Considering Redding, CA (Chico, Lewiston, Klamath: for sale, apartment complex, condo)

[beckieteaches]

Wow, kind of late getting to this but here goes. I grew up in Anderson, a small lumbermill town. It was a good place to grow up in but I cannot really say that now. Unfortunately, the city fathers let many subsidized apartments be built in Anderson. With those apartments came all the problems that can come with poverty. Additionally, the mills closed and there is little employment.
As far as the schools, it is my understanding that the cascade district (Anderson) has improved tremendously. You might also look at the cottonwood district, just a few miles south, they have an excellent reputation.
Anderson is beginning to add nicer housing to it's city and has experienced much growth in the past year. Hopefully, things will get better for this fast growing suburb of Redding.

[Bible John]

I lived, worked, and went to school in Redding for 4 years. While I admit its a very nice place to live, and its got some beautiful attractions, great grocery stores (Win-CO), Redding was a a really hard place at finding good steady work. This is why I had to leave the area on February 1st 2006. In some ways I wish I could have settled down there, but finding work was difficult.

Sure the die hards that grew up there would never admit to what I am telling you, and sure Redding, CA has lots of jobs for nurses, RNA's, doctors,etc.. The fact is that if you are not someone in that trade, and got a degree at a place like Simpson in a non marketable field, it could be rough finding a good paying job. You will probably end up working in the retail or fast food industries, or you could end up changing lots and lots of diapers for a DD person in a Homecare job. Nothing wrong with such jobs, but they are not for everyone. So take your pick. Redding is a nice beautiful place to live, if you can afford the low paying jobs. But if you cannot, then you better move to a area with more jobs.

Hope this helps.


John

[reddingteacher]

I moved to Redding from the Bay Area 20 years ago. In the bay area I was paying $950 a month for an apartment. I was a poor single mom and new that if I stayed in the apartment my kids and I would only get poorer. I moved to Redding and purchased 15 acres with a mobile for $2,000 down and just $500 per month. I paid off my mortgage in just 8 years! My kids went to a great school in the country and loved playing in the seasonal creek. It's a great place to come to if your looking for a place that is a little behind the times, or trying to get ahead but don't want to move to another state.

[MajorHart]

We lived in Sacramento and went to Redding on the weekends. Later we lived in Medford.

Redding was very hot at night in the summer, but we camped in a regular tent on Lake Shasta in February and had just a tent heater and it was very comfortable inside and out.

It's 88 in Redding right now 8-9-2007 3pm

What are the racial demographics there now?

MajorHart majorhart@sbcglobal.net

The Redding Shopper
Page Title

[MajorHart]

Originally Posted by 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

Hi, My wife has been a supervisor (over 3 years) at the local (missouri) casino. Does the casino there hire a lot of local residents.

We're thinking of coming back but as you said - the places we've lived in CA before - SanDiego (beautiful but with problems), Fresno (terrible) Stockton (armpit) and sacramento - the best but with man drive by shootings almost every night.

We went to redding almost every weekend for a year and a half. As birdwatchers we found the birds there to be very interesting and plentiful.

Thanks

MajorHart majorhart@sbcglobal.net

[MajorHart]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

weekly tourist rentals,, no permanent housing for the houseboats,

Can people own a houseboat and live in it on Lake Shasta?

Thanks

[MajorHart]

Originally Posted by bell8411

I rent here in Redding, a nice townhome right in the middle of town, for $775. I've just been looking at homes for rent and you can get a decent 3/2 for anywhere from 1000-1200. As far as the coffee shops go, it seems there's one of every corner and your share of Starbuck's too. I like Redding, it's become a bit more like larger towns in California, but I like that. Houses are definately affordable compared to the rest of California, but there isn't much of a job market to support it.

I and wife like to go to the bars, if they aren't dives - we also like to stop off and have coffee but we won't spend the kind of money starbucks charges. We can afford it but as some one said - we're not going to pay prices far over gasoline. <G>

Are there any nice bars/pubs that are neither dives and also not high-hat?

Are there any reasonably priced places to take a laptop, drink $1.00 to $2.00 coffee and they let you work too?

I plan to get the craigslist and put the link on on my Redding Shopper website - isn't it a national list?

Thanks

[MajorHart]

Originally Posted by MRPD114

star13, I recall a record setting Redding heat wave about 15+ years ago where it peaked at 118. We decided to go to Burney Falls Rec area about an hour east in the hills for the day to cool down. It didn't. It was still about 118 there. It is true that the humidity is low so even the hottest temps are not toooo sticky, and that was unusually hot even for July/August.

WE use the a/c all the time here as lately it's been 100 almost everyday - right now it is.

In tucson where it got even hotter and phoenix, swamp coolers worked very well for most of the year.

If Redding is dry heat wouldn't they be good for there?

Do you have a home depot or lowes or menards there.

Swamp coolers aren't even sold here.

[notmeofficer]

Lets see

We have home depot and lowes... and meeks and 84 lumber

There are a bunch of bars.. I never go in them,,, I am a chairperson for MADD in Shasta County.. I believe they range from country western ****kicking to nice sit down jazz.. sports bar.. Bert and Ernies.. Good food ,,,CR Gibbs

Theres a brewery in Shasta Lake City,, hes working on a new abc license after getting busted for selling outside his specs

there are a bunch of coffee shops that aren't like starbucks
Yaks- Bechelli Lane
Bad Ass Coffee- Lake Blvd
Some downtown I dont know the name of (sorry I dont drink coffee)

Its still mostly Caucasian here... but the low life ghetto knuckleheads of all colors are beginning to be seen... 5 years ago they were unknown.. there isn't a gang problem but there are wanna bes trying

Swamp coolers work excellent here.. it is very dry

You can own a houseboat and live aboard...
There are no new permits so you have to buy an existing one,, they are issued to the original owner for 20 years.. there are 625 private houseboat permits and 450 commercial permits currently issued. Houseboats go from 20k for a junker to 350k plus for a 3 story.. it is an expensive game for the nicer ones.. and "fees" are getting more and more spendy

We have 27 acres end of the road privacy by lake shasta..all brushed and trimmed rolling oaks... small very nice mobile and a huge shop.. Bella vista water 8 inch line with fire hydrant (thats worth close to 100k).. PGE power all over the property...our place is worth around 500 k... more if split...
California.. it is unbelievable what property is worth
500k up here will buy you a palace .. 300k will get you a very nice subdivision home
I have seen the price adjustment and now there are many nice homes on the market and it favors BUYERS... good time to buy.. 2 years form now it will go up again,, we have to cram all those 20-30 million that are coming to cali over the next 20 years into somewhere

[MajorHart]

I've been drinking responsibly for most of my adult life - usally 1 pitcher every week or so - have been a notary public for 35 years (including cal) and have never had an accident and not even a ticket for 25 years.

I do know people that have problems drinking responsibly though and most laws to restrict them are good.

You don't drink coffee?! That's my other vice.

Sounds like you have a great place.

My wife got her Real Estate Brokers License while in California and I got my saleperson license - we had plans to go into real estate but we were both in insurance and never got around to it.

We lived in Phoenix and Tucson 12 years also and loved it but were chased by gangs several times - we probably would be here now if we hadn't been able to run pretty fast.

My wife was in insurance but now that she's 58, even though better than ever, they don't hire many of them - so she's been a supervisor at the casino for 3 years.

Thanks again.
John Hansen