It's not a cultural or intellectual hub
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5/16/2010
If you enjoy a sophisticated urban environment, if you're single, if you're highly educated and appreciate access to continuing higher education at the post-graduate level, be prepared to drive at least 50 miles to meet your needs. Vacaville is a middle-of-the-road kind of place that's great for low- to middle-wage-earners with kids who enjoy watching network television, listening to top-40 radio, and eating at chains and fast-food restaurants. I've lived here for 20 years for work reasons and will probably leave when I retire. It's not horrible, it's just not very interesting. Think tract homes and chain shopping/dining everywhere. The countryside's pretty in the spring when the hills turn emerald green.
It feels safe, most people are pretty friendly, and it's right on I-80 so you can hit the freeway to get to cultural events (decent museums, opera, symphony, movies with subtitles/experimental films, and ballet in places like Berkeley and San Francisco) and continuing higher education opportunities (UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Sacramento State Univeristy).
Summers are HOT with 100-degree-plus weather, while winters are cold-ish (really cold here is considered the high 20s) and rainy. Spring and fall offer ideal weather in the high 60s, 70s and 80s. Housing is cheap by Bay Area standards, but probably rather expensive by Midwestern standards. Not much of a job base; most folks commute elsewhere to work. Little mass transit so you'd better have a car. Schools are mediocre but I've certainly seen a lot worse. Plenty of dentists, doctors and other medical care providers.
A big plus: It's not snobby here, and people don't put on airs, engage in "PC-speak" and take themselves and their ideas too seriously, as they often do in places like Berkeley. Overall: If you like middle-brow suburban comfort, casual dress, mass media-style entertainment, and are politically centrist or right of center and not very politically engaged or culturally curious/adventurous, you might just like it here.
Jean | Vacaville, CA