What's Arcata like? (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley: houses, theatre, school)

[Rallison123]

My husband is applying for a job at Humboldt University. We're starting a family soon too. I grew up outside SFO and have been living in Washington, DC for the past 11 years. I miss the West Coast but know nothing about Humboldt County. What's it like to live in Arcata?

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Rallison123

My husband is applying for a job at Humboldt University. We're starting a family soon too. I grew up outside SFO and have been living in Washington, DC for the past 11 years. I miss the West Coast but know nothing about Humboldt County. What's it like to live in Arcata?

Granola + Oakies. It's the sticks.

[wburg]

I went to school at HSU, and if I could have found a job, I never would have left.

It's one of those places that you either fall in love with immediately or hate immediately. I fell in love with it.

Arcata is this amazing weird little place. Humboldt County is very, very physically detatched from the rest of California (the nearest "large city" is Redding, population about 75,000, 3 hours away; Portland and San Francisco are around 6-7 hours away. One small airport served by small planes, two or three airlines. No rail service.) They call it the "Humboldt Curtain." Eureka, a few miles south, is twice as large and has a more working-class character. There are a few other little towns nearby, from the quaint and touristy (Ferndale, Trinidad) to the utilitarian (McKinleyville, Scotia.)

The school means that Arcata is like many other college towns: quite a few interesting things to do considering the town's small size, like cafes and live music and dining. Many people in Arcata have been stuck in the Sixties since the Sixties; you see an awful lot of tie-dye, long hair and hemp clothing. You hear a lot of Grateful Dead, Sixties rock, and reggae. You smell a lot of incense, patchouli and...well, you know.

If you know the Bay Area, imagine a little Berkeley, focusing on Telegraph Avenue, and replace 99% of the rest of the Bay Area's cities and towns with redwood trees. It's a bit rainier and foggier. Humboldt State is built on the side of a hill. There are several places on campus where a wrong turn can put you directly into the redwood forest.

Because many people fall in love with it while in college, many try to remain even though the economy is awful. The result is that the guy fixing your burrito at Hey Juan! (highly recommended) may have a master's degree. Finding professional jobs can be a challenge unless you make your own niche. Other down sides include the "Humboldt Curtain" mentality, which can be a little closed-minded, the typical town/gown dichotomy, months of unending rain and fog, and occasional rancid smells from the local pulp mill.

The scenery is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. You're right next to the ocean, most of the beaches are unspoled (beachwear in Humboldt County means boots and a heavy coat) and the mountains are in your backyard.

As you can tell, I miss it there just a little bit...but I'd advise you to check it out first. Either you'll loathe it immediately or you'll never, ever be able to leave without a piece of you staying there.

[Rallison123]

wburg,
First, let me thank you for taking the time to respond to my posting. I'm one of the Californians that moved out of California almost 20 years ago to go to college and never came back. I live in Washington, DC, have a high-powered job and hate the lifestyle and attitude that come along with that. I miss the weather, the liberal thinking, and the lifestyle of California and think nothing could be better than burning my suit for a pair of birkenstocks and a tie dye shirt. I've tasted life in the big city and I'm done. However, I think we should definitely visit and of course, make sure my husband gets the job first! If you think of anything else to share, please do!

[Petrala]

Originally Posted by Rallison123

wburg,
First, let me thank you for taking the time to respond to my posting. I'm one of the Californians that moved out of California almost 20 years ago to go to college and never came back. I live in Washington, DC, have a high-powered job and hate the lifestyle and attitude that come along with that. I miss the weather, the liberal thinking, and the lifestyle of California and think nothing could be better than burning my suit for a pair of birkenstocks and a tie dye shirt. I've tasted life in the big city and I'm done. However, I think we should definitely visit and of course, make sure my husband gets the job first! If you think of anything else to share, please do!

I like it a lot but you have to be realistic about the weather. Unless you live inland, it's chilly. And often gray. I know of a number of SF bay people who had to leave the area, the weather depressed them or their mate. I mean, short term, a few months, they were fine. But after a year or so they just needed warmer weather.

The other thing, if it's important to you, it's not terribly diverse.

[TheDragonslayer]

Thank you very much wburg, your description of Arcata and the Humboldt bay region is extremely accurate. I have been here in Humboldt county for 16 years and McKinleyville for 8 years. I am so tired of the posts about this area making is seem like a hopeless and destitute area. If one has not been here in over 10 years, they would be amazed at the growth and changes here. 15 years ago, Mckinleyville was near 7,000 people, the main street was 2 lanes with no sidewalks, one small grocery store, a post office, a hardware store and a feed store, it was frequently referred of as Oklahoma by the sea. Now there are close to 17,000 people, a 4 lane main street with bike lanes and sidewalks, 2 large grocery stores, 2 video outlets, a nine plex theatre, a sports complex, 2 large hardware stores, a very large Kmart, a public library, a fire station and a thriving airport with flights to Utah, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Redding and Portland. McKinleyville has taken on near 28% of the growth in the county. I find that the only reason I go to Eureka is for Costco and their less expensive gas and that may be only once a month and Eureka is only 12 miles south. I too found Arcata to be much like the telegraph area of Berkeley, including it's nice victorian architecture, odd shops and restaurants.

[TheDragonslayer]

One more thing; the weather has changed here what with "Global Warming". I am always hearing from the old timers around here, that about 15 to 20 years ago it started warming up, that it used to be foggy all the time in the summer and that the rains used to come in slow and wet. Now the rains come in fast and wet and we still get 40 to 50 inch's of rain, just with most of it from December to March. This year we have only had 2.5 inch's of rain since April 1st and most of that was in April. This time of year is the best to visit and so is late September and early October if you are looking for heat here on the coast. August is typically foggy but it will be 100 or more less than 10 miles inland. Last summer was an amazing summer here on the coast, most of the days were in the upper 60's and 70's with many days in the 80's and practically no fog the whole summer, but the summer of 2004 was dismal and foggy with only a few days hitting the low 70's. Yesterday was 78 and today was 71. McKinleyville is directly on the coast too.

[wburg]

TheDragonslayer: Admittedly, most of my experience up there is about 20 years old now (dang, that makes me feel old!) but I do come back up every year or two (I have family who lives up there, and I get twitchy if I don't go visit the campus every once in a while.) I did notice that McKinleyville is seeing a lot of the same sort of growth that one finds in Redding or, well, anywhere else. I tend to miss describing them because in four years at HSU I think I went to McKinleyville twice.

Rallison123: If you go, let me recommend the following places to visit:
Cafe Mokka
Cafe Mokka - Arcata, CA
Best. coffee. shop. EVER.

Tin Can Mailman
Tin Can Mailman - Arcata, CA
A pretty spectacularly good used bookstore.

People's Records
(hm, can't find a Yelp review for it)
Right on the Plaza. Great for those who actually like vinyl records.

Petralta's warnings about seasonal-affective-disorder inducing weather and a relative lack of cultural diversity are true.

Oh yeah...I meant to say "Redwood Curtain" not "Humboldt Curtain." Too much incense...

[bigdave01]

Arcata is a great place, here is a photo thread of it:

arcataca

[nanannie]

Just returned from a first time visit.I dont want to offend anyones home turf, this is just our meeger opinion from a quick visit. I thought it "ok". Just an opinion, but I was taken back by the freaks and the open pot smoking in the town center.We are old hippies so we really have to be blown away to call kids 'freaks'. We walked by a man urinating outside a shop we visited on Sunday afternoon, in site of one and all. I know, that can happen anywhere, but with the kids( I dont mean children) running all over the nice town center park, beggers and that old familiar scent in the air, we didnt spent alot of time as we were with an 11 yr old. We got the impression the youth have 'taken over' the town. Rarely saw anyone over 30. Some very run down,questionable 'hoods. I guess to be expected with a college.Young able people on corners begging like helpless,old homeless men.Weather was chilly and damp the week end we were there.

The university was lovely. Some cute houses, some nice restaraunts, but we were very disapointed and over all we were expecting something 'nicer' and it is not place we would raise our son.Not much we were interested in surrounding the area, it felt isolated and I suppose it is.Had dinner in Trinidad, pretty hills, looked more affluent, not much to town . While waiting for my husband in the car at the local supermarket, we were surprised to find a sore covered old guy leaning in the open window begging for money because he 'started bleeding in private places'. I politley told him where I saw a policeman that could possibly help him,and rolled up the window, my poor son was white.(again, just our bad luck, this could happen anywhere.)Mc'ville had some pretty hills, views and newer shopping centers. It seemed like it was 'growing' more and a bit more upbeat compared to our other towns we visited.Eureka, like many have mentioned, has a nice 'old town' area and shopping,but didnt feel any reason to hang out there. Also, was surprised at Ferndale, totally closed up on Sunday, damp,chilly, not as nice as we pictured,some nice victorians but thats about it. Surrounded by farm fields. Great fruit stands. I really thought one of these towns was for us, but just didnt feel it. We left the area 3 days earlier then planned and headed north. Certainly met some lovely people along with those you wouldnt want to run into at nite. Sorry if I offended anyone, we really have no desire to return. We loved Mnt Shasta and our return visits to Ashland and thought better of Grants Pass on this second visit. so, different strokes.