Is Chico's economy stable or going downhill? What is happening there currently? (Sacramento: real estate, apartment complexes)

[celinea]

I lived in Chico for a few years, from ~2008 to 2011. I just visited their Reddit page because I was feeling nostalgic and curious about current happenings there, and I was a bit surprised to see how many formerly-popular local businesses have now gone out of business / are currently going out of business (examples: The Graduate, Lyon Books, LaSalle's, Woof & Poof, etc.).

I saw a lot of pros and cons of Chico when I lived there - it definitely was not the right place for me long-term, but there is a beauty to the CSU campus and the parks there that I think about often. The farmers markets were awesome, too. On the other hand, I definitely do not miss the drug addicts and disrespectful students, or the thefts and hate-based crimes that occurred during my years there.

I am just wondering if anyone has any additional information about what is happening in Chico right now. Is it on the decline or does it seem fairly stable there, with new shops and stores replacing the failing ones I used to visit?

I am just curious - I live on the east coast now so I can't visit to see how it's doing! It is such a unique spot and I hope it's doing okay.

[DCMann2]

Chico is growing like mad. The population has nearly doubled since around 2000 and tracts are going up everywhere.

A lot of previously empty fields are turning into cookie cutter suburbs. Kinda sad, really.

[celinea]

Originally Posted by DCMann2

Chico is growing like mad. The population has nearly doubled since around 2000 and tracts are going up everywhere.

A lot of previously empty fields are turning into cookie cutter suburbs. Kinda sad, really.

Thanks for answering! I guess growth isn't always a bad thing, but I remember seeing those fields being turned into cookie cutter suburbs and big apartment complexes - a friend of mine lived in one actually. I guess it also depends what types of people are moving in too, and what their goals are!

[BeauCharles]

Unemployment rate varies from about 6-7% throughout the year. Not great, not terrible. Problem is that many of the jobs are low paying and there is a lot of competition for service positions because of the large student population. After graduation many students don't want to leave the area so that contributes to job competition beyond service work. Still, it seems fairly healthy and is one of the nicer communities in California. Housing cost is a bit higher than the rest of the Central Valley just because of the perceived quality of life.

[Tolerance999]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

Unemployment rate varies from about 6-7% throughout the year. Not great, not terrible. Problem is that many of the jobs are low paying and there is a lot of competition for service positions because of the large student population. After graduation many students don't want to leave the area so that contributes to job competition beyond service work. Still, it seems fairly healthy and is one of the nicer communities in California. Housing cost is a bit higher than the rest of the Central Valley just because of the perceived quality of life.

The city should allow Chico state students to stay and start their own business. Do they? Reno and Salt Lake City promote student business start-ups. San Luis Obispo does not, and is so anti growth that they now have a huge Meth problem like Chico.

[Radaghast]

Originally Posted by celinea

I lived in Chico for a few years, from ~2008 to 2011. I just visited their Reddit page because I was feeling nostalgic and curious about current happenings there, and I was a bit surprised to see how many formerly-popular local businesses have now gone out of business / are currently going out of business (examples: The Graduate, Lyon Books, LaSalle's, Woof & Poof, etc.).

I saw a lot of pros and cons of Chico when I lived there - it definitely was not the right place for me long-term, but there is a beauty to the CSU campus and the parks there that I think about often. The farmers markets were awesome, too. On the other hand, I definitely do not miss the drug addicts and disrespectful students, or the thefts and hate-based crimes that occurred during my years there.

I am just wondering if anyone has any additional information about what is happening in Chico right now. Is it on the decline or does it seem fairly stable there, with new shops and stores replacing the failing ones I used to visit?

I am just curious - I live on the east coast now so I can't visit to see how it's doing! It is such a unique spot and I hope it's doing okay.

The economy is doing pretty well, there has been a surge of local startups over the past few years which are pretty compelling. Also, I spoke with a gentlemen who is involved in a lot of different business and real estate ventures here, and he has it on good authority that Facebook and Google are both opening campuses out by the airport, and one of them is opening a data center as well. So that could mean big things for the local economy.

Originally Posted by DCMann2

Chico is growing like mad. The population has nearly doubled since around 2000 and tracts are going up everywhere.

A lot of previously empty fields are turning into cookie cutter suburbs. Kinda sad, really.

I know what you mean, I wish we could implement a boundary like the Green Line on the west side of the city to prevent urban sprawl. Any money that would've gone into development should instead be put into rehabilitating existing homes that have been run down and abandoned.

Just my thoughts though.

Originally Posted by Tolerance999

The city should allow Chico state students to stay and start their own business. Do they? Reno and Salt Lake City promote student business start-ups. San Luis Obispo does not, and is so anti growth that they now have a huge Meth problem like Chico.

Sure they do. Ken Grossman might be one of the best examples of that, and I can think of a few other local businesses that were started by people who were students at Butte or Chico. Christian Friedland, who started Build.com (he was just featured in Forbes recently), there have also been some clothing startups: stores like Formal Education that carry higher-end clothing, or Upper Park Clothing that design their own prints based on local features of the city and surrounding area.

That's just a few examples. I'm sure there are more that I'm overlooking.



I think it's possible for the city to foster innovation, creativity, fresh business ventures and an overall healthy and dynamic economy without selling off beautiful undeveloped land just so another 200+ home subdivision can be put in by a contractor from Sacramento who doesn't give a damn about what makes Chico "Chico".

[Tolerance999]

Originally Posted by Radaghast

The economy is doing pretty well, there has been a surge of local startups over the past few years which are pretty compelling. Also, I spoke with a gentlemen who is involved in a lot of different business and real estate ventures here, and he has it on good authority that Facebook and Google are both opening campuses out by the airport, and one of them is opening a data center as well. So that could mean big things for the local economy.



I know what you mean, I wish we could implement a boundary like the Green Line on the west side of the city to prevent urban sprawl. Any money that would've gone into development should instead be put into rehabilitating existing homes that have been run down and abandoned.

Just my thoughts though.



Sure they do. Ken Grossman might be one of the best examples of that, and I can think of a few other local businesses that were started by people who were students at Butte or Chico. Christian Friedland, who started Build.com (he was just featured in Forbes recently), there have also been some clothing startups: stores like Formal Education that carry higher-end clothing, or Upper Park Clothing that design their own prints based on local features of the city and surrounding area.

That's just a few examples. I'm sure there are more that I'm overlooking.



I think it's possible for the city to foster innovation, creativity, fresh business ventures and an overall healthy and dynamic economy without selling off beautiful undeveloped land just so another 200+ home subdivision can be put in by a contractor from Sacramento who doesn't give a damn about what makaes Chico "Chico".

Your main contractor is not from Sacramento. He is local, Paul Webb. He probably runs the town. Call him if you don't like his apartments.

The green line should be cancelled to promote economic growth and more affordable housing.

[Radaghast]

Originally Posted by Tolerance999

Your main contractor is not from Sacramento. He is local, Paul Webb. He probably runs the town. Call him if you don't like his apartments.

The green line should be cancelled to promote economic growth and more affordable housing.

And turn into every other town from Yuba City to Bakersfield? No thanks.

The green line respects a big part of the region's economy, cancelling it would be counterproductive. The economy can expand without doing that.

[Tolerance999]

Webb probably wants to eliminate the green line so he and his family can build even more, and double Chico's population to the size of Reno.

Better call him and ask.....he probably runs the town

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Tolerance999

Reno and Salt Lake City promote student business start-ups.

Do you have any link to a source for that? I lived in Reno and this is the first I have ever heard about the City promoting student business startups.