Recently, our town was crowned with a new jewel: being named the #1 city to live in in California by U.S. News & World Report. Go Folsom!
This is not a small deal. US News and World Report is a distinguished platform, carrying great weight in not just the educational ranking world but that of travel, industry, and even career. Folsom beat out Palo Alto and Cupertino – two of the state’s most prominent suburbs – for the spot. And in the most populous, diverse, and innovative state with places like Tahoe, Newport Beach, Palos Verdes, Santa Barbara, Los Altos, the list goes on… Folsom emerged on top. We as Folsomites should celebrate this! And we should use this moment as a chance to reflect on what we are doing well and how we can maintain our town’s unique attributes.
Folsom is distinctive by nature. That’s our tagline, and it’s true. In our town you can see turkey, coyotes, and bald eagles, among many other animal friends. We have plenty of parks, open spaces, and natural beauty. Families in our town enjoy the 50+ miles of public trails in town and when we aren’t biking the Johnny Cash trail you can catch us enjoying a boat day out on Folsom Lake or paddleboarding on the American River. Our town’s quality of life is bolstered by this natural beauty – we must continue to protect, enhance, and safeguard it.
The factor that won our gold medal in this report was not quality of life, however. It was job security (we scored a 6.8/10 on this metric). Folsom boasts a strong local economy — our median household income is $141,000, unemployment sits around 4% (below the national average), and sectors like healthcare, real estate, and a burgeoning technology industry provide good-paying jobs. Once upon a time, in 1991, my parents moved to Folsom after hearing about it from one of my Aunts. She had moved to Folsom because of her husband’s career at Intel. So industry is not new to Folsom, but it’s worth noting that in the last 30 years Folsom has done a good job at retaining businesses, welcoming new ones, making space for entrepreneurs, and working to attract industry. Part of this process is about building community amongst businesses and thought leaders, and recent ventures in town like TedX Folsom and Folsom Tech Week are a few examples of our town doing this well.
Of course, any of us who live in our town also knows the secret: Folsom is a great place to live. We have a splendid historic district nestled next to the river. Plenty of shopping, amenities, and parks. A local zoo and annual Rodeo. Our town isn’t overwhelmed by people or cars (for purposes of this sentence, East Bidwell between 4-6pm does not exist) and Folsom is incredibly safe. Members of our community are friendly. We have great schools. Folsom High has won too many state football titles to count. And yes, it’s become more expensive to live here, but compared to markets like LA or the Bay Area, Folsom has a reasonable cost of living.
What can we do to keep our town special and hold this title? Some things are small, like picking up litter on our trails or supporting our local businesses. Others are bigger, like starting your own business in town or taking an extra volunteer shift for your kids’ school programs. Part of what we need to do is elect leaders who will make smart decisions on growth, protect our trails and open spaces from overdevelopment, and invest in our schools and local businesses.
As Folsomites, we should be proud of this accomplishment. I know I am. And to defend this title, we should think about that principle President Kennedy once challenged Americans on, slightly modified: “Ask not what your city can do for you, but what you can do for your city.”
That’s how Folsom will stay #1.
Julian Sarafian was born and raised in Folsom. He is a local attorney and founder of For Creators By Creators PC (FCBC). You can reach him at sarafian.julian@gmail.com
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