Is Eureka, Ca better than Boston, Ma? (San Francisco, Cupertino: 2014, living in)

[TheDragonslayer]

Originally Posted by AutumnSweater

Is the crime that noticeable and dangerous? I'm thinking this means that it's the drug community creating the issues in the community or that police administration sucks. Safety is really important and from the sounds of it, the safety sounds terrible.

How is education?

Eureka schools are okay, the Northern Humboldt Unified School Disctrict includes Arcata and McKinleyville and was on the list a few years back as among the best in the state for scholastics. The crime is really overrated, but is often related to drugs in most of the communities, but is that not much like what it is in the larger metro communities down in the bay area? You nailed it on the head with combining both the drugs and police, I have been here for going on 24 years next month and do not trust the druggies anymore than I trust the police or sheriffs and prefer to avoid their war, that is why I moved away from the southern part of the county in the Emerald Triangle where all the pot growing goes on and the crimes that come with it. We get a lot of home invasion robberies here at certain times of the year, but it is always home grows or homes where the profits or product is being distributed that are being hit. If one is not part of the drug culture and just an ordinary citizen, we are pretty safe and secure. I have had to deal with only two meth heads over the past 15 years and dealt with both through our neighborhood watch program and got them evicted from their apartments. I dealt with way worse in both Oakland and Berkeley and there I never felt safe, you learned to look ahead of you, behind and all around, never let your guard down without becoming a victim. Did that once in the Oakland hills and nearly got stabbed by a man on meth. I never feel threatened here like I did there.

[zdg]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

Christmas 1955 a big flood hit, and....we left for good.

Wait a second, you haven't lived in California for SIXTY years and you're still posting here as an expert? I don't post in the NYC forum because my info is stale and I left there in 2012. No wonder you hate California so much; the place you think existed is gone or probably never did exist.

[family first]

I don't know, let's try this. It might be something like a person from San Francisco moving to New Ashford and trying to compare the two. Nothing similar to compare. On the other hand if you are looking to get as opposite of Boston as possible, then Eureka would be a fine choice. Depends what you are looking for in a move. More info and maybe we can offer more help.

[Samoi137]

Boston and Eurkea??? Wow, what a difference. Asking here without visiting Eureka or are you thinking of visiting, for a look at homes, etc. and want to know if it's worthwhile? Job not a problem? Eureka and neighboring Arcata (site of a Cal State University campus) are scenic, isolated (a plus to some) and-- importantly to my wife-- get lots of rain and are near fault zones. Hope you can visit before thinking too much about it. Lots of nice tourist sites, even if you decide not to move.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by majoun

On the other hand, Eureka does not have as many Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox fans as Boston, which is definitely a net plus.

Ya got me there!

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by AutumnSweater

My husband has been trying to push the idea of living in Eureka, Ca. We are planning good places to start a family. I've never even heard of Eureka, Ca until he brought it up. I figured he only liked it because of the show Fire Fly. But upon searching this city on google, I haven't found anything substantial about it compared to somewhere else in Ca like Cupertino. It kind of seems unsafe although it does look picturesque from Google photos. How is the education and job opportunities? The cost and quality of living?

As someone raised and brought up from the East, I prefer somewhere like Boston. Does anyone have any comments regarding Eureka?

I lived near Eureka (McKinleyville) for a time in the 90's. I enjoyed my time there but there weren't a lot of jobs and it rained a lot. My circumstances were a lot different back then though because I was fresh out of college with no real experience. I might like it more now if I could find decent work there or work remotely. Still, it had a sort of hippy feel which I was not too into, and the rain would get old even though I don't consider myself a 'weather whiner' like most californians. You might like it there if you have good work and like the rain. It's a relatively tiny city (including surrounding towns) by CA standards, which is a plus for me.

I've never lived in MA but my brother did for a time and I went to visit him. It was really pretty in its own way, but I found all the trees to be claustrophobic compared to the open space I'm used to. It could be a good life, but the year round humidity could be tough if you're not used to it. There would certainly be a lot more job opportunities, especially near Boston. But it's a major tier 1 city, so be prepared for that. It would probably be paradise for someone who is really into the major sports, but not so good if you're into things like rock-climbing, skiing or surfing.

Personally I think I might actually die if I ever had to live any further east than I do right now (the front range of the CO rockies), but the majority of the US populace seem to be surviving it ok, so perhaps it has something to offer.

[TheDragonslayer]

Originally Posted by otterprods

I lived near Eureka (McKinleyville) for a time in the 90's. I enjoyed my time there but there weren't a lot of jobs and it rained a lot. My circumstances were a lot different back then though because I was fresh out of college with no real experience. I might like it more now if I could find decent work there or work remotely. Still, it had a sort of hippy feel which I was not too into, and the rain would get old even though I don't consider myself a 'weather whiner' like most californians. You might like it there if you have good work and like the rain. It's a relatively tiny city (including surrounding towns) by CA standards, which is a plus for me.

I've never lived in MA but my brother did for a time and I went to visit him. It was really pretty in its own way, but I found all the trees to be claustrophobic compared to the open space I'm used to. It could be a good life, but the year round humidity could be tough if you're not used to it. There would certainly be a lot more job opportunities, especially near Boston. But it's a major tier 1 city, so be prepared for that. It would probably be paradise for someone who is really into the major sports, but not so good if you're into things like rock-climbing, skiing or surfing.

Personally I think I might actually die if I ever had to live any further east than I do right now (the front range of the CO rockies), but the majority of the US populace seem to be surviving it ok, so perhaps it has something to offer.

You would not recognize McKinleyville. From 2000 to now it has grown from 13,000 to almost 19,000 people. School road has been totally redone from Kmart down to Fischer avenue on lower School road. We got sidewalks on lower school and upper school road and can walk to Kmart safely now. It has also been widened to twice its width. We even have a four plex theatre now and an olympic sized swimming pool is going in by next summer. By 2020 we are forecast to be as big as Eureka, we are already as big as Arcata. All of the land just behind Miller farms is now a huge housing tract. We got a set of new bridges between us and Arcata and soon to get a Whole foods store a block from Safeway, Ace is moving up near Murray and building two new buildings. We have a large CVS pharmacy being built too. Our big Kmart is thriving while others languish.

[oldtrader]

Wait a second, you haven't lived in California for SIXTY years and you're still posting here as an expert? I don't post in the NYC forum because my info is stale and I left there in 2012. No wonder you hate California so much; the place you think existed is gone or probably never did exist.

I am very familiar with Humboldt County, as I still have a lot of family there, and am not a stranger to the area. I don't live there but seriously considered going back when I retired for good. My wife and I have lots of family and friends there, and would have been able to fit right in like we had never left. But after some visits and evaluation, I knew there were a lot of better places to spend my remaining years.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

I am very familiar with Humboldt County, as I still have a lot of family there, and am not a stranger to the area. I don't live there but seriously considered going back when I retired for good. My wife and I have lots of family and friends there, and would have been able to fit right in like we had never left. But after some visits and evaluation, I knew there were a lot of better places to spend my remaining years.

Oh? You considered endangering your wife's life by moving back to California? You have repeatedly claimed that you had to "flee California" to save your wife's and son's very lives due to "California's lethal air qualities".

Bubba, you been gone 60 years and no one's taking a thing you say seriously here. Your anti-California agenda is a joke. Time to go feed your sheep.

[Letsmakeit happen2020]

Eureka, CA, has it problems and the City does not want to deal with them. Personally, this is not the place to raise children. Drugs are prevalent, i.e., black tar heroin, bath salt (synthetic), marijuana, and meth. They actually have meth labs in Eureka. On January 30, 2015, a lawsuit was recently settled which was filed by the ACLU on behalf of African American and Native American students who was discriminated against (racial name calling) at Eureka City Schools. Eureka is a prejudice City and it is underrepresented across the board. For example, there are no African Americans on the City Council, no African American police officers/EMT, to give you an idea. There are Pacific Islanders, Vietnamese, Native Americans, Latinos, Blacks, etc. which makes up the ethnic groups here, however, Eureka fails to embrace multicultural diversity. There are hardly any jobs and the biggest problem that this City is facing is homeless people and panhandlers. They come from all over the country because of the harvesting of marijuana. When the harvesting is done, the drug dealers will not pay the trimmers of marijuana so therefore they are stuck here causing problems. Safety is a big concern here. Due to the homeless people, neighborhood crime such as burglaries are high. There was recently a murder of a man who was shot down by the Eureka Police Department. The name had a BB gun in his waistband. At the City Council meeting on this week, two ladies (Attorneys) was questioning the review board's decision that justified that EPD's shooting of this man. There will be a rally on February 6 or 7 with citizens voicing their concerns about the crime and making our neighborhoods safe again. Before you relocate here to Eureka, I suggest you come and visit and see firsthand as what I have written. I moved from the East Coast in March 2014, but I moved here to start making changes to this City. This City needs to move in a more positive direction but because of the ineffective leadership here, it seems like all the locals wants is a drug culture and opening up marijuana co-ops. This City lacks professionalism, it's basically a good old-boy network in Eureka, country people driving around with that hate flag (Confederate) posted on their vehicles. This place reminds me of Mississippi Burning. I believe the Neo-Nazi's are based here and the KKK. For this City to be part of California, it is full of hatred.