Why doesn't California's northern third have a higher population? (San Francisco: for sale, university)

[EckyX]

By "Northern" I don't mean to include San Francisco and Sacramento, which are more approximately at the middle of the state, but the actual northern third. E.g. Redding, Eureka, Crescent City. What are the population constraints of these areas? Weather-wise, they're still more pleasant than a vast majority of the country. Best I can tell, the northern third of the state isn't really lacking water, either.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by EckyX

E.g. Redding, Eureka, Crescent City. What are the population constraints of these areas? Weather-wise, they're still more pleasant than a vast majority of the country.

Ever been to Redding during the months of June through early October?

[EckyX]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Ever been to Redding during the months of June through early October?

I understand it's hot there, but Bakersfield is no less hot and it has 4x the population. What's the excuse for Eureka?

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by EckyX

I understand it's hot there, but Bakersfield is no less hot and it has 4x the population. What's the excuse for Eureka?

Never been to Eureka. But it looks as if these people have:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/weath...er-eureka.html

[volosong]

Other than forest products, the lack of natural resources. Relatively little arable land outside the Central Valley.

p.s. Bakersfield has abundant petroleum fields.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by EckyX

I understand it's hot there, but Bakersfield is no less hot and it has 4x the population. What's the excuse for Eureka?

Humboldt County is a bit isolated, for one thing; it's far from major population centers, and the only reliable way to get out is to drive. There are daily scheduled flights to the Bay Area, but they get fogged in often. And it's a long drive to any major population centers (Bay Area, Portland or Eugene, OR. And the road to Redding is very winding, a 3-hr. drive. 6 hrs. round-trip on a challenging road, if you do the trip in one day.

It also has weather like the Pacific Northwest: foggy, misty, rainy. So, yes, at least it has a reliable water supply. But although the coastal strip is wet enough to not get fires, the inland areas are drier and fire-prone. Same for the surrounding non-coastal counties (Trinity, Shasta, etc.) I noticed this year, that Humboldt put out their wildfire/s promptly. But the surrounding counties couldn't get theirs under control, and the smoke from that choked out the folks on the coast.

Humboldt and Del Norte have been economically depressed since the collapse of the timber industry in the area (protection for redwoods). Word is, that Humboldt is in transition from MJ growing to .... a more diverse economy? They still haven't figured it out yet, but IMO the county has a lot of potential. There are small organic farms and dairy operations there, that "export" food to the Bay Area as well as providing for the local population, there's a university and a community college, there are art and craft producers and other creative folk, small businesses, alternative energy system installation companies, and room for more development. There are a lot of defunct MJ farms up for sale, that could be turned into more organic food producers. This would be a good idea, given that the rest of the state is prone to drought. Someone will have to take up the slack, when agriculture collapses in the Central Valley.

There's a shortage of medical care, which plays a role in holding back population growth to some extent. There's a decent hospital system there, but they're desperately understaffed on their night shifts. The area has trouble attracting more medical staff and specialists.

I think there's a lot of potential for economic and population growth there. If it weren't for the warming global climate threatening the forests with fires, the place might actually have some hope of achieving some growth. It definitely doesn't lack in natural beauty.

[evening sun]

I love it here, but there are no jobs. We are retired, so it doesn't matter to us.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by evening sun

I love it here, but there are no jobs. We are retired, so it doesn't matter to us.

Right. Like Port Townsend and elsewhere on the Olympic Peninsula, Humboldt and Del Norte are BYOJ types of places (Bring Your Own Job), attractive to people working remotely, retired, or people interested in farming.

[Ultrarunner]

Seems most large population centers are based on trade which historically based on ports...

[EckyX]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Seems most large population centers are based on trade which historically based on ports...

Eureka is the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, and the westernmost city of more than 25,000 residents in the 48 contiguous states. The proximity to the sea renders the city to have an extremely maritime climate with very small annual temperature differences and seasons mainly being defined by the rainy winters and dry summers, whereas nearby inland areas are much hotter in summer. It is the regional center for government, health care, trade, and the arts on the North Coast north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Greater Eureka, one of California's major commercial fishing ports, is the location of the largest deep-water port between San Francisco and Coos Bay, a stretch of about 500 miles (805 km).

Source

Given all of this, one would think the population would be more than 27,000.