Living in Grass Valley (Chico, Paradise: summers, history, elevation)

[FoothillsLightbulb]

Hi Folks,

Just an update: as you may or may not know, W. Nevada County has the 13th worst air quality of any county in the NATION (in the NATION); it is ozone that comes up from the valley/Bay area and is worse in the summers. How is the county dealing with this? We are not kidding as the campaign by Western Nevada County to make it the most horrible place to live continues! Instead of converting a a beautiful area of open space and ponds into a park, they are planning on destroying this area and installing
a BIOMASS FUELS plant on top of this beautiful piece of land that will burn carbon-based products clear-cut from all the communities here, including all our trees; yes, they are going to enact logging again and are encouraging logging on all private lands! The biomass plant which is planned just seven miles north of Alta Sierra will burn wood "fuel" from clearing and clear cutting activities which will contribute heavily to climate change; the soils here erode quickly so expect lots of ugly bare eroded slopes from the clear cutting, the air will be polluted, and Western Nevada County will continue to get even uglier and become a less pleasant of a place to live!! Let's hear it for Western Nevada County with it's on-going campaign to take a beautiful place with lots of potential and continuously DESTROY IT!!! The up-side is the clique of people planning the biomass plant are slated to make a BUNCH OF MONEY even if it never goes in!! This is thanks to the state agency they call the Sierra Nevada "CONSERVANCY"!! No, we are not kidding! No, this is not a joke! YOUR TAX DOLLARS are going to all this, whether you live in in the area or not! It's a state program! Most biomass plants FAIL too!! But who cares because people like the former U.S. Forest Supervisor and all the politicians associated with the "Conservancy", not to mention lots of "consultants" are already raking it in-with your tax dollars!!!

If you want clean air, DON'T MOVE HERE. If you want bike paths, parks, sidewalks, don't move here. If you are intelligent, don't
move here.

[caligirlz]

But now is a good time to visit.
Nevada City Victorian Christmas 2014

[Nvrdlmo]

Besides what FoothillsLightbulb has brought up, something else to think about before moving here is allergies for some reason. We moved from Livermore about 3 1/2 years ago. Livermore has your typical Spring time allergies. We lived there about 24 years and every April, for about two weeks, I would get allergies with the itchy eyes and congestion and I just dealt with it because it was always only about two weeks long. At the same time my wife's Dad owned property South of Colfax at about the same elevation we're at now and we never had allergies there. Well, we moved up here in 2011 and we've already moved once,(don't ask), and both properties are quite different. The first property was 3 acres with over 100 oak trees and about 40 pines. The second property is about the same size with probably 90% pines with hardly any oaks. The one constant is a lot of trees,(duh), but the other constant is allergies. Both my wife and myself get allergies about every third day all year long. No, we haven't had it checked out, we just deal with it. It's not as bad as Spring time allergies but it always seems to be here. Neighbors have told us that it's pretty typical and would probably go away after a few years.

Along with cougars and meteors, we also have had a fantom bear at both properties to watch out for. It's not that there isn't a bear,(scat in the driveway), it's just the talk of the road when one is spotted. Because this is the mountains we live in the wild animal's home. Coyotes, foxes, skunks, etc., are plentiful and hungry. We don't let our cat out after dark, even though all of these can be out in the daylight.

[Nvrdlmo]

Here's a quick glimpse at the Grass Valley area. Find us on Facebook for more, we are AHboyco.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ahboyco

[FlowerPower1234]

rcclifford is not wrong. Both Grass Valley and Nevada City are high crime towns, violent crime too. Check out neighborhoodscout.com and see how low both are rated (out of 100). Detroit, MI is rated a "2" out of 100 and Grass Valley and Nevada City are close to those. Very surprising maybe, but very true. Stay away from both towns.

[wburg]

Meteors?

Seriously?

[ferretkona]

I have noticed for years that Nevada County folk talk badly of their county but still live there.
There are better counties in the Mother Lode that are more welcoming.

[MsFonte]

I am already feeling priced out of Grass Valley. Rents have only gone up and houses in the 250K range with a little acreage have disappeared. I do love small town life and living in the Foothils, though. What other (nearby) small towns have better rental opportunities? Or potential real estate below 300K?

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by ferretkona

I have noticed for years that Nevada County folk talk badly of their county but still live there.

Sounds like a smoke screen...."it's SOOOOO awful here".

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by MsFonte

I am already feeling priced out of Grass Valley. Rents have only gone up and houses in the 250K range with a little acreage have disappeared. I do love small town life and living in the Foothils, though. What other (nearby) small towns have better rental opportunities? Or potential real estate below 300K?

I'd probably try Paradise first. Maybe Chico?