Eureka/Arcata? (San Francisco, Fortuna, Del Mar: home, school, living)

[seagypsy]

We are having to transfer to Eureka this Spring. Hubby will be working in McKinleyville but we can't afford to live there so we are looking at Eureka. We have a 14 year old daughter and just want something affordable and quiet. Could you tell me what areas of Eureka to NOT look at? We are looking to purchase a home because of the number of pets we own. The cost of housing seems high there for such a small area.

[eblume]

I am interested in moving to Eureka. Any insurance jobs there? What is the housing like there? My husband is in the concrete business. I was wondering if that typeof business is good there. I know it rains a lot there. Anyone have any suggestions?

[California2Carolina]

My husband was born and raised in Eureka for 20 years I lived there 10. The pluses of Eureka is it's stunning nature, small town feel, lots of culture, laid back atmosphere and great college. The down side is th economy is not the strongest, very wet weather which can become depressing, and the drug use (especially meth) runs rampant and slow progression (good and bad)

I would say the best parts to live in Eureka itself are Cutten (most definetly. Good schools, lower crime little more pricey though) Freshwater (also pricey)
and the rest of the city is very "spotty" One street would be great to live on and the next terrible. Find a realtor that really knows the area.

I would definetely avoid near WINCO (a grocery store there) near all the low income housing. This area has many drug problems and some gang violence.

We left the area when we realized we were for now priced out of the housing market. A lot of people are now retiring in the area and the houses are becoming expensive. I do forsee that buying there would be a great investment. Good luck!

[TheDragonslayer]

I will second California2Carolina's opinion of Eureka. Cutten is a nice area of Eureka; it is really not Eureka proper, but an unincorporated community as is Myrtlytown too. Both Cutten and Myrtletown are nice to live in. It is very possible to find a nice victorian home in the $300 k range. Eureka has many different architecture styles, Ferndale is all victorian, Arcata is a mix and so it Fortuna. McKinleyville is mostly new or within the last 20 years. It is a buyers market right now with many homes to choose from and many of those are new.

[FunkyMonk]

I lived in Arcata and Eureka for two years, and both places are great.

Eureka has a repuation for being full of tweakes and rough. But it's really not bad at all, it's very safe and most of the wierdos keep to themselves and their wierdo friends.

Arcata is amazing. Total hippie town. Artistic, friendly totally progressive. It's a college town and full of young people, a VERY college-aged population.

All of Humboldt County is great. A "bad" place in Humboldt County is like an upper-middle class place in Southern California. Humboldt County is very safe and gentle.

The weather isn't too bad either. It is very mch like the Pacific Northwest, but it has many, many more breaks of sunshine and more mild overall. Not a bad climate at all. The summers never really warm up all the way on the coast, but going inland 5 miles the temps will jump 10-30 degrees.

[TheDragonslayer]

It is so mild here that I wear long pants only about a week out of the year, like this past week. Most of the time it is in the 50's and the 60's any time of the year. After living in Berkeley for 5 years and in both the fruitvale district and the Telegraph and Macurthur blvd. areas of Oakland for another 5 years and growing up in Pittsburg California for 21 years before that. I have been here for 16 years and have never felt the threat that I did in the bay area. The biggest generator of crime statistics for our county is the arrests of marijuana growers and that is frequently in the south part of Humboldt county in the Garberville and Redway areas and south into Mendocino county. You can walk around most any of the towns around here and feel safe. We do have homeless here, but who does not anymore, they are predominantly in Eureka's old town near the old docks and the retro hippy youth are mostly in Arcata. Ferndale is all country victorian and Fortuna is also country. A lot of the towns are country lifestyle. I really love it here and loved it when I first came up here in 87.

[treeluvr]

Hello,
I grew up in California and am (as always) missing it. I lived in various places around the state (from Del Mar to San Francisco) when I was younger. However, I have always been drawn to the rocky shores and redwood forests of the North. I'm considering a move to northern California. As a way to keep myself happy while I accumulate the funds (and knowledge) for a move, I'd like to read about northern CA.

I'm looking for books about northern california--Humboldt or Del Norte areas in particular. I am not so interested in tour guides--I find many of these. Rather, I'm looking for books that provide culture and place information in a "good read" format. Even novels that give the character of the region would be welcome.

Anyone have recommendations?

Thanks

[TheDragonslayer]

My first source for books is the county library. There site is www.humlib.gov (broken link). The books that you would want are in the 900's under the Dewey Decimal system. There are a lot of books about our area that go back to the gold rush days. A friend of mine owns a ranch that has a log cabin dating to 1848.

[migrjo]

On City-Data's Arcata map, Arcata is shown in yellow. What is the area west of the city shown in white, the area between the city and the ocean?

M.

[TheDragonslayer]

That area is a vast bottoms that is just above sea level and is primarily used for dairy and has been for well over 150 years. If you have google earth, put in Arcata and take an overhead tour. The Arcata bottoms is criss crossed with small farm roads and lanes and is great for bicycling and walking. There are several ways to get to the ocean from the bottoms. Many of the farms on the bottoms still have their old farm houses and old redwood barns intact and functioning. Dairy and cattle is still a large part of our economy and culture. These two farm houses are within 2 miles of the city of Arcata proper. The picture of the horses is looking south from a dairy ranch near the Mad River and about a mile south of McKinleyville. The mountains to the south are south of Eureka and the Eel river flows through them.