Eureka/Arcata? (Los Angeles, Sacramento, McKinleyville: apartments, unemployment, construction)

[eureka1]

Originally Posted by juliansmoma

Ok, I have kind of an off the wall question. I'm an african american woman living in soCal and I would like to know what it's like for black people who live in the Eureka area. Is there much racial prejudice?
My husband's family lives there and is considering moving our family back to be close to them. He's white, btw.
Thanks.

African Americans in Eureka have always been seen as more than a novelty than a threat, because there are so few. On the other hand we've had AfAm city council members going back to the 'fifties. Yes, you'll get a few looks but they won't be unfriendly. The town is economically in the tank currently and that will be your biggest problem, not predjudice. The rednecks live out in McKinleyville and Fortuna.

[juliansmoma]

Thanks for the response. If we make the move, I'll look out for those "rednecks". ha ha

juliansmoma

[TheDragonslayer]

McKinleyville has changed a lot since I moved here eight years ago. Back then I thought it was very redneck, it had the lowest priced homes of all the towns surrounding and was somewhat bucolic. The town has grown phenominally with the addition of a sports complex, a nine plex theater, a sheriffs substation, a library, more stores, and many, many homes. We may also be getting an indoor swimming pool in the near future The price of homes has tripled and now people actually want to move here. In 2000 there was just under 14,000 people here and ten years prior there was just over 7,000. I will not be surprised if we reach 20,000 by 2010. The influx of new people here and the increase in property values has sent many of the rednecks off to more rural pastures and I would like to think that we are now not so much redneck, but more like bucolic. Our town, by the way is the largest unincorporated community in the county, we might even be larger than Arcata now.

[shadowmatrix0101]

I have no idea what you mean by "bucolic". Unless...that's a northern CA saying?

I'm thinking of going to graduate school at Humboldt University next fall. The area seems nice based on pictures, but I'm not sure now. Stories on these forums of beggars peeing on buildings, hookers in front of the library, meth and pot heads trolling the streets with gangs....sounds almost like NYC. I'm coming from a 40k town in the Midwest and want to settle down in a nice area with plenty of trees and ocean, yet Arcata seems like a really really bad place. The weather I can handles, but the rest....

Someone please reassure me that if I travel three days alone in a U-Haul with all my possessions that I won't be disappointed in relocating to this area. It'd be a looong trip back.

[TheDragonslayer]

BUCOLIC; of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by NorthernCalifornia

Humboldt is not what you would think based on some of these posts. It's a coastal region of California. It's a very open-minded place and that extends to the rural folks, cowboys, etc. Arcata's reputation is overblown ....., understated and welcoming to anyone who finds them and is interested. Tis the nature of such a place. It's certainly not the suburbs.

I lived in Arcata and Eureka for about nine years and agree wholeheartedly with "NorthernCalifornia"'s post.

[gladders]

I'd do anything to live in Eureka's climate again! Grew up there, left in '92, been living in NY for 12 years. There's nothing like the shady, damp redwoods, the fog, the coast and mild weather all year round. It really depends on what you like. For me, it's the ONLY comfortable weather. Of course you can hike and ride a bike in it.

[thomasw98]

I posted my scouting report in another thread about Eureka: http://www.city-data.com/forum/5517615-post15.html

[Jahchild77]

That is where I am trying to get to and the situation is dire.
I live with a woman who is by all accounts nuts!! I am being forced to leave her house bcuz she can't deal with the way I conversate?!!!!

So if ur going ne time soon It is a beautiful place and I would much appreciate if I could hitch with u. But Good Luck either way.

[Shadowplay]

The weather... people either love it or hate it. It gets hot 10-15 miles inland, but near the coast anything over 70 is a heat wave. I happen to enjoy it that way.

The tweaker issue is localized, there are certain parts of Eureka that are not the best places to live. Unfortunately a couple of those places are near/along 101 and pretty conspicuous. Still, the crime rate is WAY below the state average, and 90 percent of the area is very safe.

The job situation is more complex, and to some extent it depends what you're looking for. Last I checked the county unemployment rate was at or slightly below the state average, and the myths about high unemployment are largely holdovers from the 1980s logging industry meltdown.

There's a report online called "Targets of Opportunity" done by a county agency, which describes six growth fields. I don't have it handy right now, but those areas include professional services (engineering, architecture, etc.); niche manufacturing (small, specialized manufacturers); and medical... there are perennial shortages here of doctors and nurses, like in most smaller places. You should be able to find the full report with a targeted search, but in sum these areas are growing pretty quickly. There's also a smaller but significant increase in established professionals moving here and telecommuting, and the fact that three airlines (United, Alaska/Horizon, and Delta) fly out of a county of only 130,000 people attests to that.

While almost everyone here who wants to work is working, there is perhaps an underemployment issue for younger, non-specialized workers. As a result lots of kids go to the city to jump start their career, and move back years later. That's slowly changing though. At a time when most rural counties in the U.S. are shrinking, we're growing... slowly and sustainably.

It's not for everybody, and we like it that way. Too many people come here, try to change things to make it just like the suburbs... except that's what many of us fled from, and we'd rather not repeat the urban sprawl mistakes.