Moving to Vacaville. Any DUers out there?

I'm moving to Vacaville after eight years in the gloriously Liberal enclave of Oakland. I'm excited about starting the next chapter in my life and about the beautiful house my partner and I scored. I'm looking forward to patronizing the small, family farms out there and eating fresh, wholesome food. But the people, the political climate, etc., that's the stuff I'm a little apprehensive about. Any thoughts, opinions, pointers, etc. would be much appreciated. Thank you!

We go to the Fresh Choice there once in awhile, and my wife shops the outlet stores.

Seems like a standard Bay Area satellite bedroom community. I knew a commercial film photographer that moved there in the nineties -- they had researched it, and liked it better than Sacramento.

My mother and sister live there, but we don't talk -- bad family history. Long story. However, I'm sure they did their homework before they bought the house -- they could have chosen anywhere in NorCal.

Wish I had more info, sorry.

Yeah, the outlet stores are a plus (I hate shopping, but if I really have to, I'd prefer to find a bargain) and the gas prices seem cheaper than Oakland/SF. I'm curious about Davis and Sac, too. I've never spent any time in either of these places, but anyone I know who went to school in Davis loved it.

We've got some virulent right-wingers, but the town has been mostly liberal since the 70's. A lot of really good people live here. Best schools in California.

I intend to be buried here.

It's a mixed bag. I had a lot of gay friends and some openly gay teachers in school. It was a "fairly" tolerant place. However, over the years, the religious fundametalists took over the school board and things went to hell, academically. Also, there is becoming a stronger fundamentalist hold on the area. Pick your friends carefully.

I'd be happy to go into more details in a PM.


-kt

fundie churches on almost every block, and that's what's making me a bit apprehensive. As for us, I'm a white female, and my parter is an AA male who practices Islam and chose an Islamic name. I have noticed a few "people of color" around, so hopefully we're not walking into a white supremest shit hole. We were around in the daytime today, and so were a lot of our neighbors, I noticed. Retirees? Military? Or have there been just that many layoffs? We're not sure why yet. Please PM me when you get a chance. I'd love to hear more. And thank you, Kerrytravelers.

about 25 mins. away.

That says a lot right there. Also the state hospital and prison leaves a mark on the general population in a way I can't quite explain. The strong military population is a mixed bag, some really neat people, and a lot of jerks. I can't exactly pin what it is about Cow Town, but I live between halfway between Vacaville and Davis, and chose to travel to Davis over Vacaville because it's downtown is vibrant alive and tolerant. Vacaville killed its core downtown when they built all that Factory outlet stuff. I think they shot themselves in the foot. Pacific hardware was the only draw for me. I loved the place; independently owned hardware store with employees that know the trades. The hardware store in Winters is owned and run by the same owners, so I often go there instead of Vacaville.

Oddly enough, I grew up in a prison town in Massachusetts and there was always a stigma about telling people where I was from, as nine times out of ten it illicted some sort of joke or snide comment. I'm looking forward to checking out Davis, for exactly the reasons you state. Thanks for your input, Brother Buzz!

:hi:
I enjoyed looking at your virtual gallery!
Here are some links for you-

Farm stands- http://www.co.solano.ca.us/about_solano/living/points_of_interest/farm_stands.asp
Lots o' info- http://www.napayolanoharvesttrails.org/
Rockville Park Fairfield, hike in the hills- http://www.ci.fairfield.ca.us/8802.htm
more hiking info, a little farther- http://daviswiki.org/Hiking_and_Backpacking

summer you can at least pick up some excellent local fruit & veggies.

and that's definitely one of the pluses of the area. Two weekends ago, I stopped at a fruit stand on the Vacaville-Dixon line off Midway Road. It was an odd and unexpected find; besides produce, she has a very extensive selection of Mediterranean and Middle eastern products. She said a lot of the doctors and nurses from the nearby medical center had requested them, so she hooked up with a wholesaler and started supplying them.

:hi: to you too, marzipanni! And thanks for checking out my site. And LOTS of thanks for these links! I've been to Rockville Park already, and I really liked it. I'm coming in from the hills of Oakland, and I'm an old trail runner, so its going to be an adjustment not having hills and woods right outside my door practically, though I may start riding my bike more instead. I have a Yolo-Solano bike map, and it looks pretty extensive.

...except for the prison.

I looked it up on the tubes, though, and it looks real purdy.

I understand your apprehension about the political climate. I lived in San Bernardino County for most of the *shrub administration. The simplest way to avoid conflict: When in Reagan Country, don't talk about politics with strangers. That kind of rule is easy for me to follow. I've been a loner all my life. No way for me to know how hard it'd be for you, though. And I tell you what, living out in the 909 was otherwise beautiful (except for summertime temperatures rivaling those on the surface of the sun...lol). What I'm TRYING to say is that living in such beautiful and sparsely populated country is exhilirating and was well worth it for me. If you're raising kids, however, be prepared for their school years to be...um...interesting.

That probably didn't help much, huh.

we don't have to concern ourselves with kids and schools. Upthread, a poster warned me about the fundie influence which has infiltrated the school board in Vacaville, and there do seem to be a lot of fundie churches around. Thanks for responding, Iggo!