Want to move to the Eureka/Mckenleyville Area, lots of questions... (Fairfield: hardwood floors, low income)

[SpencerFitch]

I always wanted to move to california, I'm getting to be the age where I can, I always wanted to live somwhere along the cost, I am currently in louisisana, a little place called, laplace, I looked up some stuff and the average income is 30% percent less in these areas then where I currently live, on top of that the average house 90k down here is around 300k up there, Im trying to figure out how this could work.. I would most likely be making less money and trying to buy a more expensive house..

Any help here?
What are some of the jobs this area has? Im young so I'm willing to do anything nessisary, however it doesn't seem like its going to work out..

Are the houses really that expensive and whats the average s footage?
Is the economy really that bad? Anyway I can figure out the average cost of living compared to where I currently am..

Btw I am most interested in drafting, aviation, and firefighting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Joe_Ryder]

You'd get more response posting this on the general forum. Eureka is a long way from here.

You can't look at raw numbers. The main reason the median income is so low is because of Humboldt State University. It's a college town and most of the residents are students who either have no income or low income. Since it's a very stable climate, the area also tends to attract the homeless.

Numbers don't actually mean a lot. It's not how many dollars you have but what the dollars you have will buy. That varies from place to place.

[MakeHayNotBones]

The logging and it's lumber mills folded many years ago.
Tourism, the next big industry (lol), is now under seige by high gas prices. This effects the miminum wage earners deeply as well as the owners.
Fishing industry? Good stinky work but they don't work every day or even many hours in a day. Not very steady income at all. Good health and 401k insurance plans, but in order to get and keep them you have to be a "full time" worker. Only those with senority get the hours needed, and even they are flagging.
Retail is flailing, shops are closing, or in distress. They don't pay health ins anyway.
Cost of living is really high, about 10-20% higher than other areas. Eureka is sprawled out, which takes more gas to get to anywhere.

Yes, houses truely are expensive. Expect to pay $400,000.00 on up for a non fixer upper in an okay neighborhood. Most of the affordable homes are in either bad neighborhoods or need a lot of repair. (this of course fluxuates, as it is a fluxuating market). Areas like Rio Dell have nicer homes at much lower prices, but it's a long commute at today's high gas prices. Still, there are ways around that, such as carpooling. Finding work that coincides with the other carpoolers schedule is always a challenge in any town.

Humboldt college has the best forrestry classes, and jobs do come up now and again. Most forrestry and firefighting jobs are seasonal and it takes many years or a lucky break before one is hired on full time.

It's a beautiful area though. Can't beat the scenery. Worth every penny if you have the penny and don't mind the cold. There is always something going on, such as Blues by the Bay, Reggae on the River, Jazz Festival, Kinetic sculpture races, Bikers run, Truckers parade, Shakespear in the Park, Concerts at the college or in town, fair, rodeo, skating, fishing, biking, Poetry night, Arts alive, ... it's an artsy area mostly, full of lots of great vibes when one isn't too broke or depressed to partake.

Fill your home with 'sunshine' light bulbs and save your money for rainy days because there are lots of them.

[NorthernCalifornia]

400k is too high, the bottom of the market for decent houses is around 225k in Eureka and it varies considerably from town to town. Arcata is most expensive because it is small and affected by the University in terms of housing needs.

Look at a site like trulia.com to get an idea of what 400k buys you.

[Horseymom]

$225 buys you a house on busy street, noisey street, busy noisey street, next to a high school, next to downtown busier street, next to the ghetto apartment, on gangsta street, and so forth. Unless of course it's a short sale or a foreclosure or a fixer upper. You can buy a Pierson home for lower than 400 thou, much lower, with hardwood floors. But talk about a heating bill in the winter as the heat goes straight through the non insulated roof. There's a 4bd old Vicki for sale right now for 270. She was only 70 thou just a few years ago. Even the real estate agent was hesitant to get out of the car to show it to us. We admired from the car and went our merry way without ever going inside. Has the neighborhood changed? No. There are still shoes hanging from every street wire. There are still wannabe hoodlums practicing their careers in every park, on every street where the homes are less than 400 thou. There are Homeless victims in every bush especially by the zoo, the malls, the tracks, downtown, Old Town and the fisheries.

Where exactly are these nice wonderful homes for around 225? We've been looking for over a year. There's a fantastically little viki on Dolbeer I believe it is with painted ceilings, but, I wouldn't want to walk home alone at night. Historical Clark area? Worse than the A st area. Buhne? Gotten just as bad as Calif/Union/Harris area. C/U/H? Gotten just as bad as Wabash. Wabash? Gotten just as bad as Allard. Allard? Gotten just as bad as Little Fairfield. If it's not the hoodlums it's the pitbulls that roam the streets in those areas that belong to the hoodlums.

Seriously, where are the wonderful homes in the wonderful neighborhoods for the wonderful prices?

Curious

[bigdave01]

I guess it would depend on where you're coming from. The slums of Eureka, are probably nothing compared to most areas.

[MakeHayNotBones]

Originally Posted by bigdave01

I guess it would depend on where you're coming from. The slums of Eureka, are probably nothing compared to most areas.

You're right. I'll agree that they are depressing, poor, slummy as far as quality of life and home, and riddled with wannabee's. But they are nothing like you'd find in the large citys under the title of slums. However, once upon a time, long long ago, the new slums in the big citys used to be the "ok" neighborhoods if my history serves me well. With that in mind, I hope Eureka cleans up her act. She's a depressed town with a depressed economy and an even greater depression riddled attitude. Suicide prevails in Eureka.(look it up). The sun doesn't shine for long, whether it be on your skin or in your wallet. One needs both in order to survive. However, we don't have the extreme heat to drive the crime waves up, so that's a big plus.
It's also difficult if not impossible to find a nice house in a great neighborhood for a reasonable price. For instance, for $145,000.00 in TX, we can buy a 1700-3000 sf home, from brand new to established. Great neighborhood, park, space, back yard, GARAGE, and so on. In Eureka area, for $145,000.00 you get a shack that needs to be torn down. Literally. Some can be rehabbed, but is the "location" worth the money? No.
Eureka is overpriced. The economy is shot. There are new stores such as Costco and Target, and even a Starbucks, but one must look at all the stores that have closed their doors. Look how often even the Mall leases have changed signatures. There are pages of commercial leases up for lease right now. There are used to be only 3 or 4 at any given time. We're the "tax right off" for the bigger businesses. Heck, even the Sears outlets closed their doors long ago. K-mart has been suffering like mad and is closing. There just aren't enough patrons anymore. What patrons there are they turn their backs on and won't let them in town. (Heavily taxed cigarette patrons). They stay home and shop online. Pretty soon there will be a law against that I'm sure, as they try to force tax payers into a different way of life that they just can't oblige. It's a non-tolerant, highly self-righteous captain on a sinking ship. Eureka refuses to make allowances for it's people. Eureka believes in Dictatorship. Eureka is flailing and nobody feels sorry for her. She brought it on herself.

[MakeHayNotBones]

Had Eureka of put upon their ballot a fair choice for it's people, she'd be surviving still. Patrons are what makes the cash flow and they've banned the patrons. They could have simply voted for smoking establishments to install Venting systems, Exhaust systems, Charcoal systems, smoking wings with good charcoal exhaust systems to purify the air, but instead they chose to ban taxpaying people from their town. They didn't ban the smoking, they banned the smokers. It won't be long before a huge lawsuit ties up the funds reserved for the non smokers that the smokers themselves paid in to. (cigarette taxes fund many things, and they don't want the funds anymore from the smokers, just from the non smokers... which means that now the NON smokers will suddenly become heavily taxed somewhere, somehow in order to make up the difference. Except, now it's a HUGE difference because the smokers have moved out of state, leaving an empty bank account to fill).
What does all this have to do with slums and depressed economy in Eureka? Overpriced houses? ....

[Petrala]

Originally Posted by Horseymom

$225 buys you a house on busy street, noisey street, busy noisey street, next to a high school, next to downtown busier street, next to the ghetto apartment, on gangsta street, and so forth. Unless of course it's a short sale or a foreclosure or a fixer upper. You can buy a Pierson home for lower than 400 thou, much lower, with hardwood floors. But talk about a heating bill in the winter as the heat goes straight through the non insulated roof. There's a 4bd old Vicki for sale right now for 270. She was only 70 thou just a few years ago. Even the real estate agent was hesitant to get out of the car to show it to us. We admired from the car and went our merry way without ever going inside. Has the neighborhood changed? No. There are still shoes hanging from every street wire. There are still wannabe hoodlums practicing their careers in every park, on every street where the homes are less than 400 thou. There are Homeless victims in every bush especially by the zoo, the malls, the tracks, downtown, Old Town and the fisheries.

Where exactly are these nice wonderful homes for around 225? We've been looking for over a year. There's a fantastically little viki on Dolbeer I believe it is with painted ceilings, but, I wouldn't want to walk home alone at night. Historical Clark area? Worse than the A st area. Buhne? Gotten just as bad as Calif/Union/Harris area. C/U/H? Gotten just as bad as Wabash. Wabash? Gotten just as bad as Allard. Allard? Gotten just as bad as Little Fairfield. If it's not the hoodlums it's the pitbulls that roam the streets in those areas that belong to the hoodlums.

Seriously, where are the wonderful homes in the wonderful neighborhoods for the wonderful prices?

Curious

I tend to agree that the housing in the area is overpriced for what it is. And I can't figure out why it's so expensive and who is buying at those prices. Old economy loggers aren't buying up homes, and professors can only buy so many on investment, HSU grads serving coffee at coffeehouses can't afford to buy, so why does a dumpy dry/wet rotted home that smells mildewy go for so much? It's really weird.

[OldTownTreadles]

Yes, but admit it, a year ago the prices were even higher. It's taking a while for people to adjust to the economy (national as well as local) tanking, and the real estate prices readjusting downward. For a while there, the homeowners in Humboldt County had that real estate fever (as did the developers) and were asking the moon for their properties. Gradually prices will get better for the buyer, I think.

What can we do about it in the meantime? Support folks going into office that are for the people, not just the mega rich, for one thing. Bring UP the west side neighborhoods, for another. Help train our neighbors who aren't employed or currently employable, and recognize that they aren't C.H.U.D., but they're just our neighbors.

If you're not down for that, don't bother coming here.