Woodlake

Woodlake is one of the best neighborhoods in Sacramento. It's right up there with East Sacramento, Land Park, and Curtis park as one of the residential neighborhoods that attracts a lot of people who make good incomes and can afford to be choosy. It's got a lot of older, stately homes, a lot of history and charm and popular amenities like an ice rink, swim club, and creek with trails.

Woodlake is a low crime, high income neighborhood of historic homes and larger lots. It's a little bit Curtis Park meets a little bit Sierra Oaks. It's got the historic feel and progressive cultural bent of East Sac and Curtis Park, but the larger lots and more suburban tone of Sierra Oaks.

The average sale price of a 3/2+ over the past year was $475,000 and values are growing strong due to high demand and low inventory. Inventory is and will likely remain low because the neighborhood is small and is mostly long-term homeowners. Woodlake attracts mostly educated professionals, with a number of prominent business leaders, lawyers, doctors, and folks who work in and around the Capitol. There are a lot of LGBT couples and families. There's also a strong core of people who grew up in Woodlake.

The east/west distinction mentioned in the previous review is overstated. While most of the historic homes are east of the greenbelt, many of the homes on the west side have large lots and high values. On both sides of the greenbelt, you'll find some some well-maintained apartments and some homes over $1,000,000.

The neighborhood motto, "where neighbors are friends," is taken seriously and neighborhood parties and the Fourth of July parade give a nice small town feel to the neighborhood. Because of its reputation for being friendly, safe, and affluent, Woodlake is a magnet for trick-or-treaters and homeowners could easily be visited by hundreds on Halloween. A neighborhood contest names winners for best holiday lights.

The local public school meets the needs of some families in the area but Woodlake is especially attractive to families planning on public charters (Washington STEAM (10 min away), private schools (St. Ignatius (10 minutes), St. Michaels Episcopal (15 min), Country Day (15 min), St. Francis HS (15 min), Jesuit HS (18 min) and families without children at home. Woodlake has an affordable private swim club centered on a 1920s pool fed by frequently refreshed natural water and without most of the chemical treatment of most pools. There is also a popular seasonal ice rink.

Like any nice neighborhood in Sacramento, there are some quality of life issues around homelessness and folks from outside the neighborhood, but the voluntary (non-HOA) Woodlake Neighborhood Association has paid for private security patrols since 2016 and there much less of that now than even East Sacramento or Land Park.

One of the challenges for the neighborhood is much of the area immediately outside it is just beginning to see new development. The neighborhood immediately North of Woodlake, Old North Sacramento, is starting to see families come in from other areas and price increases, but remains very affordable and struggles with crime and quality of life problems. A steady stream of trendy and high quality businesses have moved in over the past two or three years and plans are in the works for some big projects bringing a lot of promise to the area, but it's not quite hit the turning point where momentum takes over.