Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
To those of you considering moving to the Manteca area because of the housing prices let me, as a former Bay Area resident, give you some advice.  First, drive to Manteca right after you get off work on a Friday.  Second, spend the weekend and experience the town. Third, drive to work Monday morning from Manteca.
 If you want to live somewhere where you spend more time on the freeway than you do at home, drugs are rampant, there are frequent shootings, abundant visible homeless encampments, many pushy homeless begging, a downtown that is pitiful, and a city council that only cares about building and not taking care of existing infrastructure then by all means move to Manteca. Be careful about letting your children play in the parks where many of the drug deals go down and the homeless frequent. New homes are being broken into frequently and our police force is not increasing.
 Oh, did I mention many of the new homes are in an area near a levee where there is a one in 100 to 200 chance in any given year of flooding.  We still have swampy areas from this past winter. Look at pictures in the 1997 archives.  There is so much more I could tell you.  Take my advice and investigate thoroughly before buying a home here. 
 Don’t be fooled by the city’s motto of “The Family City”.
 
Sandra Ahrens
Manteca