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I'm very surprised to read that "crime is not an issue at all'. I live in an excellent neighborhood and one of my neighbors went missing, was found weeks later, his body in the woods. He was only a small-time weed dealer. A mile from here there was a drug (marijuana again) motivated home invasion that left the resident dead, and three perps awaiting trial. Further, the job scene is abysmal as you will discover from the sources at hand, unemployment is at least 10% , the Food Bank is the only place in town that's showing an increase in business and any place you can find for $500 a month will be a tiny apartment in a crap part of town. Sorry for venting but I'm just getting so tired of these Pollyanna posts about how great things are from people who,if they REALLY live here, should know better. I know if you're bound and determined to move here nothing will dissuade you but I would strongly suggest coming to VISIT for a few weeks before you make that kind of decision. Is that unreasonable?
Good luck whatever you do.
I'm very surprised to read that "crime is not an issue at all'. I live in an excellent neighborhood and one of my neighbors went missing, was found weeks later, his body in the woods. He was only a small-time weed dealer. A mile from here there was a drug (marijuana again) motivated home invasion that left the resident dead, and three perps awaiting trial. Further, the job scene is abysmal as you will discover from the sources at hand, unemployment is at least 10% , the Food Bank is the only place in town that's showing an increase in business and any place you can find for $500 a month will be a tiny apartment in a crap part of town. Sorry for venting but I'm just getting so tired of these Pollyanna posts about how great things are from people who,if they REALLY live here, should know better. I know if you're bound and determined to move here nothing will dissuade you but I would strongly suggest coming to VISIT for a few weeks before you make that kind of decision. Is that unreasonable?
Good luck whatever you do.
Glad you are telling it like it is and not giving a false sense of hope. This is not to discourage the Op but to let them know the truth.
I'm very surprised to read that "crime is not an issue at all'. I live in an excellent neighborhood and one of my neighbors went missing, was found weeks later, his body in the woods. He was only a small-time weed dealer. A mile from here there was a drug (marijuana again) motivated home invasion that left the resident dead, and three perps awaiting trial. Further, the job scene is abysmal as you will discover from the sources at hand, unemployment is at least 10% , the Food Bank is the only place in town that's showing an increase in business and any place you can find for $500 a month will be a tiny apartment in a crap part of town. Sorry for venting but I'm just getting so tired of these Pollyanna posts about how great things are from people who,if they REALLY live here, should know better. I know if you're bound and determined to move here nothing will dissuade you but I would strongly suggest coming to VISIT for a few weeks before you make that kind of decision. Is that unreasonable?
Good luck whatever you do.
To respond, I'll say that your neighborhood isn't as good as you think it is. Also, "small time weed dealing" isn't why that guy was killed. For anyone interested, all of the crimes of this sort, of which there are maybe two or three a year, involve people who know each other and who are making bad decisions, ripping each other off, etc. Concurrently, despite this happening nearby the poster, note that they are alive and well and posting on the internet, if a little spooked. Do they have anything to worry about? No.
Unemployment is over 10% in all of California.
If you have actual skills, there is work to be found in the area. You don't move to Humboldt County to climb the career ladder so you can become a major corporate CEO.
For $500 month you can't rent an entire 3br house, sure. But two young people can share a good space for that much while they get settled. I don't believe I implied that minimum wage jobs and low-rent apartments were GREAT options, just tried to say that they WERE options.
I believe OP said they had visited the area already. They don't seem unrealistic at all, whereas you seem to be on the negative side. I can't imagine anyone spending more time in Eureka/Arcata and leaving with the impression that it was some kind idyllic village paradise. Eureka is a small city, the region is isolated and we're in the midst of a severe economic downturn.
To respond, I'll say that your neighborhood isn't as good as you think it is. Also, "small time weed dealing" isn't why that guy was killed. For anyone interested, all of the crimes of this sort, of which there are maybe two or three a year, involve people who know each other and who are making bad decisions, ripping each other off, etc. Concurrently, despite this happening nearby the poster, note that they are alive and well and posting on the internet, if a little spooked. Do they have anything to worry about? No.
Unemployment is over 10% in all of California.
If you have actual skills, there is work to be found in the area. You don't move to Humboldt County to climb the career ladder so you can become a major corporate CEO.
For $500 month you can't rent an entire 3br house, sure. But two young people can share a good space for that much while they get settled. I don't believe I implied that minimum wage jobs and low-rent apartments were GREAT options, just tried to say that they WERE options.
I believe OP said they had visited the area already. They don't seem unrealistic at all, whereas you seem to be on the negative side. I can't imagine anyone spending more time in Eureka/Arcata and leaving with the impression that it was some kind idyllic village paradise. Eureka is a small city, the region is isolated and we're in the midst of a severe economic downturn.
you are still down playing the true Eureka. There are some positives and yes, I beleive they may have visited, but visiting and living someplace are 2 different thing. Eureka has been depressed since the 70s, even during Ca boom years.
I think it is only fair to let them know it is not utopia. If knowing the problems they will face doesn't bother them, more power to them. There are those who are happy living in the county, but anyone thinking of moving there should be made aware of the cons as well as pros. You painted a picture of heaven almost.
you are still down playing the true Eureka. There are some positives and yes, I beleive they may have visited, but visiting and living someplace are 2 different thing. Eureka has been depressed since the 70s, even during Ca boom years.
I think it is only fair to let them know it is not utopia. If knowing the problems they will face doesn't bother them, more power to them. There are those who are happy living in the county, but anyone thinking of moving there should be made aware of the cons as well as pros. You painted a picture of heaven almost.
Nita
We have a clear difference of perspective. You say "...the problems they will face" which is mighty presumptuous. The problems they will face are what I addressed, not coincidentally they were answers to the OP's questions. I know Eureka very well and I'm familiar with the type of attitude some people there have. What you are "concerned" about are problems that are everywhere, in every town and city in the entire United States.
To the OP: One thing worth knowing is that there are really two Humboldt County's, one that most people, including yourself, will find. It's a nice place to live. But there is a subset of the population that seems to live in a smaller town where everything is crumbling around them. The population has really changed in the past 30-40 years and so has the business structure and accordingly the opportunities. For many the area promised generation after generation a living in the logging industry, the mills, fishing and the services around those businesses. Those things have long since declined and the last pieces of that economy have only recently been dismantled. Unfortunately many who see Humboldt through that lens are unable to see what has replaced it and can only see the narrower confines that define their own lives. They tend to frequent shops and restaurants and businesses that are out of favor and are closing each year. This adds to the sense of dislocation and depression for them.
For someone who moves there now, this is really immaterial. You will meet people from all over the country who have decided to live a slower, less urban life and who are wiling to sacrifice the trappings of the middle class to enjoy it. In many ways this is the key to enjoying a slower, more isolated place where your richest experiences won't be of the consumer type but rather of the experience of interesting, original people and unique natural landscapes and features. I live in a large, wealthy city where people have wealth and economic prosperity even in this economic downturn. I would say that most of the people I know in Humboldt enjoy a higher "quality of life" by many measures. These are the people who are educated, formally or not and have been other places and appreciate Humboldt for what it is and understand what it isn't. They all find a way to earn a living, many own nice homes and they all have cars and can eat out in restaurants and buy coffee in shops and leave the city a couple times of year for vacation or to visit friends and family.
As someone who enjoys the urban hustle and bustle and the opportunities I'm able to pursue in this environment I make a number of sacrifices to be in a big city. If I were to make different choices Humboldt would be a great place to live. When I read about the "crime" in the area I often chuckle. When I see idiots doing stupid things when I'm there I do the same. So many people from the area fail to really appreciate it because they've never gotten to know other parts of the world to get the perspective that people who choose to move there have. It can be a daunting place to get out of, difficult to save enough money to move to a bigger city or get the kind of connections that might help you get set up in a different place. The truth is that many, many people from Eureka and the area do that and they almost invariably go on to do very well for themselves. I know people from Humboldt in almost every corner of this country and many in different parts of the world. Many are very creative, painters, musicians, writers. Some are well-known. And all of them still remember and visit Humboldt.
We have a clear difference of perspective. You say "...the problems they will face" which is mighty presumptuous. The problems they will face are what I addressed, not coincidentally they were answers to the OP's questions. I know Eureka very well and I'm familiar with the type of attitude some people there have. What you are "concerned" about are problems that are everywhere, in every town and city in the entire United States.
To the OP: One thing worth knowing is that there are really two Humboldt County's, one that most people, including yourself, will find. It's a nice place to live. But there is a subset of the population that seems to live in a smaller town where everything is crumbling around them. The population has really changed in the past 30-40 years and so has the business structure and accordingly the opportunities. For many the area promised generation after generation a living in the logging industry, the mills, fishing and the services around those businesses. Those things have long since declined and the last pieces of that economy have only recently been dismantled. Unfortunately many who see Humboldt through that lens are unable to see what has replaced it and can only see the narrower confines that define their own lives. They tend to frequent shops and restaurants and businesses that are out of favor and are closing each year. This adds to the sense of dislocation and depression for them.
For someone who moves there now, this is really immaterial. You will meet people from all over the country who have decided to live a slower, less urban life and who are wiling to sacrifice the trappings of the middle class to enjoy it. In many ways this is the key to enjoying a slower, more isolated place where your richest experiences won't be of the consumer type but rather of the experience of interesting, original people and unique natural landscapes and features. I live in a large, wealthy city where people have wealth and economic prosperity even in this economic downturn. I would say that most of the people I know in Humboldt enjoy a higher "quality of life" by many measures. These are the people who are educated, formally or not and have been other places and appreciate Humboldt for what it is and understand what it isn't. They all find a way to earn a living, many own nice homes and they all have cars and can eat out in restaurants and buy coffee in shops and leave the city a couple times of year for vacation or to visit friends and family.
As someone who enjoys the urban hustle and bustle and the opportunities I'm able to pursue in this environment I make a number of sacrifices to be in a big city. If I were to make different choices Humboldt would be a great place to live. When I read about the "crime" in the area I often chuckle. When I see idiots doing stupid things when I'm there I do the same. So many people from the area fail to really appreciate it because they've never gotten to know other parts of the world to get the perspective that people who choose to move there have. It can be a daunting place to get out of, difficult to save enough money to move to a bigger city or get the kind of connections that might help you get set up in a different place. The truth is that many, many people from Eureka and the area do that and they almost invariably go on to do very well for themselves. I know people from Humboldt in almost every corner of this country and many in different parts of the world. Many are very creative, painters, musicians, writers. Some are well-known. And all of them still remember and visit Humboldt.
Yes, Humboldt county does offer much of what you are referring to but one can not min the negatives. They do exist. I don't know if and when you actually lived there..Visiting and living somewhere can be very different.
Location: where the moss is taking over the villages
2,184 posts, read 5,551,537 times
Reputation: 1270
can't we all get along?
Quote:
Originally Posted by schm000ve1
If there's one thing Nita will do in a posting about Eureka/Humboldt County, it's emphasize the negative.
Hey, maybe you should Schmoove over & give her some room! She has a right to her opinion. This is... a forum, correct?
She's just calling it like she sees it & she doesn't seem to be the only one...
Myself, I'd be very tempted to live in Arcata if I had a job, etc. I have a friend whom I'm very fond of there, an elderly writer. I think it would be great.
But then, I'm all ears for what others have to say. A little friendly respect goes a long way.
We've been living in Humboldt county, raising 3 children (ages 10, 7, 5) for the last 5 years. We are very conservative but we love Humboldt. Yes, there are many uber-liberals and hippies. The drug usage is rampant, but the natural beauty is breath-taking. The weather is awesome-always moderate. If you do miss hot/cold weather, you can drive in-land for 45 minutes to get to 100 degree weather in the summer and snow in the winter. Crime rate is not as bad as it seems. There are safer part of town and not so good part. Definitely recommend moving here first and rent a house before committing to buying a house. Also, contacting the local police department and/or checking crimereports.com will give you a better idea of a better neighborhood.
as for employment situation, as a nurse, there's no shortage of employment any where in the country! There are hospitals (St. Joseph, Redwood Memorial and Mad River) and 5 skilled nursing facilities in the area.
If you are planning on raising a family, there are many options for schooling. We homeschool our children and there are MANY homeschoolers in the area with different homeschool groups that get together for classes/fieldtrips/outings. There are also many great charter schools and affordable private schools in the area.
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can't we all get along?
