moving to arcata, ca. area: taxes? poets? topography?weather? (Redding: sales, apartment)

[jeanyq1]

i'm seriously considering leaving nyc, and buying a home in the arcata area. i grew up in nyc, but have visited the west coast many times over the years and always meant to live there...just got stuck. now that i'm 61 i want to start a new chapter in my life and live among the redwoods if i can before i can't. if i sell my apartment,

i can afford to buy something for between 2 and 3 hundred thousand.
but i want to consider the taxes.. can anyone help a math-dyslexic old slightly cynical hippie figure out what to expect so i don't end up bankrupt?

also, i as a (sometime) political activist of the occupy variety...any community to connect with up there?

Am a mildly popular poet/performer here..is there a poet community with life to it in arcata or eureka, or blue lake or wherever? (here in ny i found there were communities of talented young poets who were willing to include me and others that wouldn't...what about in arcata, eureka, etc.? i won a slam or 2, but it's not my favorite...still i prefer not to be surrounded by boring old guys who mumble into their bself-published books)

is there any kind of jazz scene, avant-garde or otherwise? play several instruments, would like to find people to jam with.

i figure i can bike most places, but what about the hills? which areas might be too challenging for my aging legs? are there any areas which are flat-ISH, or at least where the hills are rolling?

i have no problem with "travelers" or panhandlers or weed...smoke occasionally myself. couldn't care less about tweakers.

doesn't look like there are many brown people around though...would miss that...

still, what i want is redwoods, writers, musicians, a tolerant and creative atmosphere.

help me figure out if this is the right place for me, if i can afford to live there, and if, at 61, i can still find a community of people like me to be part of in arcata or its surrounds.

any other recommendations or information will be more welcome than you can imagine! thanks.

[cephalopede]

Yes, in general.

It sounds like you can find what you're looking for up here. Arcata itself is pretty vibrant for such a little place, but the population does skew young because of the college (but hey, that's a big part of what keeps it lively). I see ads up all the time for poetry gatherings, writers workshops, feminist drum circles, jam sessions, rides to whatever festival is happening somewhere. There is live music somewhere every single night.

The town is liberal, and there's some political activism.

Hills are a thing here. I see people of all ages biking all the time, day and night, in all weather. Valley West and Arcata Bottoms are both flat, but are also a few miles from downtown.

There is a lack of racial/ethnic diversity up here compared to what you're used to, but it's not All White All The Time.

Overall I think you can find what you're looking for here. Hopefully someone else can pop in and answer your other questions.

[Snort]

You should definitely visit before you sell the farm (or apartment, in this case) and pull up stakes.
You're going from very big city to a small town environment, so the pace of life is going to feel radically different.
I like both Arcata and Eureka. Have a look at both before you decide to make the big move.
You may also find your west coast niche in Portland, which has some of what you're looking for and is more 'city' than Arcata.

[Tulemutt]

Tell us you understand the weather you will be moving into. This is not brochure welcome to sunny California.

If you understand the weather, and it appeals to you, you'd likely be happy with Portland as well, and Snort's advice to consider that city is excellent.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Good advice on the weather. But, Portland does get snow and ice storms, and Eureka doesn't.

So, if you can handle warm rain and clouds, you'll be fine.

It's funny, but it's really all relative. I moved from the SF Bay Area, which has the most perfect weather on the planet, IMO. Moved to Redding where the summer lasts 6 months, and 5 months of that are 100+ degrees - very literally. The 6th month will be in the 80's.

So, I'm happily moving to Crescent City which will be cloudier, but much cooler. Crescent City will not have what you're looking for. It's very small, from what I've seen so far. You'd need a bigger town.

I think you should also check out Ashford, OR, though. Arcata might be cheaper, not sure. And Ashland can get some snow, but it's not as icy as Portland, in my experience. I lived 2 hours from Portland for many years on the WA side.

As far as taxes go - sales taxes vary by city and county. In Redding it's 7.5%. Federal taxes are the same. State taxes aren't that bad, someone said the uber wealthy pay 12%. Property taxes are capped at something like 1%. The myth is that everything is more expensive here. But, truthfully, my experience is that many things are cheaper - heating/cooling (especially on the coast) groceries (hello, they're grown here) wine (same as above) seafood (hundreds of miles of coastline), etc.

Arcata/Eureka is a good hippy type place, lots of homeless though, from what I hear. You'd probably also like Santa Cruz, but it's more expensive.

Please come back and let us know what you decide to do. Good luck to you.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by cephalopede

Yes, in general.

It sounds like you can find what you're looking for up here. Arcata itself is pretty vibrant for such a little place, but the population does skew young because of the college (but hey, that's a big part of what keeps it lively). I see ads up all the time for poetry gatherings, writers workshops, feminist drum circles, jam sessions, rides to whatever festival is happening somewhere. There is live music somewhere every single night.

The town is liberal, and there's some political activism.

Hills are a thing here. I see people of all ages biking all the time, day and night, in all weather. Valley West and Arcata Bottoms are both flat, but are also a few miles from downtown.

There is a lack of racial/ethnic diversity up here compared to what you're used to, but it's not All White All The Time.

Overall I think you can find what you're looking for here. Hopefully someone else can pop in and answer your other questions.

It's funny you should talk about arcata as being 'up here,' which is a very California centric way of looking at your location. Remember that there are places north of you as well, which see you as being 'down there, ' but in this case, New York City happens to be on the exact same latitude as Arcata. :-)

[eureka1]

Rule No. 1: visit before deciding to move here.
Rule No. 2: Refer to Rule No. 1.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by tstieber

It's funny you should talk about arcata as being 'up here,' which is a very California centric way of looking at your location.

Seems appropriate given that California is the center of the universe.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by tstieber

It's funny you should talk about arcata as being 'up here,' which is a very California centric way of looking at your location. Remember that there are places north of you as well, which see you as being 'down there, ' but in this case, New York City happens to be on the exact same latitude as Arcata. :-)

Hello? This is a California forum. Referring to Arcata as being "up here" or "up north" is normal.

[cephalopede]

And since I moved from about seven hours south, it's "up here" to me, too.

My mother for some reason insists on referring to it as "down there", though.