Nevada City-Grass Valley (Sacramento, Chico, Yuba City: insurance, crime, house)

[LibertyResearch]

Wife and I are currently living in Seattle suburb which is rated 7 on a crime scale from 0 to 100 (safest) by Neighborhood Scout. Seattle itself is rated 4.

Even though we have stable jobs (170k combined) we’re looking to move in hope of finding better living conditions. Particularly we’re looking for more sunshine and less crime.

Recently we were returning home from Lake Tahoe when we passed through Nevada City/County and Grass Valley/Yuba County. We found this area appealing. Sloping hills, California Oaks and rural but tame appearance. It looked clean, cared for and very livable.

We’re hoping for more information on:

- Climate of the area. Is sunshine plentiful throughout most of the year?

- Natural disasters: wildfires, earthquakes? Are those to be expected?

- Crime in the area? Grass Valley/Nevada City is also rated 7 out of 100 so not very safe. It sure didn’t look like it.

- Any businesses lacking in this area?

Anything else pertinent we should know?

[evening sun]

Summer will be hot & long. No rain from May to November or thereabouts. It will be hot, much of summer is triple digits.
Wildfires are to be expected in much of Norcal. I don't think it gets much seismic activity. I live about 60 miles North of there. I think it is expensive, compared to other areas nearby. Plus it seems isolated. But definitely a beautiful place.

[Hemlock140]

A relative recently sold his home very near there in Penn Valley, and it took over a year. There are multiple reasons, including fire danger, aging septic and well systems, distance to jobs and shopping. He commuted to Sacramento, over an hour each way.

[Ruth4Truth]

What Seattle suburb are you in, if you don't mind my asking? Or if you don't want to be specific, maybe you could give the general area: east side, northwest or northeast of Seattle, or south.

Seattle's low rating must be because of homelessness. I wonder how they score that. Relatively petty crime from homelessness (car break-ins, theft, and the like) is very different from drive-by shootings and other armed crime, major burglaries, and the like.

I've spoken to people who live in Grass Valley, and they love it. Checking RE prices and rents, it does seem a little high compared to other Sierra foothill towns; I guess it depends on if you feel it's worth it, or maybe coming from Seattle, it seems like a bargain. The only thing I'd worry about in the area is the fire risk (you can look this up online for any area or county you're considering), but we have members here who live in those towns, who are unfazed. No plans to leave, so their comments would be insightful, I imagine. Also, the summer weather would be too hot for me, but that's an individual preference sort of thing.

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by LibertyResearch

Wife and I are currently living in Seattle suburb which is rated 7 on a crime scale from 0 to 100 (safest) by Neighborhood Scout. Seattle itself is rated 4.

Even though we have stable jobs (170k combined) we’re looking to move in hope of finding better living conditions. Particularly we’re looking for more sunshine and less crime.

Recently we were returning home from Lake Tahoe when we passed through Nevada City/County and Grass Valley/Yuba County. We found this area appealing. Sloping hills, California Oaks and rural but tame appearance. It looked clean, cared for and very livable.

We’re hoping for more information on:

- Climate of the area. Is sunshine plentiful throughout most of the year?

- Natural disasters: wildfires, earthquakes? Are those to be expected?

- Crime in the area? Grass Valley/Nevada City is also rated 7 out of 100 so not very safe. It sure didn’t look like it.

- Any businesses lacking in this area?

Anything else pertinent we should know?

Sunny and hot most of the year. Be aware that all of the foothills are under increasing danger from wildfires accelerated by climate change. Fire insurance will be expensive and difficult to obtain. Nevada City has been mentioned as having the potential for a Paradise-like wildfire crisis due to restricted access. (https://www.sacbee.com/news/californ...227589484.html)

I love this area and both cities are very old-west picturesque, but I would personally have a hard time living there now that fire season is pretty much 9 months of the year.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

What Seattle suburb are you in, if you don't mind my asking? Or if you don't want to be specific, maybe you could give the general area: east side, northwest or northeast of Seattle, or south.

Seattle's low rating must be because of homelessness. I wonder how they score that. Relatively petty crime from homelessness (car break-ins, theft, and the like) is very different from drive-by shootings and other armed crime, major burglaries, and the like.

I've spoken to people who live in Grass Valley, and they love it. Checking RE prices and rents, it does seem a little high compared to other Sierra foothill towns; I guess it depends on if you feel it's worth it, or maybe coming from Seattle, it seems like a bargain. The only thing I'd worry about in the area is the fire risk (you can look this up online for any area or county you're considering), but we have members here who live in those towns, who are unfazed. No plans to leave, so their comments would be insightful, I imagine. Also, the summer weather would be too hot for me, but that's an individual preference sort of thing.

That crime source shows Seattle itself even worse at 4, Puyallup 3, Federal Way 5, Renton 6, and here in Sammamish it shows 77.

[LibertyResearch]

Sunny and hot is good! But fire danger of course is something we'd like to minimize.
Is denser housing (as in downtown area) less of exposure to fire then say a house on grassy acreage?
Or are there better areas in vicinity?
Ruth - Burien.

[Nov2019]

I live here. You can ask me anything via email.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by LibertyResearch

Sunny and hot is good! But fire danger of course is something we'd like to minimize.
Is denser housing (as in downtown area) less of exposure to fire then say a house on grassy acreage?
Or are there better areas in vicinity?
Ruth - Burien.

Are you aware of what happened to communities in southern Oregon last summer, during fire season? there were grass fires or brush fires that travelled very fast along the agricultural land, and completely destroyed at least two communities entirely, that were in that path. So for small communities, no, being in or near a small downtown doesn't necessarily protect you. Small towns in the Plains states have been threatened by grass fires in the last few years, too. I know that may seem hard to understand, but the New Yorker magazine had a feature article on how dangerous grass fires are on the Plains.

But if you have another visit planned to CA, you might ask people on the ground in the communities you're interested in. You could even pay a visit to the local fire department to have a chat.

[mgforshort]

We spent time in Grass Valley / Nevada City but didn't like the strong touristy vibe and high prices of groceries. The highway divides the city and I disliked it immensely.
That is why we moved to Paradise. On the "neighborhood scout" our crime rating is 63, with 100 as the best; I can't imagine living in a place with a rating of 7.

Our climate/ fire danger is the same as Grass V. but our traffic is 5-6 times less at least.
During the 2018 fire the fire department broke our front door and left it unlocked for the 2 months while we were not allowed to return. Not a thing went missing during that time and all the bad smell disappeared except the refrigerator, which couldn't be saved.

The crime we are hearing is contractors leave tools at a job site and some goes missing during the night. We have near zero homeless presence due to lack of social services. Most major car accidents are caused by texting and some by the drivers being under the influence.

We are 19 minutes from Chico where you will find everything but a Porsche dealer; I can't afford one so I got over it by now. I believe in Grass V. the only city with similar shopping is Yuba City, 33 miles drive.

Paradise has groceries, medical / dental, ACE Hardware, Tractor Supply, Walgreens, Rite Aid pharmacy, Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, gas stations, 1 veterinary, 2 pizza places, 1 restaurant. The rest disappeared after the fire, but we can get pretty much everything we might need in Chico. Going down from the mountain to Chico and back is a scenic drive of 7 on a scale of 10.