Eureka

[TheDragonslayer]

First of all, welcome to the Humboldt Bay area, new2eureka, I live 12 miles north of you in McKinleyville. I moved to the county in 1992 to the Garberville general area. I moved here in 2000 to McK. You have only been here a year, so you do not know about Crescent City, it is 70 +- miles north of here and they have a Walmart and a Home Depot. Depending on how you drive, it takes about an hour to get there and they have an assortment of dining establishments to compliment ours here. This is a warm year for us but it is true that it is not always foggy and it is about the same as the S F bay area with its micro-climates, just smaller and we get twice the rainfall during the winter. Everything is smaller and slower here, but you get used to it and learn to expect it. All the towns are seperated by open land or farm land and the hills and mountains still have trees and few homes.
When I moved here 15 years ago the logging was going forth full tilt. David Horowitz of Maxam lumber company and the savings and loans scandle of the 80's had bought up many of the lumber companies here and started strip mining the trees off the hills. At times every third vehicle on highway 101 was a logging truck loaded with redwood and douglas fir logs. Thanks to various organizations and an act of congress the logging was halted and the company taken to court. Unfortunately the damage has already been done. Fortunately, a large amount of old growth redwoods were and have been saved and are here for appreciating and viewing.
If one can imagine in your minds eye what the bay area looked like 50 or 60 years ago, maybe a little longer in areas closer to Oakland and San Fransisco, and add back the farms, the wild life, the clean water and fishing and less people and traffic; then you have the Humboldt Bay region. When I was a kid in the Pittsburg/Antioch area, we could roam the fields and farms between the towns, there were even blocks of land in town where people had horses. All of that is covered in tract homes and building devisions now. I go back to visit family, but I recognize little of the town anymore. I expect that to happen here in time but I intend on enjoying the slow life here while it is still slow.

[NewToCA]

We were up in the Eureka/Arcata area this past weekend, what a beautiful area! The place is super laid back, and the weather is spectacular. The surrounding area is beyond anything I could describe, lets just say it my view it is more wooded and mountainous than West VA or upstate New York.

The shopping is a bit dreary, and the mall in Eureka had quite a few vacant stores. They have a lot of restaurants, but few of the chains. Looks like a lot of fun to me, but I can see a younger person wanting more action. Arcata may be more of an opportunity for youngsters, but not like San Francisco or the other major cities.

Seems like the historic section of Eureka needs a bit of a boost, along with the shopping district, but otherwise all seemed pretty nice to me.

[theslightedge75]

Hey Dragonslayer. I live in Redding and I am heavily considering a move. I am trying to find an area that is first anf foremost: CLOUDY AND COOL ALL YEAR AROUND AND MORE DIVERSE WITH DIFFERENT RACES. I hear good things about Arcata, whats your opinion?

[TheDragonslayer]

Arcata is the most diverse but is also the hardest to find an affordable home in. Eureka has a crime rate higher than the state average, McKinleyville and Arcata's are lower. McKinleyville is the most affordable and is the fastest growing town in the county with it taking on over 28% of the home growth for Humboldt county. McKinleyville is still unincorporated so the tax's are lower, we have a sheriff substation that is always manned, a library, two grocery stores, two hardware store/lumber yards, a sports complex, a big K, a nine plex theater, many restruants and eateries and six gas stations. An indoor pool is to be built soon and we have just about one of the best school systems in the state and we are just approaching the 16,000 mark ( 120,000 for the county ). Arcata has Humboldt State University and Eureka has College of the Redwoods that is both a great nursing school and Police accademy. There is Mad River community hospital in Arcata and Herrick and Saint Joe's in Eureka. I believe there is a hospital in Fortuna which is just south of Eureka and has a country western atmosphere and attitude; it can be both good and bad depending on ones race or sexual orientation, Ferndale is much like Fortuna but has an authentic Victorian charm and architecture. I would say over all that McKinleyville is the most friendly, accepting and forgiving of any of Humboldts communities.

I found this site for checking the crime values for any given town and find it very informative in searching . Hope this helps you and anybody else.

http://moving.move.com/move/tools/cr...&poe=homestore