What is Northern California like? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: section 8, foreclosed, mortgages)

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Oh, and with apologies to Chico, I believe the largest city north of Sacramento is actually Redding-aboput 30 miles north of my community. Near there you'll find Shasta Lake, Whiskeytown Lake, Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak and National Park, Shasta Caverns.

Not to nitpick - your post was great, but I think Redding is only bigger because they annexed some of their satellite communities.. Chico still has a lot of teeny little communities on its outskirts that aren't counted in the census.

[Jaybee]

You may have a point. I'm somewhat a student of demographics and know there are "checkerboard" unincorporated pockets amid Chico's perimeter that are excluded. To be fair though, I'm sure Chico's population benefits (perhaps the wrong word?) from the college students who hang around all year as well. Not to mention those "organic types" who've hung around for 40 years after (or amid) college...(lol).

Redding completed a huge annexation in the 70's (I think) of the eastside (Enterprise area). Not sure what large-scale residential annexations have occured since. Many CA cities have since acknowledged that residential annexations are fiscally counter-productive-and target sales tax generating commercial properties instead.

Up until 2 years ago there was substantial internal residential development in Redding. Of course now, like a lot of other places, development is stagnant.

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Not to nitpick - your post was great, but I think Redding is only bigger because they annexed some of their satellite communities.. Chico still has a lot of teeny little communities on its outskirts that aren't counted in the census.

[MachineKnownAsLosAngeles]

Northern California as in what? SF? if so, its the urban epicenter of the west coast. towering dense buildings all around you

So many microclimates in the Bay as well, SF being foggy/cool on the west area, SJ is warm , Oakland is a mix of the two


more expensive to live in the bay as well

[collint]

i mean north of sacramento

[CADRMNDANES]

There are a lot of nice places in Northern CA besides the Chico area.

Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Folsom, El Dorado Hills and Davis.

[collint]

thanks again u guys your input is very helpful

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by collint

thanks again u guys your input is very helpful

And way up north, near Crescent City, well ... this ...

If redwood hiking is up your alley, it's awesome up there.

I like Prairie Creek redwoods too, but towns like Trinidad are much too teensy for my taste.

Not sure what to call Orick.

[Corrinne]

If I could move back up north I would be there in a heartbeat! Glorious country. I used to live 60 west of Reno.

[MimzyMusic]

Above Sacramento/the 39th parallel, it's pretty unpopulated, no big cities, basically a part of the Pacific Northwest.

Northern California isn't that good an idea in some ways - the Central Valley for example from Redding to Bakersfield has a lot in common, and lies both in Northern and Southern California. When people compare the two they mean the Bay Area and the Northern Coast vs. the Los Angeles/San Diego/Desert area. The Sierras and Central Valley don't really fit either distinction, though generally both are placed in Northern California they're really more part of the Mountain West like Nevada, Utah, Idaho etc.

To answer your question, the typical idea of Northern California, i.e. a place like Napa Valley is liberal in the cities, more conservative in the country, not as hot and dry as most of California, in fact in places very very wet, a lot of hippies but like in Oregon as many logging rednecks. The Bay Area is different from LA but also shares a lot in common - overall it's still more Southwestern than like Portland or Seattle and has that Californian materialistic culture. It's still very urban, pretty hot, lacks winters, etc, you're not going to feel TOO far off from Los Angeles.

[DaleK]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Not to nitpick - your post was great, but I think Redding is only bigger because they annexed some of their satellite communities.. Chico still has a lot of teeny little communities on its outskirts that aren't counted in the census.

Actually Redding is larger than Chico ( I've lived in Redding since 1972 and go into Chico for shopping occasionally ) only somewhat due to annexation, though the enterprise area was annexed quite a long time ago. There are a lot of communities very near Redding, including Anderson, Shasta Lake City (aka Central Valley), Palo Cedro, and several smaller towns including Old Shasta, Jones Valley, Oak Run, etc. that are not included in the total census population. More info on Redding here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redding,_California