Auburn is the sort of town where the mayor personally serves the popcorn on free downtown movie nights, the fairgrounds offers something fun to do nearly every weekend, and grocery shopping can be a time-consuming affair.

“It’s very community-oriented here, so when you go to the grocery store, you’ll see two or three people you know every time,” said Susan Teixeira, broker for Better Homes Realty in Auburn. “Sometimes I’m wearing my incognito wear — baseball cap and hair in a ponytail — just so I can get my shopping done.”

Knowing the neighbors is easy in Auburn and one of the pleasantries that makes residents stay put and attracts newcomers looking for a small-town connection.

Reese Browning, owner of Old Town Pizza, learned firsthand the power of such connection in 2005 when a fire devastated his business and several others in Auburn’s historical downtown core.

“The town pulled together and had fundraising events to help employees who lost their jobs during the rebuilding,” he said. “The city established special expedited processes for permitting. We reopened six months to the day. It was so unique, and it felt special.”

Auburn residents consider their city, the county seat of Placer County with a population of 13,330, one of the best places to live in Northern California.

Bordered by the American River Canyon, the city is part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, 30 miles northeast of Sacramento, and was a key transportation and supply hub after the discovery of gold in 1848.

Once home to the hill Nisenan, a subset of the Maidu tribe of native Americans, the site was first visited in the 1840s by hunters and fur trappers, then quickly transformed into a bustling mining and supply camp in Auburn Ravine during the Gold Rush. It officially became known as Auburn in 1849.

Trails that served riders on horseback and mule, as well as wagons and stagecoaches, provide the basis of the city’s commercial and residential streets today.

Auburn incorporated in 1860 and again in 1888. The stately Placer County Courthouse in Auburn was completed in 1898.

The city’s location ensures temperate weather much of the time.

“We’re unique geographically,” Browning said. “Auburn is above the fog and below the snow. It’ll be foggy in Sacramento and snowing in the mountains, and it’ll be beautiful and sunny in Auburn. It’s an amazing area.”

And it’s a welcoming area, too, said Auburn Mayor Bill Kirby, urologist by day, volunteer popcorn maker by night and resident of the city for more than 30 years.

“Auburn’s a very grounded community, with people who’ve been here awhile and people who are just moving in,” he said.

Those looking to move in have many home-buying choices, including mobile homes, modest ranch homes, modern luxury homes and historically significant Victorians, said Marti Messina, a Realtor associate in the Auburn office of Lyon Real Estate.

Messina said entry-level homes in Auburn are typically 1,300 square feet to 1,600 square feet, in good condition and priced from the mid-$250,000s. At the high end are homes priced at $900,000 or more.

The Auburn real estate picture has some differences compared with other locales in the Sacramento region, she said.

“We didn’t have the influx of mass-produced homes at the height of the market, as in other areas, so we don’t have as big a distressed-sale market here,” Messina said. “Also, there are a couple of condo developments in Auburn but not as many as in other communities.”

A big draw for Auburn residents and visitors is its celebration of life indoors and outdoors.

The Auburn State Recreation Area is the site of many endurance-sports events, including the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and the Tevis Cup Equestrian Ride. Both have set international standards for equestrian and running endurance competition.

The visual, performing and literary arts also flourish in Auburn. Among the city’s many arts groups are the Auburn Symphony, Placer Community Theater, the Foothill Storytelling Guild, the Placer Artists League and the year-old Auburn Hip Hop Congress, which has galvanized the city’s young people to express themselves through poetry, music, dance and art.

Janet Motenko is the advertising special sections editor for The Sacramento Bee.

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