thehonesttruth

I like the area for the proximity to the American River Bike Trail as well as Arden Fair Mall, CSUS, and my favorite restaurant Sushi Hook is really close by.

But this gets overshadowed time and time again by how bad the neighborhood is. There are people who let their kids run wild through the streets--we frequently get fliers from CPS advising people to keep an eye on their kids. One toddler was run over by a car because the parents were careless and let him run unchecked through the streets. The kids are also keen on tearing up people's yards by ripping limbs off trees, knocking over potted plants and pulling mulch out of flower beds. Some property management companies filled in all the flower beds with rocks and the kids have been throwing them at the different houses--our roof has dozens of rocks on it. Our neighbor had their windshield smashed from the kids pitching rocks at it and the disturbing fact of the matter was that the car was parked in a garage. When you drive through the street take note of how many rocks you see in the street, and take inventory of your cars because sooner or later you will be fixing a dent, replacing a windshield or touching up scratches from these kids. Additionally the sheer volume of children here is overwhelming. One apartment had over 8 people in it including children and it was a two bedroom.

If the children are any indication, the adults are much worse. The cops are called out here frequently for domestic disputes, gun shots and drug activity. There are several meth addicts living here one sheriff officer divulged, one of whom smashed out my window to get to a piece of mail I had forgotten on my back seat. Another one dug a cap out of the dumpster in front of my friend and I and then tried to sell it to us. I would suggest you be very particular about what you throw away. Even more obnoxious are the people who come into our laundry room to smoke weed. I don't care if people toke, but it's disrespectful to smoke it around clothes that I've just cleaned. Better yet, they will empty their swisher sweets into our washing machine and dryers. One day I walked out and saw one of the adults smoking weed in my garage while passing the joint to one of the neighborhood kids. I so wish I had my phone on me then to video tape it.

The noise is unimaginable. I get the feeling that few people actually work because on week nights until 3 or 4 in the morning there will be rap and mowtown music blasting out from people's houses and cars. I've called the cops more times than I can count on both hands.

Above all this neighborhood is not safe. Our neighbor had his apartment broken into right under our noses. One night while I was sitting in my living with just the tv on someone came and opened our screen door and started trying to jimmy the knob. When I turned on the light the person took off. Our neighbor behind us was broken into as well while they were at work during the day and my bike was also stolen out of our garage while I was at work. Also a fixture of the neighborhood is the graffiti of the Norteños and the Bloods. Look for the number 14 in roman numerals and the words "Arden World" or "Howe Park" as they have dubbed it. Also, keep an eye on your dog. There are so many pit bulls that run unleashed and without collars. My dog and I were actually attacked by one when I was taking her out one night. It was unfair, my dog was leashed and there was a party at the next house and one of their dogs sprung out of the crowd and slammed into my dog, gripped her in it's jaws and tried to break her neck by shaking her violently. Luckily I kicked the pit bull and he dropper her long enough that I could snatch her up. The dog then turned on me attacking my legs. Thank god my friend was there to help me all the while the party goers were so stoned they just watched.

It breaks my heart that we ended up with such unfortunate neighbors. The location is ideal, close to shops, the Mall, and J street which leads into midtown. I absolutely love the quick access to the bike trail and that is why I stay for now and the rent is cheap. But you get what you pay for. In the meantime I am going to stick it out, but each year as the neighborhood kids get older, they follow in the footsteps of their parents and get into more and more trouble and damage more of the property some of us work very hard for. I suggest you weigh heavily on the things you value before moving here, despite the cheap rent.