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Alright, I've been living in Grass Valley for five years now. If you're looking for a good place to retire and just chill, it's def. right for you. Very nice restraunts, laid back and relaxing. But me? I personally hate it here. It's not right for me at all. If you want to go to a store like wal-mart, target, the mall and all those other places you literally have to drive 45 minutes just to get there. There is nothing here in this town. Yes it is very historic. Which don't get me wrong, I loved at first. Going to Empire mine, Malakoff diggins and all those other pretty places. But after awhile it just gets soo boring. like woohoo....gold mines. cool. I'd perfer more civilization and warmer weather myself.
The weather: oh gosh were do I even begin. Well if it's snowing (wich happens ALOT here in the winter) good luck trying to go anywhere, good luck trying to get power haha. If you live on a tiny road like me good luck trying to get the people to plow it and fix all the fallen trees and powerlines. So yeah, snow/rain/hail in Grass Valley is not fun and lasts longer than summer ever does. Maybe it's worth the wait for you though? I mean it gets really, really nice here in the summer! There really is alot of goods and bads about this town. I just personally think it's all trees and dirt haha. But that's just me. If you're looking to get away and relax, you might think it is quite beautiful out here. calm and serene. I hope this helps (:
It is almost a paradise..but snow and fewer sunny days in Winter bother me.Small potatoes,I would go somewhere warm in winter.
Who wants a Walmart?Everything they sell puts Americans out of work.
I love sand,cactus,trees,dirt and my big-old GERMAN Shephard Dog.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Kind of an old thread, but thought I might add a couple things, having relocated from the Seattle area to the Sierra foothills myself around the time the OP began. Eventually ended up in the Paradise/Chico area, although I have "comparison shopped” Grass Valley, Nevada City and nearby Penn Valley quite a bit.
For starters, the real estate market there has changed considerably, and like much of Cali, now there are a ton of repos on the market. So these days you can easily find a decent house in or near GV/NC on an acre or two for well under $200K. Also a pretty robust & well-maintained system of hiking trails has been developed since this thread began. As far as a sense of community or things to do, there's no shortage of those either, as just a quick glance at the two main newspapers will indicate, The Union and the Nevada City Advocate. In fact though GV/NC lacks a major university, I would wager the area actually has way more interesting things going on, especially in music and the arts, than even here in nearby Chico, which has the State U and over 5 times the population! Otherwise, am retired and kids are grown, so can't speak to the jobs or schools.
On the other hand, I do find the ozone noticeable (stings my eyes a bit), parkings often a pain there, and the streets are annoyingly narrow and for better or worse, feel more like European streets, as you can see in each of their downtown webcams: the Grass Valley webcam and Nevada City webcam (which also pans). And lets not forget that the area also heavily depends on tourist traffic (so weekends and holidays there are always "interesting")!
But as to the local culture and the social aspects, have come to notice that Cali in general has never been what you'd call a "friendly" place anyway, particularly for newcomers. Which is especially true for newbies in the more inland and conservative parts of the state, which includes the Valley and foothills of the Sierras (I know, that last one really bugs some of the "natives" here in "Cali"... LOL)! Likewise, you'll find nearly all the inland areas have a considerable amount of trailer trash culture of one sort or another, that largely grew up there. So odds are, they just don't know any better about the rest of the world, let alone about the courtesies or professionalism we might take for granted in larger urban areas. And you'll find that sort of inbred "good 'ol boy" insularity all up and down these small communities. Only difference is that GV/NC has many more edu-macated, affluent and sophisticated urban refugees to balance things out.
Athough IMHO, even that can be sort of a mixed blessing, when you stop to consider which one is worse.... dealing with "entitled natives", or affluent (and "entitled") urban sophisticates?
BTW, here in Paradise and Chico, as with most small towns, there seems to be no shortage of the former, though fortunately much less of the latter! And the lower elevation and overall climate works better for me here anyway. Besides, GV/NC is really only an hour or so away for whenever we happen to crave more "cult-chah"!
Last edited by mateo45; 08-19-2012 at 02:39 PM..
Reason: links..
Kind of an old thread, but thought I might add a couple things, having relocated from the Seattle area to the Sierra foothills myself around the time the OP began. Eventually ended up in the Paradise/Chico area, although I have "comparison shopped” Grass Valley, Nevada City and nearby Penn Valley quite a bit.
For starters, the real estate market there has changed considerably, and like much of Cali, now there are a ton of repos on the market. So these days you can easily find a decent house in or near GV/NC on an acre or two for well under $200K. Also a pretty robust & well-maintained system of hiking trails has been developed since this thread began. As far as a sense of community or things to do, there's no shortage of those either, as just a quick glance at the two main newspapers will indicate, The Union and the Nevada City Advocate. In fact though GV/NC lacks a major university, I would wager the area actually has way more interesting things going on, especially in music and the arts, than even here in nearby Chico, which has the State U and over 5 times the population! Otherwise, am retired and kids are grown, so can't speak to the jobs or schools.
On the other hand, I do find the ozone noticeable (stings my eyes a bit), parkings often a pain there, and the streets are annoyingly narrow and for better or worse, feel more like European streets, as you can see in each of their downtown webcams: the Grass Valley webcam and Nevada City webcam (which also pans). And lets not forget that the area also heavily depends on tourist traffic (so weekends and holidays there are always "interesting")!
But as to the local culture and the social aspects, have come to notice that Cali in general has never been what you'd call a "friendly" place anyway, particularly for newcomers. Which is especially true for newbies in the more inland and conservative parts of the state, which includes the Valley and foothills of the Sierras (I know, that last one really bugs some of the "natives" here in "Cali"... LOL)! Likewise, you'll find nearly all the inland areas have a considerable amount of trailer trash culture of one sort or another, that largely grew up there. So odds are, they just don't know any better about the rest of the world, let alone about the courtesies or professionalism we might take for granted in larger urban areas. And you'll find that sort of inbred "good 'ol boy" insularity all up and down these small communities. Only difference is that GV/NC has many more edu-macated, affluent and sophisticated urban refugees to balance things out.
Athough IMHO, even that can be sort of a mixed blessing, when you stop to consider which one is worse.... dealing with "entitled natives", or affluent (and "entitled") urban sophisticates?
BTW, here in Paradise and Chico, as with most small towns, there seems to be no shortage of the former, though fortunately much less of the latter! And the lower elevation and overall climate works better for me here anyway. Besides, GV/NC is really only an hour or so away for whenever we happen to crave more "cult-chah"!
Close to lots of good hunting and fishing is always a plus for me.
Looking for some input on moving to GV and Nevada City...just regular people with regular jobs. What's the housing market like now? Where do people live who have modest down payments, not money to cash out a McMansion?
Info on churches, schools? My kids are grown, but I have substitute taught at high schools for years. I am used to rural areas, weather and long drives to major shopping, so I'd like to know about those, but don't consider them a horror.
A lot of this thread is quite old, so I'm interested in more recent information. Thanks
I, too, am looking for more information about Grass Valley and Nevada City. Coming from the smoggy Central Valley, GV seems to be a nice alternative. It is very difficult to find information about the school districts, though. I would love to hear more recent information on this thread. So many great opinions and experiences were shared in previous posts, but are several years old now.
Oh My God, I hope you did not move here. W. Nevada County has the 13th worst air quality of any county in the United States!! It is ozone pollution from the valley/Bay area.
The Board of Supervisors answer to this is to approve a new biomass plant near the center of town (Grass Valley) which will
pollute the air even more, contribute to climate change, and ruin a place that right now is a beautiful forest with ponds.
They also want to start logging on people's properties, private lands, even within subdivisions.
There is no county open space program, very few parks, no bike paths, no sidewalks outside of town and it is almost a 100% car-based county. You will have to drive everywhere unless you move into GV or Nevada City but this will get old quick.
Western Nevada County is profoundly and utterly over-rated. DO NOT MOVE HERE. You will regret it!
I've only lived in Grass Valley for 18 months and as much as I would like to enjoy it, I just don't. It is honestly like living in a time warp. The had a rush of development and influx of residents in the 60's-early 80's and it seems it stopped on a dime. Buildings for the most part are not well kept or updated, this goes for both commercial and residential. This gives the area a feel of a dying town. It is referred to as a tourist town but based on numerous struggling B&B and hotel/motels, empty store fronts I think tourism is a thing of the past as well here.
If you love being outdoors and hiking, hunting, etc it is great for that. If you want parks, general green space, and things for kids to do this is NOT the place. We have small children and end up at the same park everyday or end up driving 45-60 min for something fun to do.
Another downside is how unfriendly we find it. We lived for awhile in the closest thing they have in Grass Valley to master planned community called Morgan Ranch. I walked at least 2 times a day with our dog in the neighborhood and would frequently say hello to people with no response. We also had the streets mailbox at the end of our driveway and never once did anyone say hello if we were outside with our child and they were getting their mail 5 feet away. It was amazing that in the year we lived there we didn't meet a single friendly soul. Sad really.
Part of the problem is there just any many people in our peer group. We are in our mid 30's with an infant and toddler, both are college graduates with full time higher level jobs. This puts us at odds with most (not all) of the people around here. I don't say that to sound uppity but its just the hard truth.
The area is in need of an identity reboot in my mind. It wants to hold onto it's history which is find and dandy, but for gods sake diversify. Get high speed internet throughout the county and try and bring a younger generation in. Update buildings and houses to make them attractive for a younger generation.
I really wanted to love it here but I am still far from it.
I agree with everything Golden Girl said in "Splintered." I was an army brat and have lived all over the world so when my husband wanted to settle in Grass Valley after we graduated from college it seemed like a good place to put down roots. Worst mistake of my life!!! The weather is very hot in the summer and cold and rainy all winter. Allergies to pollen and dust mites are a huge problem, in addition to the poor air quality. Grass Valley and Nevada City get more rain than Seattle, Portland, or most places in England...a whopping 54 inches per year in a regular year. When the sun finally comes out in late spring so do the mosquitoes and deer ticks. There's no where to shop except a tiny Penneys and a run down K-Mart aside from the aforementioned specialty stores which are incredibly expensive. Lack of ethnicity is reflected in a lack of good ethnic restaurants. We tried living on several acres in the country but it's a long commute into town every day when you are running kids back and forth. We also lost a wonderful dog to a rattle snake bite...and the rattler was in our children's play yard! We finally ended up buying an expensive old Victorian in downtown Grass Valley and have had to deal with two neighbors using/dealing meth, several pit bulls on our street that frequently get out, people parking cars on the sidewalk blocking our driveway whenever there's an event in town, garbage thrown in our yard and being menaced by young gang banger types when we go for walks. There's very little employment so Grass Valley has a disproportionate amount of retirees from the Bay Area and a lot of trashy white twenty-somethings that grew up here and were stuck with out educational or employment opportunities, unless you consider large scale marijuana growing a career op.
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