29 replies to this topic

[nornie]

We are thinking of putting an offer on a home in Natoma Station. We currently live in Folsom, and are considering various areas, currently the Parkway and Natoma Station in particular (I do know they are very different!). We like how the Parkway is maintained, but irks us how much we'd be paying in homeowners and Mello Roos.

Any feedback on positives and negatives would be appreciated. Do you like living here? Anything you dislike? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood (I have heard maybe crime has increased due to light rail, but that sounds like perhaps rumor)? Do you feel like your properties will hold their value in the future or is the neighborhood declining at all (I only ask b/c I feel like our current neighborhood might decline in the coming years). Meaning, do people take care of their homes and yards (from what I can see, seems like it!)

I have a child entering kindergarten this fall. Are you happy with Natoma Station Elementary and Sutter Middle if you have children at those schools? Currently we live in an area slated to attend Judah, then Sutter. We are looking into a slightly larger home and honestly, a little better elementary school. I'd like my child to have school friends in the neighborhood, which wouldn't be the case in our current home b/c it is not our "neighborhood school."

Thank you for your feedback!

[cw68]

I love Natoma Station, it's one of my favorite neighborhoods in the area. Bought a house here in 2006, sold it in 2008 and yet -- shocker -- I still live in the neighborhood. I love how "neighborhoody" it is. People are always out walking around, sitting on their front porches, interacting with their neighbors; things that make a neighborhood safe. Light rail doesn't effect anything in the neighborhood in terms of crime. It's a bonus for property values with increasing traffic and fuel costs. I have two children in the elementary school and have been very happy with the school. Good teachers, great parents.

I think Natoma Station is an example of how you don't need an HOA to keep a neighborhood nice. Granted, there are a few houses that aren't kept up, but it's truly just a few. 99.9% of the homes are taken care of very well. People in the neighborhood keep putting money into their homes and people tend to stay for a while. One thing I really like about the neighborhood is the mix of ages of people. Some built homes 20+ years ago and have stayed, some have moved out as their children aged allowing younger couples and families to move it. You find a great mix of ages, occupations, family-status and the like.

The neighborhood has trees and vegetation, varying yards and paint colors. It looks lived in, not like the Truman Show. Lastly, being so close to the 50 and the closest Folsom exit to downtown and the light rail is a bonus for commuting, which combined with the light rail and proximity to Lake Natoma contributes to home values.

[SacDJ]

I've been in NS since 2002 and it's a great place to live. Close to Yogurt Hut and Alejandros.

[Steve Heard]

They are very different neighborhoods with different things to offer.

Parkway: Uniform, clean, patrolled by private security, nature trails running through it, HOA enforcing rules which maintain the integrity of the neighborhood.

Many of those features, however, are what turns some people off from the neigborhood. The rules can be restrictive, and you can get citations for parking your car in your driveway or on the street too long. The HOA fees are tougher to swallow for many folks who are looking for bargains.

Natoma Station: Close to shopping and transportation, more diverse housing styles, public art pieces, and mature trees. No HOA.

Most homes are older and some may need updating or repairs.

Both are great neighborhoods. I don't think you can go wrong either way, but HOA dues rarely go down, and for those who don't really need it, the cost could be an unnecessary burden.

[chris v]

Love Natoma Station... been here since 2002. Honestly, I wouldn't live anywhere but here because we love the school so much. We have outgrown our house in the Bungalows but when we look for a new one it will still be in NS.

And Steve, there is no HOA but there are mello roos.

[fromhnl]

[quote name='stevethedad' date='Mar 4 2010, 11:14 PM' post='374983']
The rules can be restrictive, and you can get citations for parking your car in your driveway or on the street too long. The HOA fees are tougher to swallow for many folks who are looking for bargains. >>

Just a minor correction...residents at Parkway are allowed to park on their driveway for as long as they want, however there is no overnight street parking allowed. The HOA fees include full gardening/landscaping services for the front yards.

[bookwom]

I think the Parkway's dues also include basic cable.

We rented in the Parkway for a while before buying our current house in Natoma Station.

Parkway- Beautiful trails going right through. The front of the houses are all kept up professionally - however, they all look the same. Felt like I was living in Pleasantville. Got citations for parking overnight and for leaving my trash cans out too long. Some people like this, My husband and I found it to be a little too Big Brother for us. Also, in the section we were in, the yards were pretty small.

Natoma Station - Most, but not all, of the houses are kept up well. The proximity of the school helps to keep the property values up. My kids are able to walk/bike to their friends houses and to the park. Its nice that they now live near their school friends. I feel very safe here. As someone said upthread, when the weather's nice you see a lot of people out walking and biking. When school is starting or ending, there is a swarm of kids walking in the neighborhood. I like the family feel of the place. The only negative I can see is that it is possible to have a poorly kept up house nearby.

As you can see, I love Natoma Station. But I know there are also people who love the Parkway. To each his own.

[EDF]

I've been here for over 20 years...selling real estate.... and I don't think you can find a bad neighborhood in Folsom really...

Schools...? well it's nice to live near one... my brats lived just a few doors away from Oak Chan when we lived in Lexington Hills so I can see why you'd like N.S.

They've maintained their value in N.S... I like the homes there... they have the larger lots than the new stuff out there now... and it's nice to drive down there with all the lush landscaping and trees that are abundant there...

As for the homes... so what if they are a little dated.. you can always fix em up...

you've got great access to the freeways... the Factory outlets... grocery stores like Winco/Safeway and a plethora of restaurants really close...

I say go for it... especially if you don't have an HOA that can go up.. cause they never go down...

I hope this helps...

[bordercolliefan]

Natoma Station is a great place to raise kids.

--lots of at-home moms -- neighborhood does not have "abandoned" feel during the day

--relaxed feel. lots of kids play out front

--more down to earth than some Folsom neighborhoods. less "keeping up with the joneses."

--my kids have had a great experience at NSE. Lots of friendly, nice kids from nice families. Teachers are experienced and effective. The kids learn a lot but there is no "pressure cooker" atmosphere -- there is plenty of fun in the school day.

[giacomo]

We've lived in Natoma Station since 1993. Original owners and am proud to live in Natoma Station. Yards and homes are for the most part maintained and well kept and fully grown trees line many of the streets. I don't think crime is any more or less than other neighborhoods. Neighbors are friendly and you'll see lots of block parties, either Memorial Day weekend, 4th of July or other occassions. Come Christmas time many of the homes put up holiday decorations. Natoma Station is a top elementary school and still has a 6th grade,(though for how many more school years that remains to be seen) .
We chose to have our kids attend 6th grade at NSES rather than at Sutter. We've been very happy with the teachers at NSES. I'm sure either neighborhood you choose will be great for you and your family.

[folsom500]

NS is a great place to live-
While Parkway has the paths within it - they are just a few steps away in NS - Farley has been in NS in Woodbridge since 1994 and we moved to Hopfield Dr in 2002- I love the extra large lot we have- ( nearly 14,000 sft )
For the most part the yards are kept up and on our street nearly all the houses have been repainted in the last 1-5 years. I think last year 7 houses on our street were repainted.
Also we can do anything we want with our front and back yards- we last year took out our lawn and put in large wood rounds for a walkway and nice rocks and a new patio out front.
We can paint our houses any color we want and if we need to , park on the street-

We don't need no stinking HOA and NO rules about what we can and cant do -- and it all works out - as long as you do not park your RV , boat or other on the street- Neighbors will call that in .
Like CW said- the neighborhoods have changed with a nice mix of younger families with kids and those that have been their since 1992 when the first houses were built .

A few houses stand out as needing yard or house work, but they are the minority.

There is a short sale house that does need some work on Hopfield - if interested contact Steve the dad here or via his advert.. it is a great street with many of the most unique houses in NS ..

Cheers
F500

[brown]

There is a short sale house that does need some work on Hopfield - if interested contact Steve the dad here or via his advert.. it is a great street with many of the most unique houses in NS ..

Cheers
F500

I agree, Hopfield is a great street and Natoma Station in general is a nice place to live.

[leenda]

We lived in NS for 8 years and then moved to the Parkway last year. NS is OK....but I didn't find it to be a place I'd consider buying a home. IMHO, the houses (in terms of their overall structure) are very shoddy and with the influx of the lite-rail crowd and the proximity to the Outlets, I saw the neighborhood's appeal diminish rapidly from the time we moved in there (directly behind Tahoe Joes's/Taco Loco) in 2001 and when we moved in September of 2009 to the Parkway.

But, I guess it depends upon your individual wants and/or needs.....I will admit that the neighborhood is very family oriented; however, I never really "felt at home" there. In the 8 years that we lived there, I think we associated with, perhaps, two or three families (and it was always with a 10-foot pole extended).

Now that we're in the Parkway, I truly feel that we've found our niche. And, we were fortunate to get into a house that doesn't look out the front windows/garage to another house -- we get to stare at trees and bike trails. Very serene.

Everyone has their preferences. Hope you find what suits YOU!

[Steve Heard]

There is a short sale house that does need some work on Hopfield - if interested contact Steve the dad here or via his advert..

Thanks for the plug, F500

[bordercolliefan]

We lived in NS for 8 years and then moved to the Parkway last year. NS is OK....but I didn't find it to be a place I'd consider buying a home. IMHO, the houses (in terms of their overall structure) are very shoddy and with the influx of the lite-rail crowd and the proximity to the Outlets, I saw the neighborhood's appeal diminish rapidly from the time we moved in there (directly behind Tahoe Joes's/Taco Loco) in 2001 and when we moved in September of 2009 to the Parkway.

But, I guess it depends upon your individual wants and/or needs.....I will admit that the neighborhood is very family oriented; however, I never really "felt at home" there. In the 8 years that we lived there, I think we associated with, perhaps, two or three families (and it was always with a 10-foot pole extended).

If you were directly behind Tahoe Joe's, I would call that the fringes of Natoma Station. I'm really not familiar with that neighborhood. But I can tell you, in the heart of Natoma Station (i.e., the streets off of and around Turnpike), you would be hard-pressed to live 8 years and only associate with 2 or 3 families. Similarly to what another poster posted, our court has block parties 3-4 times a year... all the kids on the court are allowed to play on my neighbor's "communal" trampoline, we've received cookies and bread from several neighbors around Xmas time, etc.

I will agree that NS isn't as "perfect looking" as the Parkway. That's what an HOA will get you!

We could afford to move to a more frou-frou area of Folsom -- say, the Parkway or Empire Ranch -- but we like the down-to-earthness of Natoma Station. It is, truly, a matter of taste and what makes you feel at home.