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i'm leaving nyc for the country. don't much mind the cold, but i HATE the sticky summers. at 61 i'm getting out of here, away from my noisy, crowded, horrifically gentrified home-town.
looking for a politically left-wing (dare i ask for friendly?) community with lots of poets and musicians in it, deep among the trees.
i prefer forest shade to the shore, but anyplace with woods...
bit worried about the rainy season in northern ca, but we kinda have that here in ny now....those rainy winters, are they without letup, or does the sun make an appearance at some point most days?
or would arcata or eureka be just like seattle or portland?
2 cities i love but i'm scared of depression if too sun-deprived.
any mildly relevant input is welcome, thanks!
No, noplace in CA would seem like Seattle or Portland. Arcata is much smaller, and has some funky traditions that are fun for young and old alike. You should post your query on the CA forum. There seems to be a bit of a drug problem that's centered around the college in Arcata, but there are suburbs that don't have that, like McKinleyville.
As for the rain, that remains to be seen. Yes, normally it's rainy and foggy, but California's going through a drought, and it's anyone's guess when or if that will end. How it affects the far northern reaches of the state, I don't know, but you can look up the weather and average temps for Arcata online, to get an idea.
You could consider locating closer to the Bay Area, in Mendocino County (lots of redwoods there, too). There's also Lake County. Both those areas are outside of the rainy zone. In Lake County, real estate is very cheap by CA standards. There's Clear Lake, with several towns around the periphery. One in particular has meth activity, but the rest don't. There's Hidden Valley Lake, which is a gated community. The area is hot in the summers, but it's a dry heat. If you want to avoid that extreme heat, stay on the coast.
Ukiah is a nice rural area north of Mendocino, near the coast, but not on the coast. There are lots of areas to explore. It depends in part on your budget.
I lived in Arcata/Eureka for three years and would not do it again, because of the weather.
An artsy coastal town with a bit more sunshine is Fort Bragg or Mendocino. The further south you go the better the weather, the closer to the big city you get, the more expencive it becomes.
There are all kinds of progressive, green, creative and politically active communities scattered all over California. North of San Francisco is less costly in many ways, but some things will cost more, usually food, gas and some utilities.
I don't own a home, but it is said that property taxes are high. However, I've looked at what taxes would be on something I would own and did not think it was high at all.
Disagree with Ruth about "no drugs in McKinleyville". We've had meth and hash labs blow up in McKinleyville.
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