Chico as a retirement destination? (San Diego, Sacramento: leasing, low crime, house)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Ain't it the truth! Once we move, if I never hear a police, ambulance or fire siren again, a police helicopter, gun shots, blaring music or the sounds of a shopping cart filled with cans and bottles rumbling through the alley in the wee small hours of the night it will be too soon!

yep, everytime we hear an ariplane (about once a month) I go nuts: OH MY GOD it's an airplane. Talk about living in the boonies????

Nita

[MotleyCrew]

We lived in Magalia, which sits above Paradise by 8 miles for over 15 years. We had a practice (architecture) in Chico for most of those years. I enjoyed Chico and loved the farmer's market that they held every spring. The arts are very big in Chico and many open studio tours are offered. Our daughters attended Chico State and we were often surprised by some of the violent acts either by the students or against the students. Our friends tell us that crime, violent crime, has been increasing steadily for the 4 years since we left. High CA property taxes as well as business taxes drove us out. Unless you have a very good retirement fund coming in, I would rather move to HI. The property taxes there are far less. People moving to CA will have to pay for the recent budget mess for many years to come.

[MikensusanL]

Having lived in Chico until recently, I would say Chico or one of the other towns such as Paradise or Durham. Oroville, well it is joked about as being the armpit of Butte County. . . . . not much there but the casinos. Corning is a bit further north or even Orland, but it depends on the amenities you are looking to have close to you. Bidwell Park in Chico is beautiful, all parts of it. Paradise is pretty as is Magalia further up in "the pines" area. If it wasnt for my job I would still be there.

I suppose the downtown area could be dangerous if you hang around where the bars are and start something with somone. People who come from out of town just to go to the bars and experience the university scene usually end up in trouble of their own making. My grown daughters still live there and feel perfectly safe being out in the evening downtown.

[wikiwikirunner]

Chico is a great town, there are sections where you will see very little of the college kids. As long as you don't live right downtown you should be fine. look on the north side of town off of east ave. some pretty nice neighborhoods in that area. The neighborhoods a mile or two outside of town off west sacramento ave are also pretty quiet. Like i said, chicos a great town, I absolutely love living there, it's in the middle of northern california so everything is pretty accessible.

[moved]

Originally Posted by nmnita

you have to remember, many people retire to escape the big city life. What we loved about the BIG city when we were 40 is what we hate at 60.

Nita

I've always lived in a big city. I grew up in the DC area, then moved to Tucson and Sacramento. My move to Chico wasn't my idea. The person that I was living with at the time grew up there, and decided to try to reconcile with his family. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I could never get any type of job, due to Chico being a college town. I ended up going to all the thrift stores every week, and selling on eBay to make money.

I hated Chico from the start, and couldn't wait to get out of there. After three horrible years there, I took one of two Greyhound busses out and headed for San Diego, and I'm in San Diego to stay. He moved back to Sacramento.

Unless it's changed, the busses ran once per hour. Best Buy, Orchard Hardware, and Lowes were the newest big box stores to go in. The mall had less than 100 stores, there was nothing to do, and you could walk through the Butte County Fair in 30 minutes.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by moved

I've always lived in a big city. I grew up in the DC area, then moved to Tucson and Sacramento. My move to Chico wasn't my idea. The person that I was living with at the time grew up there, and decided to try to reconcile with his family. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I could never get any type of job, due to Chico being a college town. I ended up going to all the thrift stores every week, and selling on eBay to make money.

I hated Chico from the start, and couldn't wait to get out of there. After three horrible years there, I took one of two Greyhound busses out and headed for San Diego, and I'm in San Diego to stay. He moved back to Sacramento.

Unless it's changed, the busses ran once per hour. Best Buy, Orchard Hardware, and Lowes were the newest big box stores to go in. The mall had less than 100 stores, there was nothing to do, and you could walk through the Butte County Fair in 30 minutes.

That certainly explains your slanted view of that part of California. again, what you see as a place to live because you want action and what a person who is retiring sees as the perfect place to spend the rest of their lives are going to be two different things. At 20,30 or even 40, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to turn 60..

Nita

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by nmnita

At 20,30 or even 40, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to turn 60..

Nita

Ah but Nita, isn't being in your 60s glorious? You cease to care about the petty things. You no longer have to pet the sweaty things and your life takes on a comforting rhythm all its own and fully in your hands.

"Youth is a gift of nature. Age is a work of art." Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

[jmlowman]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing their views so far. It's good to hear the negative as well as the positive.

We'll probably head up that way for a vacation in the next couple of years and check it out personally. It's been a few years since we've visited Davis, and that had been an annual summer trek.

[moved]

I'm already 60, and my "action" doesn't include (and never included) going to bars. My interests and activities were not even in Chico. I couldn't get a job, had no friends, and there was nothing for me to do. I was bored stiff. Here in San Diego, I have friends, my activities and interests are here, and the weather is MUCH better. Like I stated before, I didn't like living in a small town. Chico is fine if you have retirement income, and do nothing but walk in Bidwell Park. When I do decide to retire, it'll be right here in San Diego. It's exactly where I want to be.

Chico isn't for everyone.........

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by moved

I'm already 60, and my "action" doesn't include (and never included) going to bars. My interests were not even in Chico. I couldn't get a job, had no friends, and there was nothing to do. Here in San Diego, I have friends, things that I like to do, and the weather is MUCH better. Like I stated before, I didn't like living in a small town. Chico is fine if you have retirement income, and do nothing but walk in Bidwell Park. When I do decide to retire, it'll be right here in San Diego. It's exactly where I want to be......

Under those circumstances, and especially if you still have to work and depending upon your skills, then I can understand wanting to live somewhere other than Chico.

I'll be 63 shortly and retired last year. My wife is 60 and also retired. We don't haunt the bar scene and for us, moving to someplace quiet and peaceful without overly-expensive homes and high criminality -- someplace where we're living on a lake with rivers, streams and forests abounding is our choice. But that's all it is; ours. Other might be bored to death.