So... How's Susanville these days? (Nevada City: sales, crime, hotel)

[danweasel]

Hello,

I am looking for any info on Susanville, CA that you would be willing to share. Schools, recreation, kid activities, housing, whatever you have. I have three kids (11, 8 and 2 years old), a wife and a mutt. I was actually born and raised in Nevada City, CA (not too far away) but, minus visits, have been out of state for about 12 years. I am likely going to take a job at the Sierra Army Depot and I sure don't want to live in Reno.

Thanks,

Dan

[NorCalGal]

Susanville is an okay place to live if you have a decent job. There is very little serious crime and housing is relatively cheap. It's a small town and it comes with the typical pros and cons of small town life. I have never felt at danger anywhere in Susanville at any hour of the day or night, even walking alone as a woman. I live in a very old small house in what would be considered the "ghetto" of Susanville (if Susanville were big enough to have a ghetto LOL) and even there I've never felt unsafe in the least.

If you are into outdoors activities like fishing, hunting, skiing, or hiking, there are plenty of opportunities to practice your hobbies. There isn't a lot in terms of restaurants, bars, and clubs, but Reno is a straight and easy hour and a half drive and offers plenty of those things, as well as shopping.

Summers are hot and dry and winters tend to be cold and dry, usually with four or five major blizzards. In winter the power goes out quite a bit during winter storms.

I don't have children so I can't say much in terms of the quality of the schools in the area. I did my junior year only at Lassen High back in the 90's and the quality of the academics seemed mediocre compared to the other high school I had attended in a different town, but I do remember that socially it was a lot less cliquesh than my previous high school had been.

All in all, I think it's a good place to raise a family if you make an effort to keep your kids busy with sports, outdoor activities, and plenty of extracurricular activities.

As I'm sure you know, there are two State prisons here. You can't mention Susanville without mentioning the prisons........... The prisons bring with them some "inmate families" who have relocated to town to be near their incarcerated loved-one, often viewed by locals as "trash". It also brings plenty of out-of-towners who moved here specifically to work at the good-paying prison jobs , whose families are often just as resented as the inmate families.

[Senno]

Closish to the Burning Man festival site.


Burning Man 2012 - YouTube

[.highnlite]

Driving from Susanville to Gerlach through the Smoke Creek desert is a really bad idea for the average inane burning man participant. Once the poor demented city slicker has blown two tires and punched a hole in the oilpan, they aren't going to go very far.

[Ruth4Truth]

I enjoyed Susanville the 2 weeks I spent there. There's an Italian restaurant in town with some <i>killer </i> lasagna that it makes for take-out. There are a couple of shallow lakes (safe for kids) about 1/2-hr. to 45 min. drive out of town, and hiking or scenic driving on Mt. Lassen. There's an Indian rancheria there, with a casino and casino hotel, and other businesses. Some community events and ceremonies are open to the public.

[NorCalGal]

Originally Posted by Senno

Closish to the Burning Man festival site.

I hate to say this, but a person who is really interested in something like the Burning Man festival probably would not be very happy actually living in Susanville. The culture here is just a lot more traditional than what your typical Burning Man fan would be comfortable with. Or course, that doesn't apply to everyone, it's just an honest observation. It's not to say that there aren't plenty "open minded" people here, but the law-enforcement and agrarian focus of the community just doesn't tend to be super compatible with the ideals of Burning Man. I can count the locals I know who voted for Obama on ONE hand, for example. I know that's not entirely related, but it does kind of give you an idea of the sort of sociopolitical values that are the most prevalent around here.

Most people don't look down on Burning Man passers-through, but they are kind of the butt of jokes and it's funny, but the remark about the blown out tires and car problems are so true. LOL My husband worked in emergency road service for three years and they were always swamped with Burning Man people having issues with their vehicles during that time of year.

[NorCalGal]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I enjoyed Susanville the 2 weeks I spent there. There's an Italian restaurant in town with some <i>killer </i> lasagna that it makes for take-out. There are a couple of shallow lakes (safe for kids) about 1/2-hr. to 45 min. drive out of town, and hiking or scenic driving on Mt. Lassen. There's an Indian rancheria there, with a casino and casino hotel, and other businesses. Some community events and ceremonies are open to the public.

Yes, they do Indian Taco sales quite often. Yum! They'll even deliver them to your house.

Lassen National Park is a great place to visit and it's close enough to go for a day trip. In the summer you can always find tourists from all over the world there. I've never gone without hearing people around there speaking German, Japanese, etc.

[DontLookPhoto]

I was considering moving to Susanville once because it is very much the type of town that we enjoy, not too big and not too small. We ended up in western Montana and swore never to live in California ever again.
We grew up in a big city almost on the Mexican border and really wanted to be in a wilder area.

We still like Susanville but it's not in the state that we love so much. We won't leave Montana at this point because we have roots here now but Susanville is always on my mind for some reason.
Maybe someday we will visit when the folks visiting the sick festival are passing through so we can get a look at the type of people (stretching the definition of "people" here) that induced us to move to a state where most folks at least try to be normal rather than trying to be semi demented oddballs.

Anyway all you nice folks in Susanville, have a happy new year and keep having fun with those offbeat "Burning Man" fools !

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Driving from Susanville to Gerlach through the Smoke Creek desert is a really bad idea for the average inane burning man participant. Once the poor demented city slicker has blown two tires and punched a hole in the oilpan, they aren't going to go very far.

Meh, Wendel to Suprise Valley Rd to 447 is easy for almost all vehicles with decent tires during dry conditions.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by DontLookPhoto

I was considering moving to Susanville once because it is very much the type of town that we enjoy, not too big and not too small. We ended up in western Montana and swore never to live in California ever again.
We grew up in a big city almost on the Mexican border and really wanted to be in a wilder area.

We still like Susanville but it's not in the state that we love so much. We won't leave Montana at this point because we have roots here now but Susanville is always on my mind for some reason.
Maybe someday we will visit when the folks visiting the sick festival are passing through so we can get a look at the type of people (stretching the definition of "people" here) that induced us to move to a state where most folks at least try to be normal rather than trying to be semi demented oddballs.

Anyway all you nice folks in Susanville, have a happy new year and keep having fun with those offbeat "Burning Man" fools !

They might be oddballs, but at least they're not inbreds. But thank you for representing the tribe so convincingly.