Independence At Mather, Mather, CA

Independence at Mather is the residential heart of the old base, a planned community of roughly 1,200 homes that went up in the early 2000s on former base ground. The layout is deliberate: sidewalks on both sides, small lawns, short driveways, and stucco homes in Contemporary Traditional, Mediterranean, and Spanish Revival lines. It sits central to Mather, ringed by the airport, the business park, and open space rather than by other neighborhoods. The setting is the draw. Independence Community Park and Veteran's Park sit inside the neighborhood, and the Mather Golf Course and Mather Lake are a short drive off. Folsom Cordova Unified serves the area, with Mather Heights Elementary within walking distance of many blocks. US-50 is reachable to the north, and the Gold Line light rail runs from Mather Field/Mills station a few miles away. The caveats are isolation and youth. This is an island of rooftops with an airfield and business park at its doorstep, so through-traffic and retail are limited and you drive out for most errands. The canopy, planted with the homes two decades ago, is filling in rather than arching over the streets. In return you get a quiet, orderly grid with the lake and links close by, unusual for a former runway.