You have got to check out Folsom!!

We moved here a few years go from the North Natomas area of Sacramento. I have a nine year old, and the schools here in Folsom are amazing, and besides the lake, there are tons of trails and bike paths (SO many people ride bikes here!).

There’s also Folsom Lake Community College, which houses the Harris Center for the Arts, a very active Historic District that has farmers markets, an ice rink in the winter, craft fairs, etc.

PLUS, Folsom’s location is great for all sorts of day trips: gold mining towns like Coloma and Nevada City are within an hour’s drive, Lake Tahoe is only 2 hours away, ski resorts about 1.5 hours away, and a visit to San Francisco would take you about 2 hours to get there.

I miss Sacramento so much and wish I could move back, but I'm stuck in Georgia. I left about 10 years ago, so some of my recollections might be a little out of date.

The better school districts tend to be in the upper middle class suburbs that are generally more expensive, less diverse, and somewhat more right-leaning, at least by California standards. The areas that come to mind are Rocklin, Roseville, Granite Bay, Lincoln, Folsom, Loomis, El Dorado Hills. I grew up in Lincoln when it was semi-rural, but it has mostly been taken over by people moving out of the more expensive bay area and prices have gone way up. Davis is a major college town that might be more liberal.

If you are willing to make a longer drive, Auburn, Grass Valley, Colfax, Placerville, and various small towns in the foothills would likely suit your outdoor and hiking preferences.

There are some great areas in the core, like Land Park and East Sacramento, but they tend to be very expensive and in some cases there are really bad areas a few blocks away.

West Sacramento and Woodland both seemed nice to me, but I'm not that familiar with either. I lived in North Natomas for several years and really liked it, but you have to keep an eye on the school boundaries. Where I lived, my kids would have been sent to some unsafe middle and high schools in a neighboring area, even though the Natomas schools were closer. Also, my wife says the area has gotten worse since we left, but I don't know in what way.

Where will you be working? I live in Elk Grove, on the south west area, and it is a lovely suburban situation with good schools, but it gets pricey and is far enough from midtown to be a pain to commute. A lot of the areas with good schools are like that. Where you work is a huge factor in considering options.