I have a job offer in Eureka but I am concerened abour raising my family there. (Long Beach: sale, transfer)

[.highnlite]

Wrong, I said they have an influence, not the only influence or even the primary one. You can deny any peer/teacher influence in a child/teens life. Everyone has an opinion. But you have obviously misunderstood and/or exagerated mine.

I am so tired of people hacking on teachers. They are a bunch of underpaid overworked people dedicated to making this world a better place and no group in America gets attacked more.

I think of teachers as rather like the dutch boy with his finger in the ****, teachers work hard to hold back the forces of darkness, and what thanks do they get? Attacked for scurrilous reasons.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

I am so tired of people hacking on teachers. They are a bunch of underpaid overworked people dedicated to making this world a better place and no group in America gets attacked more.

I think of teachers as rather like the dutch boy with his finger in the ****, teachers work hard to hold back the forces of darkness, and what thanks do they get? Attacked for scurrilous reasons.

Interesting because I'm tired of people attempting to critique other ppls opinions rather staying on topic and answering the OP question. Then going way off topic to try and justify their misplaced critique. Oh this is about the poor, angelic teachers now. Geesh, here's a news flash for you. Teachers are imperfect just like other humans, some good, some not so good and there is a lot in between. The same can be said for every other profession including doctors, engineers, farmers, etc... Regardless, how about staying on topic next time.

Derek

[.highnlite]

Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the schools, the teachers and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public school teachers and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO.

Lets try this, see if you like this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the firedepartment, the firemen and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public firemen and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Or this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the Police department, the police and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public police and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Neither you nor others would even consider attacking these two groups, but teachers? Why not...?

If you make an outrageous comment that is veers from the topic, I do not understand why you would have a problem with getting called on it.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Lets try this, see if you like this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the firedepartment, the firemen and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public firemen and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Or this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the Police department, the police and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public police and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Neither you nor others would even consider attacking these two groups, but teachers? Why not...?

If you make an outrageous comment that is veers from the topic, I do not understand why you would have a problem with getting called on it.

Well, if reread the original question and subsequent responses you should get it. The OP, as a parent, is concerned with schools and hospitals in the area. So this was dicussed. However you felt compelled to comment on something you completely misread which was then explained to you. Instead of realizing that you then tried to twist it into some new kind of attack on all teachers (of whom you are the great champion) which it obviously wasn't - misplaced interpretation yet again. But I'm not into forum pi$$ing contests. So if you don't get it or pretend not to that's fine. You can be champion of all teachers both far and wide.

Derek

[eureka1]

What Derek said. Also, the OP asked about medical care and schools but all the discussion has been about schools. The medical care is okay but a lot of folks go out of area for major operations. You cannot expect a county with 100.000 total population to have the cultural, medical and educational resources of a major urban area. Only you, OP, can decide what is important to your family. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Roaddog]

I know very little except I spent some vacation time there a few years back, I noticed a lot of homeless folks but other than that I loved it, if I had a good job offer there I would concider it for sure.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by eureka1

What Derek said. Also, the OP asked about medical care and schools but all the discussion has been about schools. The medical care is okay but a lot of folks go out of area for major operations. You cannot expect a county with 100.000 total population to have the cultural, medical and educational resources of a major urban area. Only you, OP, can decide what is important to your family. Good luck whatever you decide.

Yeah, the same happens here in Monterey County. Althgough CHOMP is a pretty good hospital overall ppl sometimes choose to make the long treck up to Stanford. For life threatening situations, unique diseases or conditions it's sometimes preferred to get the best possible care available. In some cases with regards to cutting edge procedures, Stanford is way ahead. Because of that I have family who even come up from SoCal to have procedures done. And all would do it again if faced with similar medical situations.

Derek

[jazznblues]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Lets try this, see if you like this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the firedepartment, the firemen and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public firemen and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Or this; "Raising children in the area brings up other considerations which are important like the quality of the Police department, the police and their peer group. That doesn't at all discount the primary importance of the parent's role. But to deny an environmental influence including public police and peers within it would be to bury one's head in the sand IMO."

Neither you nor others would even consider attacking these two groups, but teachers? Why not...?

If you make an outrageous comment that is veers from the topic, I do not understand why you would have a problem with getting called on it.

But kids don't spend 1/4 to 1/3 of their day with firefighters and police. So your comment really isn't relevant.

Teachers, both good and bad, can have a huge impact on a child's education. Schools, and the other kids in the schools, also have a big impact on kids. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jkuras

I have a nice job offer in Eureka with the USFS but I also have two young children (ages 2 & 5). I have many concerns about whether I should relocate from Southern California and take this job. (I am originally from Michigan so I am used to dreary and colder weather).

I have read the archived threads about the Eureka area (McKinleyville, Fortuna, Aracata) and I am concerned about moving my family there.


1) I am okay with the pot culture as long as it doesn't interfere with daily life. To each there own.

2) I am concerned about the otherwise depressed economy and is it a nice place to raise a family?

3) I have often believed that it is not WHERE you raise your children but HOW you raise them. That said, I don't want to regret my decision since we are leaving a nice home in the So-Cal burbs with good schools and low crime rates (in our neck of the palms).

4) I am also concerned about medical care and schools.

Your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated!

I will say it has been many years since we lived there, but we had some of the same concerns. Although it turned out not to be a place for us, (the job, the climate, the remoteness, the depressed area, and that was when the timber industry was going strong) there were some positives. Our kids did well, the schools were ok and as you put it, how your kids do has more to do with how they are raised than where they are raised. The same with the education: if they are incouraged they will do fine. The one thing we felt was the most positive: because of the depressed area there wasn't the emphisis on money you get in many areas. Heck our kids didn't ever care about brand names. Logos meant nothing to them. Their friends were friends because the liked them, not because of any social or financual status.

We also had no problems with the medical services. For a small community they were quite satisfactory.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jkuras

Thank you all for your replies. It just so happens that we came up and visited the area the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was rainy and chilly as we anticipated, though we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at the Redwood National Forest. I did ask a few folks about how they liked living there and of course I received mixed answers. The nice lady at the Visitor's Center liked it. The young teenage kid pumping my gas wishes he was in the big city (not surprising). Overall, nobody had anything totally negative to say about living there.

So yes, we did drive up and spend two days driving around McKinleyville, Arcata, Eureka and Fortuna. Of course it is darn near impossible to judge an area in two days and we realize that. I certainly wouldn't mind a slower pace of life and the "hippie vibe" culture does not bother us either. For our family personally, we don't need a lot of fancy restaurants and theme parks. We are much happier hiking a trail or viewing an art exhibit than standing in line at Disneyland.

My gut says I will love it up there, but it is nice to read from folks who live up there.

Still, it is a huge decision! One side of me says I have a great job & benefits in a nice part of the country and how could I pass up the opportunity? The other side of me says, I am nuts.

Thanks for reading this.

You might very well love living there and as I just mentioned there are some positives, but do remember 1-the weather isn't something everyone enjoys and 2-because of the depressed area you will have a lot of adjustments, plus the lack of entertainment and shopping can be a negative. We were excited about all a small, remote area had to offer when we made the move. The novelty wore off pretty quick.

So what I am saying is: there are going to be some serious adjustments, for some it works great, for others it doesn't. Good luck,

Nita