Salinas
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Great for
- Clean & Green
- Lack of Traffic
- Medical Facilities
- Parks & Recreation
- Peace & Quiet
Not great for
- No ratings yet
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Retirees
- Families with kids
- Singles
- Country Lovers
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Reviews
Salinas
"It depends on neighborhood"
Rating Salinas as a whole is quite difficult. Overall, the city can easily be summed up as a small blue collar city with a crime problem in it's less savory parts and some leafy enclaves in the South and Norther-East.
Depending on your neighborhood, you may have drastically different experiences in living in Salinas. Maple, Monterey and Mission Park (South) and Creekbridge (Northeast) are made up of spacious single family houses, well tended gardens, wide tree lined streets and have little crime. Here, life tends to be quiet, comfortable and the sidewalks roll up right at 7 o'clock.
"East Salinas," which typically refers to the inner parts of the city's geographic east, bounded by open fields to the north, Freedom Parkway to the East, city limits to the South, and US Hwy. 101 to the west, has earned itself a notorious reputation and Monterey County the highest homicide rate per capita among California counties.
The rest of the city is a toss-up that can change from one block to the next: tree-lined street with nicely kept houses to this side of the street, modest ranch homes turned wanna-be kitsch haciendas with beat up cars crowding barren front yards on the other. Crime rates vary accordingly. Given the very blue collar nature of the city, having HOA can be worth it to protect your neighborhood's aesthetic.
Neat thing throughout is that the city has a pretty good street grid with little traffic congestion. For my commute within town, I can fly straight cross town on city streets in 15min at (legal) speeds of up to 55mp/h! There's usually several ways to get to the same place if one route is clogged, and the freeway is easy to get to even if you live well outside of earshot.
As a rule of thumb:
1) If the entire neighborhood was built after 1990 or is south of Maple and west of Abbott St., you're in it for peaceful suburban living.
2) If is between downtown and Freedom Pkwy. and has fields to the north and an airport to the South, buy some bars for your windows and keep the police watch commander's phone number handy.
3) All others: YMMV.
Depending on your neighborhood, you may have drastically different experiences in living in Salinas. Maple, Monterey and Mission Park (South) and Creekbridge (Northeast) are made up of spacious single family houses, well tended gardens, wide tree lined streets and have little crime. Here, life tends to be quiet, comfortable and the sidewalks roll up right at 7 o'clock.
"East Salinas," which typically refers to the inner parts of the city's geographic east, bounded by open fields to the north, Freedom Parkway to the East, city limits to the South, and US Hwy. 101 to the west, has earned itself a notorious reputation and Monterey County the highest homicide rate per capita among California counties.
The rest of the city is a toss-up that can change from one block to the next: tree-lined street with nicely kept houses to this side of the street, modest ranch homes turned wanna-be kitsch haciendas with beat up cars crowding barren front yards on the other. Crime rates vary accordingly. Given the very blue collar nature of the city, having HOA can be worth it to protect your neighborhood's aesthetic.
Neat thing throughout is that the city has a pretty good street grid with little traffic congestion. For my commute within town, I can fly straight cross town on city streets in 15min at (legal) speeds of up to 55mp/h! There's usually several ways to get to the same place if one route is clogged, and the freeway is easy to get to even if you live well outside of earshot.
As a rule of thumb:
1) If the entire neighborhood was built after 1990 or is south of Maple and west of Abbott St., you're in it for peaceful suburban living.
2) If is between downtown and Freedom Pkwy. and has fields to the north and an airport to the South, buy some bars for your windows and keep the police watch commander's phone number handy.
3) All others: YMMV.
Pros
- Peaceful (if in right neighorhood)
- Attractive natural sorrounding
- Easy to get around town
Cons
- Many high crime neighborhoods
- Few good resturants
- Little good shopping
Recommended for
- Professionals
- Singles
- Families with kids
- Retirees
- Country Lovers
