Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
redding has the iron mountain superfund cleanup.
its water drains into reddings water supply.
(just google iron mountain mine redding)
to see it for yourself.
http://www.reddingcityhall.com/Iron_Mountain_Mine_red.jpg (broken link)
redding has the higest number sex offenders in the state per capita.
redding has the highest real estate prices in the north state.
redding rental houses rent for the highest in the area.
redding has the highest gang related crime rate in the area.
redding is actually often hotter in the summer than death valley.
110 to 117 is not uncommon
redding has the highest homeless population of any city in california per capita.
reddings employment opportunities abound if you are in the service industry
hotel maid,gas station att, etc. minimum wage stuff.
reddings air exceeds epa.air polution standards a lot in the summer
redding is traditionally a cowboy town (redneck) and racial discrimination is common
redding has no historic downtown any more
reddings Shopping is inconvenient kmart is on one end of town and the
mt. shasta mall is on the other etc.
traffic at Christmas time resembles los angeles.
redding has virtually no nightlife except the cascade theater.
my brother in law had his head bashed in last week in broad daylight while standing out front of it. by a guy that came out of the clover club across the street
(the clover club is a sleazy old salloon
a heaven for drugs and prostitution)
redding has rampant alcohol and drug abuse Problems
you can find a drunk Homless Person on almost every corner during the day and a sex offender on every street at night. not a place to hang out without your hand gun.
reddings school system is crowded and under staffed.
i am not a new comer to the area i grew up here, my father grew up here, his father grew up here, and his father grew up here. my family has lived here since 1840 (that was even before redding existed)
redding has and remains a misguided city with no appreciable change in attitude or economic Changes.
miss spent funds scandles and mismanagement are reddings hallmarks
I may be burned out on california.. but Redding is defiantly NOT what you say it is... and I note without prejudice that your post is the first one on here so we have no sense of balance about you...
I would like your see your statistical evidence of your claims.. they are vastly different than my knowledge and personal experiences
Coming from So Cal and working my entire life as a policeman there I definitely feel in touch with the other side of life...is it in redding.. sure.. is it changing.. yes.. but compared to other places in California this place is awesome in many facets
The outdoors.. which I might add MOST people do not use
Lack of real gridlock.. sure it gets busy at noon and 5 now in the downtown areas.. every place in California with any population does.. Ive never waited more than a couple of minutes in traffic here,,, try that in the bay or so cal
Crooks are here,, they seem to stand out pretty easily to me.. in bigger cities they seem to blend in.. trust me ,,they are there
Gang problem... wanna be stages only here
If you hang out around bars anywhere for long enough there will be some low life at some point who will cause you grief.. solution.. dont go around bars where sick people hang out
At last census redding was around 92 % white.. its changing.. me.. I have no problem living around anyone.. but I like the racial mix here... as far as it being the good 'ol boy cowboy town,,, its changing quickly.. but a good ol cowboy town isnt bad either,, great family values and people mind their business...
Good 'ol cowboy towns don't buy 22 million dollar modernist bridges.. or build city halls and county admin. buildings like we have
Sure the underclass of the children of displaced mill workers are here.. they will be forever.. as will be the parolees and families of same that live in redding when it was a dumping ground at some point...Id rather have a monitored parolee than joe dirtbag unknown as a offender in the community..
Some of your thoughts are .. well they have some validity
Its bloody hot here.. but it is dry and the humidity is low,, maybe its too hot for me,, but Ill take the heat over snow any day.. your right about the pollution its definitely getting worse.. but isn't anything like other large Cali cities... and I can also go out 30 minutes or so and be in the woods or lake and be away from it
Real estate still is a bargain here... and if you bought right you still stand to make a lot of money.. maybe youll have to hold onto your property for awhile.. but people are still coming here in droves.. and if you are being foreclosed on.. and there are a bunch here like everywhere else,, then.. well then you probably weren't responsible about your debt ratio to begin with.. while I feel for those people I struggled to make my payments over all else...
My 30 acres out by Shasta Lake was bought for 112k.. house and shop brought it up to about 285.. cheap by California standards.. and if the place becomes splittable into parcels it will realize over a million.. thats a pretty good investment for 10 years by any measure...
Highly skilled applicants are still in short supply here.. if all you are is motivated to go to Shasta College for two years and think you deserve a 75 k a year job well.... isn't happening,, this isn't like L.A. or the Bay where you might be able to walk into something like that. So .. yes in that sense there are a plethora of minimum wage jobs... because many people are minimum wage motivated.. but look at the largest employers.. the hospitals,, the county.. the city.. the federal govt.. they all have well paying positions for skilled labor... want to be well paid.. be well trained...
I do speak with a lot of younger people who cant wait to leave Redding.. funny.. alot of them come back when they see whats out there
Hi all. I have posted about Redding before. Just asking questions actually. At first I thought NO WAY IN HELL would I live in that heat. But the more searching I do, the better Redding sounds. The heat can't last all year, or all day. I live in a traffic jam. I go to the store at 3 or 4 AM to be free of the masses of people. I always carry some legal defense to ward off the drunks.
Redding has it's good points IMHO. It doesn't snow. No hoards of people compared to where I live. A much slower pace. It's starting to sound good. If everyone hated it there, Redding wouldn't exist. I did read up on Iron Mountain. Sounds typical of corporate greed. Tear the hell out of the earth, get rich, then leave your mess behind. Nuff said. I'm coming up to look around. Take care, skitow.
Who's this "imlen" person, boy is that person miserable or what? Redding is by no means "the perfect place to live" but it's pretty close when compared to certain areas in California, no need to mention them, you know where they are. I find it facinating when I talk to newcomers about why they moved to Redding and it's always because they're getting away from the chaotic life in the city. Another common response is that they like the people in Redding (friendly and helpful). Personally, I love it here. My husband and I left our high-paying-stressful-corporate jobs for a chance to live in one of California's best towns (Redding!) and we've never looked back. In fact, he's one of those "younger people" who couldn't wait to get out of Redding, who then came back after getting a taste of the fast-pace life.
ok fair enough i am imlen
you ask why i stay here?
i think it's because i have always been here
i grew up here. i am the great great grandson of mae smith.
she married dick smith here on the ranch around 1850.
the smith ranch also known as the Stillwater land and cattle company
was the largest cattle ranch north of sacramento.
i am still living on the ranch now.
so dont start with the new comer stuff.
the stuff about iron mountain mine is true. spring creek often overflows into keswick lake. they tell you that the superfund cleanup is working.
o.k i am good with that.
but just yesterday i went out to keswick lake and dropped a large weight all the way to the bottom. and just like in years past it came up covered with red iron oxide.
years ago we used to go to the keswick boat ramp at night to fish and have a few beers.
we used to joke about how our lures would come out of the water glowing in the dark. it was hyperbole but the sludge is still there.
also what about mammoth mine no cleanup there. the water is still coming out red at the mouth of that mine and oozing into shasta lake.
Ditto for Bullyhill mine.
i cant help it if you moved here 10 years ago and want to call your self an old timer and think redding is a whole lot better than inglewatts. or where ever.
one of you mentioned property values as a good thing.
maybe for you but artificially inflated Property values do not mean much to me. redding and the ranch are my home.
my ancestors homesteaded it and my decendents will inherit it when i pass.
building a mc ranchette on manzanita infested unstable ground in keswick just sounds like a bad idea to me.
as for the beautiful city hall building and the fabulous duracrane bridge
it was a horrendous waste of money the city fathers are the guys that killed this towns heritage by tearing down the old downtown and erecting that ugly
and by the way huge financial blunder the redding downtown mall.
we should have made the city use it as the city hall.
the bridge is another matter it was funded partially by the mc connell foundation. they have their offices located on the old lema ranch.
grandma mae, harry my grandfather and me used to go there often on sundays to visit with the lemas.
i cant speak for the lemas.
but i bet they would never have funded that bridge.
and what of the turtles in turtle bay are there any still there?
what with all the new tourists walking around.
keep the monolith and tear down market street now thats right headed thinking.
as for the crime
ok.
try this some time.
wait till just after dark and go out the city hall back exit and take a leisurely stroll down lanning street .
or maybe you could go to the cascade theater to take in a show.
but maybe you do not want to expose your children to the drunks and hookers hanging out in front of the clover club directly in front of the newly restored theater. or get your head bashed in by a drunk guy coming out of the clover club. (like my brother in law last month) in broad daylight it was on the news.
the crime statistics i used are available to anyone.
the sheriffs dept even posted a giant bill board next to interstate 5 mentioning the inordinate number of sex offenders in
the area a few years back.
while redding looks good to newbies
(people that have been here less than 150 years)
to us old timers it looks like it's going to hell in a handbasket.
I dont disagree with some of what you say,,, but for those of us that have lived other places in California and the US we have a different perspective than you... trust me Redding is far removed from INGLEWATTS..or anything like it
As far as me being an "ol timer".. hey.. its people like me that give to this community everyday and not lament about its passing from cowtown to California city,, me.. sure.. I agree I dont like it as well.. but not because of what you say.. but because of how all of California has changed. Still.. I want to improve my community where I live at every juncture.. and that is what I desire to focus upon...not the past that I cant change
Who you are and what family you belong to is of no consequence to me or anyone else on this forum.. state your opinions.. enjoy the conversation.. make some friends if you want.. as a respectful observation....being totally negative probably wont get you a bunch of conversation..
Has Redding changed substantially.. absolutely.. is it what you knew.. no.. and no place stays the same..ever.. California's population will double in this century.. Redding will hit 300-400k in population probably.. its just numbers.. all those people will go somewhere.. personally.. I wont be here.. but thats another story
I agree.. we should have put in 20 parks instead of one bridge built by one non American..
I agree..Iron mountain is a superfund site.. we abused the land a long time ago and now all of us are paying for it.. but it was some good old boy and good old boy deals that did it... not joe citizen
I agree public places can be dangerous.. bars cater to unhealthy people who consume intoxicating substances and make poor life choices.. dont hang around them.. all will be well..promise...
The good "old boys" are what IS wrong with Redding.. back room deals, underhanded politics, small town pettiness... I do hope thats changing.. for no family.. , The Smiths, The McConnells for instance, should have a stranglehold on any city. Redding is suffering growing pains... thats for sure.. many of us dont like whats happening.. whether newbie or old timers.. but perhaps for different reasons..
Should Glen Hawes (a Board of Supervisor) get different treatment in developing his property than Joe Citizen.. no.. he shouldnt.. but does it happen here.. sure.. I think so.. Should Knauf be allowed to violate its clean air permit.. or buy credits from elsewhere.. no.. but does it happen.. sure.. thats why we have government and the ability to vote in/out representatives.. as imperfect as it is I think its still better than other countries.. or even the good old days when land barons and families, like the Smiths or McConnells controlled huge expanses of land.. and dictated their will
Mc mansions?.. I feel lucky to have my land out by Shasta Lake at the base of Bear Mountain and not some " unstable manzanita ground"..I agree..I wouldnt want to live out by Keswick.. to many negatives for me.. but others.. well different strokes for everyone
Some of us have made our fortune and wealth and didnt inherit it.. if you did ..great.. without any animosity Im happy for you.. as a general observation no American has any more claim to any area than any other American.. thank god for that.. Some of us didnt walk into a 1000 acres we had to work for every square inch at todays prices.. not when land was 50 cents an acre.. or just homesteaded for free.
I want everyone to know this post isnt personal.. the moderators dont want that..nor do I.. but I do want to highlight overwhelming negativity and perhaps.. just perhaps a very skewed sense of reality
Each person reading this can make up their own mind
Do you have anything positive to say about where we live?.. anything at all.. We would love to hear that as well
I bid you a good day Sir
Last edited by notmeofficer; 04-04-2008 at 11:26 AM..
I think you scared him off. I'm still coming up in May to check out Redding, Anderson, and Cottonwood. Don't know where to start. I'll just follow my compass. Best to All, skitow.
Speaking of land barons, good ole boys, and families... Realistically, are there any old time families that hold undeserved sway in Redding? And if so, who are they?
Other than the McConnell's of course. And in that case it's not the family who are now long gone, but the foundation they created.
And that's a swell 4th of July Fireworks show they put on. Big metropolitan fireworks, in a medium-sized city. Reddingites should count themselves very lucky on that score.
May is a beautiful time here. The wildflowers will still be around at higher elevations.. It will be warm but not oppressive. It should still be nice and green.. remember throughout the summer and fall everything will brown out
Take some time to visit Castle Crags (Hike/Picnic), Shasta Dam (Dam tour is really interesting), Mt Shasta (You can drive up to about 8000 feet).. Go ahead and see the Sundial bridge,,make your own decisions about it.... walk through the presentation garden (small fee) on the other side of the bridge
If you need a person who knows real estate and the area and is one of the most reliable people here I know PM me and Ill provide a name and contact info.. if for nothing else they can give you excellent info about the area
Make sure you look at both east and west areas of Redding.. many nicer sub divisions
South Redding is pretty old.. as are parts of Anderson and Cottonwood.. it really depends what you are looking for.. remember 30 minutes can get you pretty far out of the city
My place out by the lake is about 12-15 minutes to downtown on a normal day.. and I feel definitely out of the city
Funny you mention fireworks,, my wife has her explosives license and was the operator of the Redding show in the past,, she may crew on it this year.. I prefer to see it from my place up on a knoll... boom booms make my heart race... to much time in the ghetto in a policecar I guess
Families that exert "control" here,,, hmm well I guess it isnt any different than anywhere else..and what may have come through in some of the above posts is the attitude that some people have who live here .and whose families lived here historically.... if I begin to identify same you'll be getting my skewed view.. its something one has to sense or experience firsthand.. let me give you an personal example
I appeared at a board of supervisor meeting to testify about development and the unfair handling of policy.. how some people got one set of rules while another seemed to get a different set applied to them (which without making this a long story off topic ended up being found to be true and policy was changed)..
anyway.. as the meeting was getting started Merle Haggard (a county resident and considered by some to be a noteworthy person I guess) was in the audience of spectators.. one of the board members stopped the meeting and made note of merle's attendance.... like the president was there.. and the rest of us got to hear just how special he was... to many of us in the audience Merle is seen as nothing more than a drunkard and not the bastion of pride as an example of maledom in the county... and totally inappropriate for a public meeting
Now Merle was there to get some of his property released for development but was having difficulties with regulation... does anyone here think that his efforts and personal relationship with a board member made his experience different than Joe Citizen... if you said yes,,, I believe you are right
Thats the kind of politics that goes on here.. and in a million places in anytown USA.. and for me personally.. well for me it pisses me off to no end.. because EVERYONE should be treated the same
But its reality.. so,, I deal with it
Last edited by notmeofficer; 04-06-2008 at 06:53 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
