Citrus Heights, CA Real Estate

Citrus Heights is a unique established community in Sacramento County conveniently tucked between downtown Sacramento and Roseville. Citrus Heights is an easy commute to nearly all major employment zones in greater Sacramento, including Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Natomas, and South Placer County. The Citrus Heights community is incredibly family friendly with great schools, beautiful parks, a wide offering of youth programs and many community events, in addition to lots of nearby shops and restaurants.

With a population of 87,000 residents, Citrus Heights homes offer a wide array of property types and sizes to suit all needs. A plethora of ranch and contemporary style homes are available. 

Citrus Heights recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary of cityhood in 2007. Although it may seem as if the City of Citrus Heights is relatively young after recently celebrating its first decade, the area has a deep-rooted history dating back to the late 1800s and the Gold Rush days.

Throughout most of the Spanish-Mexican period of the growth of California from 1542-1848, settlement was limited to a narrow coastal strip along El Camino Real with only a few isolated frontier outposts of civilization. One of these outposts was the vast estate of John Augustus Sutter, a German-Swiss immigrant, who was granted 11-square leagues of land in the Sacramento Valley under the condition that he settle 12 other families on the land. One of these Mexican land sub-grants was the Ranch Del San Juan, an approximately 20,000-acre tract of rich farm land originally granted in 1844 which included present-day Citrus Heights.

The city has established itself as an important suburb in the Sacramento region with its solid base of small businesses, retail chains, and food service establishments. With an ongoing commitment to providing high-quality, economical, responsive services to the local community, the city is well-positioned for future commercial redevelopment, neighborhood enhancements, and positive changes.

In 1970, ground was broken for Sunrise Mall, spurring a great deal of new growth in the Sunrise Boulevard-Greenback Lane area. By 1975, 101 shops, anchored by four department stores, employed 2,500 people within Sunrise Mall. In 1976, across Sunrise Boulevard from the Mall, rose Birdcage Walk, a collection of shops and businesses laid out along a park-like walkway. The two shopping centers spurred the construction of hundreds of businesses in the surrounding area. Sunrise Village, the third of the city's big three retail centers, began construction around 1976.

The Village, located at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Madison Avenue, added approximately 40,000 square feet of retail space in the 1980s. Radiating outward from the Sunrise and Greenback commercial corridors were large office buildings and row upon row of new apartment house complexes and housing tracts, the bulk of which were built during the 1970s and 1980s.

Today residents enjoy shopping at the many stores including Macys, Target and Barnes & Noble, in addition to eating at a wide variety of dining establishments such as Elephant Bar, Benihana and Red Lobster.

Citrus Heights is primarily served by the San Juan Unified School District which is the ninth largest district in California and serves a 75-square mile area in northeast Sacramento County, including Citrus Heights. Within the city of Citrus Heights there are ten elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools. San Juan Unified School District also offers other educational schools and programs such as a special education centers, adult schools, adult handicapped schools, preschool, and before-and after-school programs.

Citrus Heights offers residents close proximity to the legendary recreation and leisure centers of Lake Tahoe, the Napa Valley wine country, national parks and seashores. Additionally, Citrus Heights is located near the major metropolitan area of Sacramento and within a two-hour drive of San Francisco. Many residents enjoy basking in the sun while rafting down the Sacramento River, or lounging on the shores of Folsom Lake - two of the many venues located within a 15-minute drive from Citrus Heights.

For family-minded residents, Citrus Heights features numerous parks, playgrounds and many recreational activities and programs are offered through the Sunrise Recreation and Park District.