18 replies to this topic

[ducky]

Blackstone (south of highway 50 in El Dorado Hills) has several gated neighborhoods -- without the high utility costs of Serrano due to the integrated solar panels that nearly every home has.

Good to know. Water is still high, though, isn't it?

[DougP]

Good to know. Water is still high, though, isn't it?

Actually, the entire area is dual-plumbed with both potable and recycled water for irrigation. As a result, you don't pay sewer charges or inflated water charges for irrigation. (The vast majority of our water use)

Long story short, the water charges when we first moved here were comparable to the old flat-rate that we had in Folsom. They have gone up since then, but I understand that the rates in Folsom have gone up as well to due to metering. (Don't get me wrong, I am certainly no fan of EID)

In any event, our home in Blackstone is 2x the size of the one we had in Folsom and our net utility costs are significantly lower due to the solar panels, dual-plumbed infrastructure, and the extreme energy efficient windows/light fixtures/insulation that the homes have.

[Barb J]

There are also homes in Empire Ranch that are gated - the JTS community at Natoma and Cameron. They are fairly large though. There are wonderful trails all through Empire Ranch.

Good luck and welcome to Folsom!

Barb J

[Pool Runner]

I was going to recommend Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills, as that community has a guard/attendant to access the community. It's definately on the much "Higher end" as far as communities go, but it's unique as there are a mix of Mansions, McMansions, Condos, Du-plex's and single family all on a golf course.

Truthfully I don't think gated communities are any safer than non. Like the others have stated, it mostly gives off the illusion that it is safer but in the end some people say the gates end up keeping the rift-raft inside the gates.

In Folsom we have some of the best police and services around period. There is no reason to not feel safe at all times gated or not gated. Just my two cents.