Lake County/Clear Lake Area? (Sacramento, Santa Rosa: foreclosures, sex offenders, houses)

[TribalCat]

Does anyone live in or have information of the towns around Clear Lake in Northern California? It looks like such a beautiful place to live, I'm wondering how affordable it is to live there, and any pros or cons you know of.

[grimstuff]

Hi TribalCat,

Here is another thread on this topic:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/calif...html#post88940
See my post; it's as accurate a description as I could give. I grew up in the neighboring county and know those parts pretty well.

[TribalCat]

Thanks for the link, it was really helpful. All of the touristy websites show the best parts of the town around the lake, but it's nice to get a more balanced feel for it from other posters. I was getting really excited about the area, then came across a website talking about the mercury leeching into the water, etc. That concerns me. It's definitely something to think about.

[calif]

Lake County is very affordable right now. 4 and 5 bedroom houses going for $230,000 Due to foreclosures.

Nice areas, Middletown is cute, Hidden Valley Lake is nice, Kelsyville seems nice too. Good luck to you.

[snowblind]

I wouldn't move to lake county. It is the most economically depressed place to live. My biggest regret in life is moving here. I'm stuck and can't get out now. It sux.

[nicolerene]

I grew up in Lake County and moved back five years ago after living in Santa Rosa. Lake County definately has struggled through the years, but I love living here.
Clearlake is one of the more depressed areas in the County but it has improved leaps and bounds in past years.
Spring Valley is a more rural area where the majority of the propertys are larger lots (1/3 acre or more). The CCRs only allow horses, but residents are allowed to keep chickens and other livestock.
Kelseyville is also a nice area to buy in. If you like golf course living, the Riviera is great. If you like some snow in winter, Cobb Mountain is the place to buy and they also have a golf course.
The major employers are Walmart, KMart, the Geysers, the Casinos, and the Hospital. If you are not retired, you may need to commute. Santa Rosa and Yuba City are both within commutable distance. Sacramento is about 1.75 hours away.

[hydro]

It is affordable, but run down. If you lived on the lake, had a boat, and were retired or didn't need much economy/shopping/nightlife I imagine it would be nice in some ways. The views of Mt Konocti are very pretty. But the town is just so, so junky and the roads are so bad (potholes) and there are tons of sex offenders and sketchy people there in town. There are also a lot of very nice people there too. It is isolated from freeways and commerce.

[anna2273]

I wouldn't have moved to lake County if I had known it was such a **** hole. No jobs anywhere! Pretty but not worth the move. By the way , is there ANY place in Lake County that there are people who DO NOT sell or do drugs????? Sickening!!!!!

[aRandomDude]

Originally Posted by anna2273

I wouldn't have moved to lake County if I had known it was such a **** hole. No jobs anywhere! Pretty but not worth the move. By the way , is there ANY place in Lake County that there are people who DO NOT sell or do drugs????? Sickening!!!!!

Well...Hidden Valley Lake seems to be mostly drug-free. Do you consider marijuana a drug?