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Just curious if Eureka has gotten a whole lot better in the last 10 years with the severe drug and homeless issues resolved. More Snow’s statements are fairly accurate. Unless things have changed.
Do you work for the local Chamber of Commerce?
No, I don't work at all, and I no longer belong to the Chamber. I just don't like to see untruths being spread. As I've posted before, people who bomb thru Eureka, staying at the cheapest place in town, and never venture further than a block from the freeway, have NO idea what is in Eureka. I am not encouraging people to move here, (we have enough people, thanks). I AM encouraging TRUTH. Yes, we have a drug/homeless problem but it doesn't take over the whole community. I live right near the Zoo and I've never seen a homeless person in our neighborhood. You have to go downtown or behind the Mall to find homeless people. I know this disappoints some of you. I'm done here.
I lived in the Bay Area for 13 years, but never had any prospect of becoming a home owner - that's why we moved to North Carolina. The idea of moving back to CA is not because it has some intrinsic appeal and the options when it comes to affordable housing are very limited.
I've looked at listings in places like Sonora and Grass Valley and on balance, they aren't preferable to remaining in Asheville. The climate here really isn't that harsh - Jan 47/26 hi/lo and July 84/64. Not as sunny as CA but 212 days of sunshine spread across the year and 45 inches of rain evenly distributed, no hurricanes, rarely any forest fires, and no significant drought. Add to that the fact that Asheville itself is thriving as one of the most desirable places to live in the U.S. and it's not as though staying here is an endurance test.
So, add all this together and it means we have very limited options when it comes to finding somewhere else that would be preferable. Most people would say, be grateful for what you've got (and I can't argue with that) but my wife often feels like she can't endure another winter here.
Being close to retirement age, if we relocate it would be with the hope/expectation that that would be our last move and given that neither of us are of a mindset where contentment would come from a nice view and pleasant temperatures, there are lots of other considerations to keep in mind.
My rule of thumb when I look at house listings and research locations is to imagine: if we were living there and looking at a listing of our current house and a description of Asheville, would we be thinking, that looks like a better place to be living? So far, every time I've done that, it's been obvious we're better off staying put.
Nearing retirement age and you like where you live? I wouldn’t move. But if the wife is not happy....
The coast of California from about Monterey north all the way to British Columbia does get a little mold growing on the exterior of buildings. The marine layer hugging the coast all summer tends to encourage it. It takes years to build up though. If you pressure wash your house every few years you won't notice it much. You shouldn't have any issue inside your home though unless you have other problems with it. As far as breathing goes the air quality is usually pristine on the North Coast. I'm seriously considering retiring up there to avoid the almost constant wildfire smoke in this area.
No, I don't work at all, and I no longer belong to the Chamber. I just don't like to see untruths being spread. As I've posted before, people who bomb thru Eureka, staying at the cheapest place in town, and never venture further than a block from the freeway, have NO idea what is in Eureka. I am not encouraging people to move here, (we have enough people, thanks). I AM encouraging TRUTH. Yes, we have a drug/homeless problem but it doesn't take over the whole community. I live right near the Zoo and I've never seen a homeless person in our neighborhood. You have to go downtown or behind the Mall to find homeless people. I know this disappoints some of you. I'm done here.
Heh ... that drive on 101 through town does leave a poor impression ... I guess that’s why so few people bother to venture even two or three blocks off to see the restored houses and gardens ... go off the ‘strip’ if you are actually curious.
OP, have you ever been to the Central Coast, particularly San Luis Obispo County? I think it's exactly what you're looking for. You can live up in the hills on the west side of towns like Atascadero and Templeton and have milder weather due to the coastal influence. You can be on the coast in 15-20 minutes and in downtown SLO in about 20 minutes. SLO usually has perfect weather year-round but you have to pay for that. North SLO County is where you'll get more bang for your buck, but I emphasize you want to be west of town and up in the hills.
Check it out, but do it soon. We are quickly being discovered because of the surrounding wine country.
I've lived in coastal Humboldt for nearly 5 years now and I find the climate very livable and pleasant most of the time. My wife finds the climate too chilly overall so we're planning on leaving in the early 2020s to the Seattle area where the summers are a bit warmer and sunnier.
Personally I'd take a 57° and overcast day in July over a 100°+ day inland any day, but I could see how the constant cool weather and humidity could get to someone over time.
As far as winter is concerned it's certainly very cloudy and wet with some pretty intense storms sometimes that come blasting in off the ocean so we get the full force hitting us directly. Sometimes we'll get a train of storms one after another and it feels like it'll never stop raining and we'll never see the sun again.
Storms coming from the north tend to originate in the Gulf of Alaska and are usually windier, colder, and pack a harder, more intense punch, whereas storms originating in the south move slowly and dump a lot of warm rain over a period of days. The atmospheric river events can drag on for days or even weeks sometimes and dump 10" or more worth of rain on us.
As far as coughing and mold and all that are concerned, a dehumidifier in the house can help, as does keeping a fire in the wood stove if you have one. Ensuring the interior walls are sealed and painted correctly also helps discourage mold growth, but it's de definitely an ongoing issue and we do a thorough mold sweep several times a year.
I would disagree about mold growth in summer in a general sense. Yes the air is humid and there is fog, but once the rain stops it can get shockingly dry here with dust and crunchy grass and all that and I don't find mold to be an issue in summer at all. YMMV but that's been my experience in the time I've been here.
Living a few miles inland and out of the fog belt cuts down on mold issues too. Places like Kneeland, Fortuna, Rio Dell, Blue Lake, etc.
And, sorry to say this eureka1, but Eureka as a whole sucks. Yeah there are nice areas like Cutten, Myrtletown, Humboldt Hill, and so on, but those are all periphery areas. The core of the city from Old Town and most of the lettered streets are just flat out crappy. There are some nice streets such as D Street and parts south of 14th, but a huge area of the city is just...not nice.
The city and the area as a whole have some significant problems relating to homelessness, high housing prices relative to income, drugs, susceptibility to sea level rise and tsunamis, and isolation. We're fortunate in a lot of ways because we have most everything we need but it really does feel like an island sometimes and major roads in and out of the area are closed often in both winter and summer due to storms and fires respectively.
Most of the time I don't mind the isolation because I like how peaceful and quiet it is here generally, and I like the low population density, but sometimes cabin fever sets in and you feel like you just have to get out, except "getting out" entails a 3-4 hour drive to Redding or the Bay.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. I do like it overall and wouldn't mind staying here indefinitely, but the lack of resiliency in terms of sea level rise and other issues will push us out eventually one way or another and I'd rather it happen on our terms.
Oh, and the medical system here sucks, and it sucks bad. No way around that I'm afraid. Maybe someday it'll be better but I'm not gonna hold my breath.
Come up for a visit and check it out before committing to anything though
I've lived in coastal Humboldt for nearly 5 years now and I find the climate very livable and pleasant most of the time. My wife finds the climate too chilly overall so we're planning on leaving in the early 2020s to the Seattle area where the summers are a bit warmer and sunnier.
Having read your older posts on Humboldt, which overall were quite positive, I'm interested to hear that you're planning on leaving and also that you'll be heading for the Seattle area.
In my research (which is fastidious and has ranged nationwide from Wilmington NC to Las Cruces to Santa Fe to San Luis Obispo to Corvallis to Salem, right now the area that's looking most appealing to me is Bremerton/Silverdale.
Apart from a brief excursion in the early 90s through the Olympic peninsula and Seattle, my knowledge of the area is all from a distance (although it includes my quirky habit of taking "long drives" on Google street view as a way of exploring neighborhoods).
What's attractive about parts of Bremerton (away from the naval facilities) is that it has the topographical features of the islands without being an island. It reminds me of Belvedere (one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Marin County) except it has modest-sized houses instead of multi-million dollar mansions.
The big question would be: are the winters too gloomy? I could probably handle them (having grown up in England), but they might be too much for my California-raised wife.
I'm curious which parts of the Seattle area have caught your interest.
Having read your older posts on Humboldt, which overall were quite positive, I'm interested to hear that you're planning on leaving and also that you'll be heading for the Seattle area.
In my research (which is fastidious and has ranged nationwide from Wilmington NC to Las Cruces to Santa Fe to San Luis Obispo to Corvallis to Salem, right now the area that's looking most appealing to me is Bremerton/Silverdale.
Apart from a brief excursion in the early 90s through the Olympic peninsula and Seattle, my knowledge of the area is all from a distance (although it includes my quirky habit of taking "long drives" on Google street view as a way of exploring neighborhoods).
What's attractive about parts of Bremerton (away from the naval facilities) is that it has the topographical features of the islands without being an island. It reminds me of Belvedere (one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Marin County) except it has modest-sized houses instead of multi-million dollar mansions.
The big question would be: are the winters too gloomy? I could probably handle them (having grown up in England), but they might be too much for my California-raised wife.
I'm curious which parts of the Seattle area have caught your interest.
I had a Brit neighbor in Seattle. His wife was from the Mid-west. He was unfazed by Seattle's gloom. She was fazed, very fazed. She was able to retire in her late 40's, so at that point, they bought a winter place in Tucson, so she could get sun.
I'm from CA, but Seattle's weather didn't bother me at all. Nowadays, though, it's prone to more frequent heat waves than before. it's become a heat island, too; all that asphalt and concrete magnifies the heat. So if you do move there, get A/C. The thing about the winter gloom is not so much the cloud cover. It's that daylight is shortened. It's dark by 4:30 in the afternoon, and dark when everyone goes to work in the morning. That's difficult for some people.
The Kitsap Peninsula can also be an option, but I wouldn't live there, if I had to commute to Seattle, as I'd be dependent on a ferry. Though people do commute, and from Bainbridge Island, as well.
Having read your older posts on Humboldt, which overall were quite positive, I'm interested to hear that you're planning on leaving and also that you'll be heading for the Seattle area.
In my research (which is fastidious and has ranged nationwide from Wilmington NC to Las Cruces to Santa Fe to San Luis Obispo to Corvallis to Salem, right now the area that's looking most appealing to me is Bremerton/Silverdale.
Apart from a brief excursion in the early 90s through the Olympic peninsula and Seattle, my knowledge of the area is all from a distance (although it includes my quirky habit of taking "long drives" on Google street view as a way of exploring neighborhoods).
What's attractive about parts of Bremerton (away from the naval facilities) is that it has the topographical features of the islands without being an island. It reminds me of Belvedere (one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Marin County) except it has modest-sized houses instead of multi-million dollar mansions.
The big question would be: are the winters too gloomy? I could probably handle them (having grown up in England), but they might be too much for my California-raised wife.
I'm curious which parts of the Seattle area have caught your interest.
The PNW is a beautiful place with many options. We have friends and relatives who have retired there and are very happy along with their adult children and now grandchildren. Some are from CA and will tell you it takes some adjustment due to the gray skies during the winter. And some do compensate by taking vacations in the winter months, for example. However, their overall QOL is better there. One retired CA friend just moved to Silverdale (near Bremerton) following her kids who moved from Monterey.
We're also headed up that way to check out homes and neighborhoods soon. We started with a wider net like you including the more affordable areas of CA, WA and OR. Based upon 'our' criteria for our family and life stage we narrowed it down to Poulsbo/Silverdale, Olympia, Vancouver and Corvallis. After further research Vancouver is looking like to best fit for our family all things considered.
I would pick *any* of these PNW locations over Eureka for many of the same reasons already mentioned. While I love visiting the redwoods of NorCal, I couldn't imagine living there. Some like it of course. But its definitely not for us due to the isolation and overall cultural aspects among other factors. Have you ever visited that area before? As DCMann mentioned, there are other challenges as well like quality healthcare. You don't want subpar healthcare moving into the retirement years. What if you need a quality specialist? Do you really want any old doctor performing surgeries or making life altering diagnoses?
I think your wife may actually be simply missing the west coast in general. Reason: Eureka isn't anything like the Bay Area. If you live in the PNW you can still live near what she is more familiar with without the isolation of Eureka. That may be your best bet and compromise.
Or just stay put where you are... as long as she doesn't drive you crazy complaining about being there for the remainder of your days. But that's an entirely different dilemma.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 08-12-2018 at 07:03 PM..
Thanks for the responses. In spite of the attractively moderate temperatures, the comments I've heard most frequently (and keep on hearing) about the Eureka area evoke images of stagnation. Part of me wants to believe that Humboldt is a quiet Redwood haven (which no doubt it is), but there seem to be too many reports of the area being cut off in a sad way.
As Mutt mentioned, look further South. The Morro Bay area is nice as well as surrounding communities and you are an easy days drive to a lot of other areas to enjoy. Cold in Winter but better than further North. In general more moderate weather and definite so com parred to Ashville. Ashville is a beautiful area but Winters are too cold.
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