Where in the mountains in CA would you raise small children? (Paradise: estate, rental)

[kettlepot]

SingleNurseMom,

You might consider Fall River Mills. I believe they have a small community hospital up there because it was so difficult to get patients transported to the bigger cities, Redding and Susanville. Summer temps will be significantly cooler than Redding, and the NE corner of CA has some of the lowest cost housing in the state.

Now, I've never been to Fall River so I can't discuss the city itself. See if they hospital is hiring, and then see if the pay would fit the cost of housing.

[calif]

Hi Singlenursemom-

Have you thought of Hidden Valley Lake? It is a very small community placed just above Calistoga in Lake County. It is a gated community with a gorgeous lake, golf course, tennis courts, pool etc. Lots of wildlife. Good school. The hospital is about 13 minutes from there. It is called Red Bud. The houses are moderately priced.

I wish you luck in your search!

[Thai]

Auburn is nice, but it gets lots of air pollution from being on the eastern side of the Sac Valley.

And what is this about Elko,NV? I've been through there but don't remember anything too special about it. Has it changed a lot or are you advertizing your guide business :-) ?

[dchapman]

My family and I might be re-locating to Mt. Shasta City. I have two teenagers (HS and Jr. High) and a 22 month old. Does anyone know about Mt. Shasta and the surrounding communities? Schools and people? Is it a nice commnity/? We love the mountains and anything outdoors.. I am a HS teacher and my husband in a forest manager..

[DMenscha]

I can't believe I failed to post Calaveras County in this thread. San Andreas, the county seat has a St. Josephs Hospital there. My wife works for the local hospice as an RN.

[Jose Montara]

And what is this about Elko,NV? I've been through there but don't remember anything too special about it. Has it changed a lot or are you advertizing your guide business :-) ?

How odd, How could one read a post about a town and infer that someone is advertising a business.

Why Elko?
A. It is not California,
B. No state income tax.
C. Clean Air
D. Room to roam.
E. Great wilderness lands
F. Less expensive than CA.
G. A decent college.
H. Tuscarora school of pottery.
J. The Ruby Mountains are as jagged and scenic as the Sierra and far less traveled.

[california_guy110]

Mammoth Mountain, at least its the only place other than Tahoe that I could ever see myself living in the mountains in California. There are a lot of outdoor activities and arguably the best skiing / snowboarding in California, at least the kids would have something to do as they grow up, plus there are a lot of tourists in the winter so theres some money in the town which I would imagine would lead to decent schools.

[Thai]

Mt Shasta City is a great little town from what we've seen on our many trips there. A farmer's market, a good natural foods store and cafe, good restaurants and a great coffee house on one end of town. A much more open and friendly to new people type of place than a lot of mountain area towns. We thought of building there, but there's tremolite asbestos in the soil there as well as in most of northwestern CA, which is a cancer risk if one disturbs the soil: gardening, clearing land, dirt and gravel roads- all the things we like to do would put us at risk like the folks in the El Dorado, Placerville, and areas north of there in the Sierra mts and foothills have been warned about in the past few years. There is a hospital and many interesting small shops, but it's a long drive for everyday shopping needs other than groceries. Many people we talked to drive clear to Redding for most medical care. Prices have risen due to its popularity and it's no longer an affordable place to live, either. Truckee seems like a great place, but after looking at housing prices on-line it's too expensive for pre-retirement types trying to downsize and reduce costs. Good luck in your search single nurse mom.

[eekwine]

Friends raised their kids in Idyllwild & said it was the most idyllic (hence the name?)community for families.

[Tim Currie]

All the mountain towns are small towns

And Auburn is not in the mountains, Auburn is for all intents and purposes a Sacramento 'burb.

I say somewhere in the Tahoe area, either south shore or Truckee.

I grew up in South Lake Tahoe and have to disagree with most of what greatbasinguide said. Extension of San Jose??? I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. But no, it is not.

South Lake Tahoe is a small town, just less than 25,000 and it doesn't really grow, so it's not going to be overcrowded any time soon. It can't be, there are way too many regulations by the T.A.R.P.A. on growth/building.
It is absolutely a small town atmosphere but does get a good amount of tourism in the summers and slightly less in the winter/ski season. There is one high school, one middle school, one community college.

Also, it is not all that flat. Yeah most of the town is in the flat middle of the basin or along the lake but there are plenty of houses up in the hills as well ( I lived on a big hill near the high school, Gardner Mtn).

Most of the houses are pretty nice actually. Most of them are a bit older (hardly any new construction, no tract homes) and are a modest mountain style home (not big "McMansions" like we get in the city). I can only think of a couple small areas where there are some small and somewhat run down houses, still....not like there is any bad area or ghetto. There is not a huge middle class, it's mostly lower middle class to low income and then upper middle class to high income, not much in between.

And on the casinos....I mean there are only 4 of them, they are small high rises but nothing big, not anywhere even close to "Vegas scale in the mountains" come on... And the good part about Stateline is they are finally re-doing the areas next to the casinos and making a nice village area with shops, hotels, restaurants, etc. Actually bringing that area up to date with the rest of the society....

Also I do not think the North Shore is much nicer, it's just much smaller and much more of a vacation home area. There's not much of a community there, not like in South Lake. It's lots of very expensive vacation homes and not too much else.


Anyway, I do not mean to argue with you greatbasinguide ol buddy. I think you have a lot of great info on Truckee and NV but I disagree with what you say about South Tahoe as I actually used to live there and know it well (along with Truckee and the rest of the towns around the lake).

To the original poster....

I think South Tahoe is great as a small mountain town. There is a lot of pride in their town for the people that live there, being a "local" is a big deal and kinda cool to part of that community. Especially if you want to raise kids like you mentioned. It's not sooo small that the kids are completely bored out of their minds all the time and turn to tons of drugs etc... There is a lot to do really, especially if they get into outdoor activities. There is not much crime to speak of, no gang problems, etc.

I think it's a great place to grow up. Especially if you make it a point to take them outside of Tahoe and expose them to different places (Sac, San Fran, Reno, etc. etc.) so that they're well rounded as it is quite isolated living up in the mountains where things move at a different pace and quite a few years behind the big cities...


I actually moved to Tahoe after a childhood in Vacaville. I think it was a great experience growing up in Tahoe. It is really a beautiful area where you can experience so much. I mean it's world renown location. There is the lake, boating, beaches, skiing/snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, camping, the snow in the winter, beautiful summers, small community with friendly people...

Anyway, that's my take. Hope it helps. Any questions specifically on South Tahoe and let me know.

p.s. driving in the snow and storms is not "nearly impossible", at least not after you live there and get used to it
A good storm rarely kept us stuck inside if we wanted to get out. I think driving in the snow is fun! But then I learned how to drive in Tahoe... A good 4x4 and good tires and you can through most, a 4x4 truck/suv up high with good tires and you can go through almost anything! and it's different then driving over the mountain passes, it's all slow speed and mostly flat so it's no nerve racking and dangerous like driving the passes can be.