

I will be commuting to Sac Inernational airport north of the town. It looks to me like Winters might to much of commute for me. How is the Antelope , Citrus Heights & Orangevale areas? I will be working a swingshift from 2pm to midnight. So I don't think I'll have much traffic.


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## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

Citrus Heights is fairly nice. I don't know Orangevale and Antelope that well. 

Swingshift is definitely a break in your favor.
.


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## fastmb (Oct 5, 2008)

lived in orangevale liked it, kind of quiet though. citrus heights has more to offer, a little closer to the freeway. antelope is hit and miss with neighborhoods. plenty of good riding both road and mountain near by.


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## Elfstone (Jun 27, 2006)

You may want to take a drive out to Folsom or check out their website. Plenty of great riding most of the year. Depending on where you live in Folsom, your always a short bike ride to the American river. You can ride from Folsom to Discovery Park and see only two surface streets. that's about a 70 mile bike ride to and from through turns and good climbs depending on your route. 

http://www.folsom.ca.us/depts/parks_n_recreation/bike_trails/bike_map.asp

Peace


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## digitalgiga (Feb 23, 2010)

Dude, i agree with you Folsom rocks! I love it out here in Sac town, i moved out from so cal and just got settled in. Biking down the American river is the way to go. Try it out for a few months and see what you think before you decide.


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## 103 (Oct 20, 2009)

SystemShock pretty much summed it up. 

If it's in your budget, go for Davis. The airport is 15 minutes away. (Head up County Road 102 and hop on the 5 freeway for a couple miles.) I moved up to Davis a couple of months ago from SoCal and really dig it up here. Quaint little college town with tons of local food places to grind on. Local road biking is really good, MTB not so much.


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