Moving to Modesto CA ?

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My husband is on a job interview today in Modesto. Does anybody live in the Area? What can you tell me? We now live in The Hudson Valley of NY about 1 hour north of NYC.

I hear the weather is great . How is the cost of living/ House prices/ schools and Taxes

Any info good or bad will help
Thanks in Advance

Mary Ellen

 

[SilverCeladon]

The cost of living is high, well because it's California. I live in Lodi, which is about 20 minutes north of Modesto. House prices are the best in California right now and you definitely will have your pic. I don't know about schools in that area though. If you move to Lodi I can tell you all about that!

 

[abouley]

Well depends on what you call great as far as weather? The central valley (where Modesto is located) gets hot in the summer. It'll be in the mid to upper 90's most of the summer with some days well over 100. Hot but not usually too humid. Winter it'll be cold and rainy but no snow. Does get foggy.

I live in Tracy which is about 30 miles from Modesto. Can't really tell you much about the schools there except that CA in general is having MAJOR budget issues this year. Schools are having to really slash budgets and cut out extras.

The good thing about the central valley is it's proximity to a lot of great things. You are 90 minutes or so from Sacramento, and San Francisco. You are an hour or so to Yosemite. 5-6 hours from Southern California etc. Lots to do close by although I wouldn't say that there is a ton in most of the Cities themselves besides the needed shopping, restaurants, etc.

Houses are down now but CA is expensive. I know in Tracy that you can get into a really nice 2500+ SF house in the mid 200's right now. Modesto should be running down closer to $200K. Not sure if that's high where you are or not.

Good luck with the decision!

 

[barkley]

we used to live in dixon ca which is an hour or so from modesto. i'll toss in a few suggestions of what to consider re. cost of living from the perspective of someone who has moved from california to another state (what i took for granted as a normal cost but found big differences on)-

car registration-it can be much more expensive than the "norm" in other states

insurance (home and car)-varies greatly by the area in california you live in (and from town to town)

property taxes-in california it's driven by the price YOU paid for the home so a person who owns the identical home next door to you but paid more/less for it can have a substantialy different yearly bill. also varies based on bonds or surcharges where you live-again can vary within a town esp. if it's a newer development where developer bundled in parks/lighting etc. costs (we had one that added on to our costs for the first 15 years of ownership).

utilities-one of the locals can correct me if i'm wrong but does'nt modesto have it's own utility company? (or is that lodi?). otherwise you're looking to pacific gas and electric (PG&E). any home you are looking to renting or buying you can get the current owner to give you a statement for that shows the usage and cost for a year back (fairly good indicator on monthly cost and weather the house is well insulated). water and sewage rates can realy vary-i paid 1/3rd of what my mother paid for a neighboring city.

food-i find that the prices are about the same with the exception of produce. i could get most produce much less expensively in california (though i could never get my localy grown stuff except at the road side stands because they shipped it out of state-like where i live now).

schools-the only thing i know about the schools in the lodi/modesto area is that because some of their programs are done on 2 year funding cycles, instead of the big sweeping changes most california schools will see this fall, some of their schools will see 2 waves (fall '09 and fall '10). my best friend and her dh work for the schools there and he's dealing with the changes for this fall, her program will undergo it next year. i think that area also has a variety of school scheduals (i know when her kids were in different schools and she and her dh were in different none of them had the same calendar) but i hear because of the economy there may be more of trend in fall '10 to go back to the traditional schedual (start in september vs. july to save on air conditioning the schools).

 

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Thanks to all who replied!!
I knew I could count on some Dis folks to get some input.
My DH will be on a 10PM flight home so I will hear tomorrow how the interview went. They told him he was 1 of 4 to be interviewed. and he has been out of work since Oct 2008, so we will go where he finds a job.
If he gets the job, I'll call on you all for more info

Thanks again

Mary Ellen

 

[Judy from Boise]

good luck !

 

[DisneyLover111]

As soon as I hear Modesto, I think of Scott Peterson may he rot in jail.

 

[sassy*girl]

I live here and its very hot right now 104 today and 106 tomorrow. If you move here make sure you are in the Sylvan school district. Lots of forclosures here right now so you can get a good deal on a house.

Yes we all agree Scott Peterson should rot in hell. Do you remember the yosemite murders or the Chandra Levy case? Those are other big news storys from here.

Good luck on your husband getting the new job.