Community Profiles

When Rocklin city staff and members of the Rocklin Chamber of Commerce canvassed residents during a city walk last year, they learned that people rated parks high on their list of likes about their community. Rocklin has 30 community and neighborhood parks, a high number for a city its size -- about 20 square miles -- and population -- slightly more than 56,000.

Natomas is close to everything, and that's a major attraction to people who live there. The community is about five miles from downtown Sacramento and five minutes from Sacramento International Airport.

Ellen Zagory is typical of many Davis residents. She attended the University of California at Davis, moved to another area, then moved back. So did Jeff and Jenny McCormick. He attended UC Davis as an undergraduate; she spent four years in medical school. They moved to Boston, then returned.

Lincoln's growth ballooned during the home-building boom of the past decade, then slowed with the real estate downturn. But these days, community leaders in the Placer County city anticipate additional growth and new retail construction.

Whether you come to cheer the River Cats at Raley Field or find furnishings at Ikea or you're a resident who works out at the city's fitness center or takes an early-morning stroll along the Sacramento River, you're bound to enjoy your time in West Sacramento.

Rancho Cordova is bent on improving its quality of life and beautifying its neighborhoods with an initiative city officials say is changing the face of the community. The program, Growing Strong Neighborhoods, was launched by Mayor David Sander in 2007 in his first term as mayor and is being upgraded this year in Sanders’ second round as mayor.

The small-town atmosphere is one of the key reasons people are drawn to Galt, a community in the southernmost part of Sacramento County. Galt is a friendly place, where people say they like going to the grocery store and seeing their friends.

It’s the reason Mayor Barbara Payne moved to Galt more than 17 years ago. “I like the small-town feel here,” she said. “I didn’t want to get lost in a big city where I didn’t know people.”

Some people call Robert C. Powell a visionary, a developer who designed a master-planned community that has not lacked in appeal nor lost its value over the years. Powell is the person responsible for Gold River, an upscale community of 2,736 homes and condominiums that’s accessible via Highway 50 and Sunrise Boulevard. Gold River consists of 25 villages with a varying number of residences in each — from as few as six homes in Empire Oaks Village to 226 homes in Mother Lode. Each gated village is named for a historical person, place or event. Bret Harte Village, for example, is named for one of California’s most prominent writers of the 1860s. Gold Spike Village commemorates the building of the first transcontinental railroad.

For some people, moving 30 minutes away from shopping options can be a significant lifestyle change, but McQuillen said she has several clients relocating from high-density areas in Southern California and the Central Valley. Many are buying homes before they retire because of the current attractive prices. The number of active-adult communities, for people age 55 and older, she said, has increased in the area in the past five years, to about a half dozen. “There are a lot of professional artists and writers here, and telecommuters are a huge chunk of the market,” she said. Many live in surrounding communities such as Pollock Pines, which has heavy snow, and Camino, which has less.

When Jim Sewell joined Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills, he and his wife, Cheryl, purchased a lot at Serrano in case they ever decided to move there. They loved the area, and Jim liked the golf course and the club. The couple had lived for 25 years in Fair Oaks, where they raised their two children. Their life was centered around the children’s school and their activities, church and friends. In 2001, the Sewells decided to move to Serrano. “We designed and built our home as empty nesters and have been very pleased,” Cheryl Sewell said. “We thought about how the two of us lived and came up with a floor plan that has really worked for us. It’s been a great home to entertain in, and every day we are grateful. We love El Dorado Hills, and we especially love the community of Serrano. It is quiet and beautiful.” The couple didn’t think their family would live nearby, but now their two children and their spouses, their grandchildren and Cheryl’s 95-year-old mother have homes in Serrano. They’ve joined many who have headed for the hills.

From a community that housed workers at McClellan Air Force Base for more than half a century to a quiet suburb today, Antelope has served as a strategically located residential area in Sacramento County.

It’s bordered on the north by the Sacramento-Placer county line, on the east by the Citrus Heights city limits, on the south by Antelope Road and U Street and on the west by 26th Street.

Street names such as Lockheed Court, Boeing Road and Cessna Drive offer a clue to Cameron Park’s unique feature: Part of the community is located on an airstrip. In fact, cruising along Cameron Park Drive, it’s possible — and surprising to some — to see airplanes parked in hangars connected to the homes in Cameron Airpark Estates.

From vintage farmhouses to horse properties, Orangevale offers real estate that appeals to new and longtime residents who enjoy a country atmosphere in a prime location.

Kirk and Laila Bottomly chose Orangevale because it’s similar to Fallbrook, a community near San Diego where they lived until three years ago. They moved to the Sacramento area when he became pastor of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church and discovered Orangevale as temporary renters. Through a short sale, they bought a home on a large lot with several fruit trees. Linda Creek runs along the back of their property.

A pocket-shaped piece of farmland folded into a bend of the Sacramento River might not have seemed the stuff of dreams to anyone else in the late 1950s, but it was exactly that to Harold Parker.

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.

Fair Oaks is known for its rolling hills, beautiful trees, quaint village … and chickens. Lots of chickens. Although no one knows for sure where the fowl population came from, they’re part of the community and even celebrated.