Fortuna, Arcata, Blue Lakes, Jacoby Hill, Ferndale, Trinidad (Redding, Eureka: for sale, homes)

[tomatovine]

Centering out of Eureka, would any or all of these cities be somewhere commutable? Which do you prefer and why?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I'm gonna bump your thread. I don't know much about the area. I have met quite a few people in Redding since I moved here last November, who love to go to Trinidad, especially to fish.

That's the extent of my knowledge, but I thought if your thread got bumped, you might hear from some people knowledgeable about that area.

[cephalopede]

You can get to all of those areas (assuming you means Jacoby Creek/Bayside area) pretty easily from Eureka.

Highway 101 hits most of those areas going north to south. If you turn north on 101 from Eureka, you'll hit the Bayside Cutoff first, and the Arcata. Of note: the span of 101 between Eureka to the outskirts of Arcata is a safety corridor. The speed limit is 50. It's a short drive though, maybe about ten minutes?

At the north end of Arcata, you can continue taking 101 north or take 299 east. If you continue north on 101 you'll get to McKinleyville in just a few more minutes. Trinidad is maybe ten more minutes north of there. Going east on 299 gets you to Blue Lake, though I've never made that drive myself.

Going south, Fortuna's right along the freeway. Ferndale is west of the freeway, but not hard to get to.

None of these would be a terrible drive. I think going to Blue Lake or Trinidad would be the longest, but if that's your concern I'd say to check it out on Google Maps. The traffic in the area is pretty light almost everywhere. And most parts of it are a lot better looking than what most Californians have to drive through every day.

Having said that, my absolute least favorite thing to do is to drive through Eureka itself. The highway goes right through town. The speed limit drops accordingly. There are plenty of stoplights and pedestrian crossings that the pedestrians will ignore often enough. Traffic is heavy and slow. The parts of town you drive through are not nice. I once drove past four cops holding some people in a car at gunpoint while coming home from Bayshore Mall. It is an experience.

[tomatovine]

Hi, thank you that is very informative. do you know where the most expensive home area surrounding eureka is or highest median income area?

[cephalopede]

The most expensive is probably up in Trinidad. It's a small town (~300) with a lot of nice ocean view homes. I know some parts of Eureka and Arcata can get pretty pricey, too. I actually did a project for one of my classes where we mapped 3-bedroom homes for sale in Arcata and compared their prices...our most expensive find was close to $1 million. In Arcata, the more expensive homes tended to be east of town and set back into the forest a bit.

The City-Data page on Eureka should actually have a lot of the bare statistics you're after: http://www.city-data.com/city/Eureka-California.html and some other, long-term residents might also have some opinions, so hopefully they'll chime in!

[RWalder]

Originally Posted by tomatovine

Centering out of Eureka, would any or all of these cities be somewhere commutable? Which do you prefer and why?

If you have experience city traffic you will chuckle at their definition of rush hour. From Eureka, Arcata is 7 mi, McK, 13, Fortuna 15, Ferndale 22 - it is all doable, close commutes.