Considering Redding, CA (Santa Cruz, Mount Shasta: environment, credit rating, apartments)

[dusesean1986]

Well, the median household income for 2000, was $31,154. That's great for you!!! A rental of anything would be extremely cheap. That national average is $49,500.

[Winston Smith]

I may as well pipe in here, too, since I spent a some time in Redding at one point in my life. My experiences with the area are limited and from a few years ago; population was around 39,000 in Redding then (80s). I can't vouch much for today's Redding, except for the heat in the summer. I know that hasn't changed. You have one thing beat in that you say you're owkay with hot, hot summers.

Redding's downtown always had a certain charm for me. I also enjoyed that park by the Sacramento River in the Miracle-Mile area, Shasta Dam, Wiskeytown Lake, the proximity to Trinity County to the west, Shingletown and Lassen Park to the east (hiked to the summit once, wow), the mountains/forests and Mount Shasta to the north. Every once in a while we'd take a spin to Yreka and Oregon for the sights, or out to the coast. Be sure to visit California's oldest Chinese Taoist temple at Joss House State Historic Park in Weaverville. Great area.

[star13]

Originally Posted by cre8

I may as well pipe in here, too, since I spent a some time in Redding at one point in my life. My experiences with the area are limited and from a few years ago; population was around 39,000 in Redding then (80s). I can't vouch much for today's Redding, except for the heat in the summer. I know that hasn't changed. You have one thing beat in that you say you're owkay with hot, hot summers.

Redding's downtown always had a certain charm for me. I also enjoyed that park by the Sacramento River in the Miracle-Mile area, Shasta Dam, Wiskeytown Lake, the proximity to Trinity County to the west, Shingletown and Lassen Park to the east (hiked to the summit once, wow), the mountains/forests and Mount Shasta to the north. Every once in a while we'd take a spin to Yreka and Oregon for the sights, or out to the coast. Be sure to visit California's oldest Chinese Taoist temple at Joss House State Historic Park in Weaverville. Great area.

Why did you leave Redding??

[notmeofficer]

Redding.. liberal minded... you cant possibly live here Sir... or m'aam

Ok Redding.. from a resident's point of view....
Redding is not liberal by any stretch of the immagination, especially not by California standards. It is solidly republican. There is still alot of old ranch money around here,,, and new Indian gaming money

Redding is a town trying to catch up with other cities in California but still stuck in the good ol boy mentality from the past. This is still systemic in our county government slowly being lulled along to more progressive thinking as more people move here from other places and bring in fresh ideas and needs.Native Redding children grow up here and usually want to move on because they say it's too boring for them... although I do observe, unemperically, that they seem to come back after they get a taste of other cities.

What Redding is... is a blend of new and old.. struggling for its identity
We have a new city hall we call the "Taj Mahaal".. its nice.. perhaps too nice in lieu of other needs, The Sundial Bridge , beautiful modern architecture plopped down in the Sacramento river known for bass fishing. We have a refurbished historic theatre that is beggining to bring interesting talent.. before that it was the county fair and country western bars in the cities to the south.
Our convention center is well used but serviceable and sees everything from bike bike weekend to comedians..
I guess if you compare Redding to other more southern California cities it's still behind the times. The other posters are accurate about the population, Redding used to be third generation mill workers,the mills are long gone but there is still an underclass. When I moved here the area was not culturally diverse.. its changing.. and I cant say that is necessarily a good thing.. but it is reality and is nothing like others parts of California, overun by every immaginable class of people.

BE AWARE.. Redding can be VERY VERY hot in the summer, sometimes for several weeks,, over 110 degrees.. but it is hot and dry and very low humidity and locals escape it by going out of the valley to the surrounding mountains and California's largest lake, Lake Shasta. The hot weather can bring forest fires... but smart living can reduce that risk.. as far as Redding itself being green... it isn't.. one thing you can depend on here, and others will echo.. "when the trees are green the ground is brown, and when the ground is brown the trees are green". The grasses burn out about June and it becomes dry and brown... rain starts in December ,usually, and the winter can be quite wet some years.. as wet as Oregon, but we see our rain in several months. Snow on the valley floor is more an annomoly than the norm.. maybe some snowflakes once or twice a year,, and a freak blizzard once very seven years, (that doesn't stay for more than a couple of days).
BUT REMEMBER... the temperature differential swings can be huge here, from winter to summer.. as much as 100 degrees.. and thats huge, trust me, you can definately FEEL it. The low humidity is nice,,, it might spoil you if you like that. I recommend a summer adventure here.. perhaps rent a houseboat ..so you can experience in person the weather. I came from So Cal, land of perfect weather (and not so perfect living) and the weather here, for me, has been challenging (I grew up in the east coast in the snow and I hate that).

My wife an I are vegans, (I guess some would consider that a liberal or alternative type lifestyle.. we are conservative), and we have zero health food resturants and minimal health food stores compared to the rest of California.. (cowboys up here just dont seem to go for the veggie lifestyle)
I have noticed several new gyms open up lately... a bunch of box stores.. and a bunch more planned.. but there is still lots of open space

TO DO outdoors,,,
anything and everything you want is right at your fingertips, I live right next to Lake Shasta, 5 minutes to a boat ramp and 364 miles of beautiful shoreline, although we "locals" like the lake better in off season when it's empty and we dont have to deal with the "L.A. idiots" hotrodding and bringing their stupid ways with them. There are literally hundreds of day trips you can make that can take you into beauty and solitude, 30 minutes and beyond from downtown Redding

continued

[notmeofficer]

Graffiti is minimal,, gangs are still in the wannabee stages here,, parolees are still dumped here,, but they seem to absorb pretty well and still stand out... meth is a problem.. and we have become the marijuana growing capitol of California because of the wilderness lands available,,, none of this would probably effect you personally.. crime is here... but smart living will insulate you from it and it is nothing like other California cities.

Housing prices, while spiking upwards over the past several years, are still a bargain compared to the rest of California... we have nice community college (Shasta).. (I enjoyed my retirement and went back to school and got an art degree and some welding certifications), a faith based college (Simpson) and one or two small specialized private vocational schools
The job market is great for the medical field, other than that its low wages unless you have a needed, specialty business. The two hospitals, Redding Medical Center, and Mercy Medical are the largest single employers, along with the County. It is one of the poorer counties in California.. it's all relative depending on where you come from and what your needs are. I dont have a family, but I sense it's probably a good place to raise one.

If you need further please dont hesitate to ask or pm me. Ill do my best to be accurate in what I tell you sprinkled with my background biases

Best regards,

Cam

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by star13

Why did you leave Redding??

I had relatives and friends living in Redding for a period of about 12 years, which drew me to the area from time-to-time, though I did spend one entire summer there considering a move. It's a nice area with many plusses, as I rattled off in my previous post, but the biggest problem for me was the summer heat. Also back in the 80s unemployment was quite high. I believe it was around 15% for Shasta County. There was work, but it wasn't steady and the pay was low. Perhaps that's changed by now. Redding area has grown a lot.

PS. Forgot to mention Shasta Caverns in my last post, as yet another destination.

[star13]

Other web-sites that I've found say that Redding has experienced a lot of recent job-growth due to lots of businesses moving into the area. And I have to say that on a day like today where the temperature is in the teens, the heat sounds like a dream come true. Our temp. was in the single digits on Sunday, and I was beyond miserable.
I would like some more info on the local political atmosphere in Redding from the perspective of the residents. I used to work in politics for several years back when I as in NYC, and I'm considering working for government again.
Also, I am glad that Redding has an airport, but it seems that flights from the airport tend to be pretty costly. Do residents tend to use this airport or drive to a bigger city to larger airports when traveling?
Thanks again!!

[SandyCo]

I don't live in Redding, so I probably shouldn't be addressing your question about airports, Star, but the nearest big city is hours away. Sacramento is about two hours away, and San Francisco is three hours away. I think I'd use the Redding airport and pay the extra money. Just my two cents. Any Redding residents want to chime in?

[Woof]

Most people north of the Bay Area use Sacramento, Oakland, or SFO for longer trips.

Two bedroom apartments are listed on craigslist and the Sentinel, the last time I checked they were mostly somewhere around $600-900.

There are a lot of restaurants, I ate at one healthy Japanese restaurant a few years ago, but enjoyed In And Out Burgers just as much. They have a good crab place - I'm sure they have lots of cafes but I only went to Starbucks.

Some of the shopping is exceptional for low prices, I didn't even look for precious little boutiques and "shoppes" - that's not my style - and I doubt they have much of that.

I don't know about healthfood stores in Redding, but there are two very good ones up in Mt Shasta, 50 miles away - that's also the place to find the shoppes.

If you don't need to work there are lots of options in the region that I would consider more desirable than Redding - Mt Shasta, Quincy, Arcata, Fort Bragg .... some nice places further south such as Sonoma and Napa counties.

[star13]

Thanks for the replies!! I think that the other cities mentioned may be too small for my taste with regard to population size...
Is the "Sentinel" the local newspaper? What are the other local papers? I'd like to be able to check out the local classifieds for jobs, apartments, etc. to do more research besides using the major search engines like monster.com., etc.
Also, could the local Redding/Shasta Lake residents give me more info on houseboat rentals? Are the houseboats simply for tourists for short-term rentals, or can the houseboats be rented to live on year-long?? I am intrigued by the idea of living on the water...