Dreadful place - 7/4/2021

I lived here 7 years and moved away a year ago. Crime and homelessness was really bad. Public funds which should be used to improve infrastructure somehow disappeared. The water quality was really poor. Tap water smelled awful. Nuclear rods from the old powerplant were supposed to be removed decades ago from the bay. Now the local government is claiming some are missing. Dioxins from the old pulp mill contaminate the bay. Juvenile cancer rates are really high. Unfortunately, racism is embedded in the culture. Not a single judge or government leader was a minority. Health care is horrendous. I'm so happy to get away from Eureka.

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Love it here - 4/24/2021

I enjoy living in Eureka. There is a lot of beautiful outdoor trails. The climate is mild. Other places I have lived were freezing cold in winter, and flaming hot in summer. The weather here means I can safely be outdoors year round. Similar climate to SF or Bodega Bay. (BTW THIS WEBSITE ONLY TYPICALLY POSTS NEGATIVE REVIEWS ON SOME CITIES. IT TOOK MONTHS FOR THIS SIMPLE REVIEW TO BE POSTED, AND THEY ONLY DID IT AFTER I ASKED WHY MY REVIEW NEVER GOT POSTED. SERIOUSLY WHEN YOU POST A REVIEW IT TELLS YOU YOU NEED TO WAIT FOR APPROVAL. WHEN THE GUY EMAILED ME BACK HE EVEN ADMITTED THAT THEY MANUALLY "APPROVE" WHICH ONES THEY ALLOW ON HERE) I included this edited version after the fact, don't know if it will stay on. I guess it depends on if they notice.

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Beautiful Areas, But Best to Just Keep Going - 4/24/2021

I lived in a suburb just north of Eureka for three years. It has a small-town feel, where everybody seems to know everybody. There is zero traffic, but that's because it is so isolated...You have to drive at least three hours to get to civilization (through the winding narrow mountain roads to Redding or south to Santa Rosa). There is beautiful scenery. You can go to the beach and not see one other person there the entire time. But that's because it is too cold to go to the beach most of the time, the water is freezing, the current is too dangerous to even attempt to go in the water, and people are killed every year by "sleeper waves." Never heard of such a thing? Me either, until I lived there; and I grew up at the beach down south. You learn to NEVER turn your back on the waves there. The Redwoods are beautiful, nourished by all the rain they get. When it's not raining, it's gloomy (so much so there is a pervasive vitamin D deficiency among the residents). There are a handful of pretty neighborhoods but the majority of the area is in poverty, mentally ill, on drugs/alcohol and/or selling it. Everyone associates Humboldt County with Marijuana but the biggest issue is Meth. The courthouse/jail is the tallest, central building in Eureka. People purposefully move there to "get off the grid," and/or take advantage of the cannabis culture/cultivation (everyone else is just stuck). Law enforcement and emergency responders generally do not respond to calls in the more rural areas. (Look up Murder Mountain.) Child Protective Services is so swamped with cases they don't even bother investigating things that would receive immediate attention elsewhere. It's a beautiful place to visit but not to live, unless you're looking for what they have. (On your visit, just make sure not to wander on to the Reservations because you will not be welcomed, and definitely don't wander off the main roads during harvest season or you might be met by men with machine guns, protecting the "crops.")

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AVOID EUREKA AT ALL COST! - 9/30/2020

Avoid eureka at all cost! I was assaulted here within 2 months of moving here by an absolute stranger! People have dumped items in my yard including a dead shark, most recently some one dumped demolition debris! Almost everyone has modified their vehicle to be as loud as possible and race around the city streets making as much noise as they can. I am getting out of this stinkhole as quickly as I can!

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Probably the armpit of the Pacific coast - 7/2/2020

The Pacific coast is beautiful however this is probably the least beautiful place on the Pacific coast. Town is a dump and very seedy too. On the plus side you go about a half hour north or south and you get into some jaw droppingly beautiful scenery and giant redwoods. Still there are much better places on the Pacific coast you can stay.

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Bad. Just Bad. - 3/4/2020

I want to convey an accurate picture of Eureka but realize I can only paint a picture of my experience. I have not had a positive experience here. The rent is comparable to S. California and I honestly do not know why or how homeowners can justify asking for so much. I suppose that HSU students and the weed business create a demand. But for those of us who live paycheck to paycheck (if lucky enough to find a decent job). It took me a very long time to find sustainable employment. I have kids in the school system (which is decent in Arcata), so I am stuck here until they graduate (as they have bonds with their friends). So that is something good I can say, Arcata has a good education system and my kids like it in Arcata. Their dad owns a home there so they don’t have to deal with Eureka much. We get out of here as much as possible or isolate inside to stay away from tweakers. My car has been broken into 3 times, my nieces’ car was too. They smashed in front car window and stole all of her CR schoolbooks and homework. And get this, our stand-up basketball hoop was stolen from outside. I scrimped and saved for that so my kids could play. Sigh. I live in a nice house and I absolutely love my landlords. That’s another plus- you find a few diamonds here sometimes. Sadly though, there is a huge drug and homeless population as well as those who need intensive psychiatric help. Unfortunately there is almost no help for those who seek it. I am taking the time to write this because I someone was in my back yard last night and tripped on something hahaha I had to call 911.....again. The city won’t put lights on the street so anything goes here. Don’t be fooled, this is hell in earth.

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My ex-hometown - 1/19/2020

Well, I was born in Eureka in 1957. As a child I absolutely loved it there. There was plenty of work before the lumber industry took a nosedive. The Humboldt Bay still had very good fishing for salmon and the like. The population was growing exponentially and the people were pretty much common middle class folks. During my youth, the "hippie" movement was coming into full swing and Humboldt county was awash with free thinkers (hippies). Things began to change pretty drastically during the early '70's when the environmentalists get a good foothold in the community; the first nuclear power plant in the country that had been set up south of town near the King Salmon exit was shut down; the lumber industry took a hit; and the fishing began to dry up. My high school senior class of 1975 was over three hundred strong and most of us, I have discovered over the years, have left for greener pastures. My sense is that our generation was a bit more conservative than the upcoming ones, so we found other places where we fit in better. I joined the service right after high school and left for Texas. Upon retiring many years later, I returned with the intention of possibly retiring in or near my old home town. WRONG! I was absolutely aghast at the difference. My hometown was no longer my old home town. The population of working class people had diminished to about a third of what it had been and the population of homeless and transients had skyrocketed. I looked online to see the crime rate and was astounded to discover that Eureka was #2 on the list of worst crime rates in the state. Only Oakland was higher. The people and the paradigm had so completely changed that I thought for a moment I had entered some twilight zone setting and was losing my mind. There were no more smiles on the faces, no more happy youth driving around the strip and looking for dates, no more friendly pets and neighbors waving and greeting me. Now I was faced with suspicious stares, wacked-out kids on crazy new drugs, Pit bull terriers behind chain-linked fences, and homes with closed blinds and drawn curtains along every street. Eureka is no longer Eureka; it's a drug infested, crime ridden, slab city of zombies and malcontents. I decided to make my retirement in the Rocky Mountains instead. The wolves, moose, grizzly bears, and carnivorous animals are much easier to content with and are much more predictable than the crazies in Eureka. I recommend that, if you have to drive through Eureka going north or south, you just drive right on through Eureka going north or south. Don't stop. You might get caught in the crossfire.

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Kind of like a bigger version of Crescent City - 5/24/2018

A little bit more things to do, a little better restaurants than Crescent City. Still boring and suffers from a lot of the same problems Crescent City does. Unbelievably rude people, high crime, lots of drugs, methheads, thieves, bums, and other subhuman lowlife just like Crescent City. Rains and storms a lot in the winter. A little less than Crescent City though. Beautiful countryside but all the bad things are just too much for the natural beauty to make it worth dealing with. Just like Crescent City. I'd recommend avoiding both Eureka and Crescent City and go to Newport in Oregon or Tahoe instead. Beautiful like Eureka and Crescent City, but much more to do and not near as much crime and lowlifes and much better food.

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Mixed Bag - 6/13/2017

Cons-- Little economic opportunity, high property crime rates, limited healthcare services, few amenities, prohibitively expensive airfares, gray skies, horrific dating scene. Pros-- Mild climate, great outdoors destinations, friendly people, relaxed small-town vibe, no traffic. Eureka (and Humboldt County in general) is a great place to live if you love the outdoors. Housing costs are generally affordable but not cheap compared to national averages, and are probably a bit on the high side relative to the economic opportunities available in the area. Not a great place for retirees, low skilled laborers, single people, shopaholics, or people who love to photograph their dinner for Instagram. However, if you can find a good job or work from home and love outdoorsy stuff, this place is hard to beat. One of the very few places in the country where you can go out and enjoy beautiful forests, beaches, lakes, and rivers and not be swamped by other people. Personally, I freaking love this place just because of that. The climate is also hard to beat. Although it's not world class like the bay area, temperatures are pretty mild with it never getting extremely hot or extremely cold. It's not windy. Some years can be very rainy with an almost constant, oppressive gray (much like the Seattle region), other years are extremely pleasant with an abundance of lovely days. There's lots of wildlife if you're into photography. Plenty of boating, hiking, swimming, fishing, hunting, hackey sack, and disc golf. Though the outdoors stuff probably isn't as nice as up in the Olympia area of Washington, I'd say Eureka and Humboldt County might be overall better due to the superior weather and lack of crowds. All in all, I'm going with five stars because this place is right up my alley.

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Pathetic slum - 9/30/2015

We have been going to the northern coast and visiting Eureka for years and years. It has deteriorated to a pathetic low of lows. Homeless and tweekers have taken over. In a 2 hour period we saw at least 5 people stumbling, drunk as skunks, on the sidewalk in the middle of the day. Beggars everywhere. It seems like so much money was wasted on Riverwalk or whatever revitalization that was done. The police and infrastructure obviously can't keep up on the druggies. We saw one person driving around just randomly screaming at people out of his car window. The streets are dirty. Businesses are shut down. Just pathetic and sad.

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Tourist town ok for tourists, mostly - 9/14/2015

I've lived here 15 years and seen the crime increase each year. More homeless which the city pretends to "control" with the idea of fencing in part of the mall parking and putting up oversized courthouses for them to live in. With communal showers and locking them in at night. In the meantime they legalize pot. Humboldt is the pot capital of California.The cut back on police, close fire stations 3/4 of the year, so far. After we voted more money for police and fire. The only ones doing good in Humboldt county are the people with lots of money. Normal, poor, seniors, disabled or homeless are forgotten and ignored. Slum lords are a problem here too. PLUS MOLD IS EVERYWHERE, it rains a lot, were in the redwoods and MOLD is something you put up with here. I'm moving to Southern California when I can raise the money. My health is gotten so bad here my doctor says I need to move for my health and mental health. I've been trying since January but on SSI,as it's impossible. I have two fund raising websites but only raised $85 in 6 months. Hope this information helps with a moving decision. I'd like to hear the truth about areas I'm looking into.

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Eureka.. I love you! - 7/10/2015

Please leave our beautiful city if it is not to your liking. Some of us are very happy here.

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More corrupt than you might want to believe - 7/4/2015

While its easy to say all of America is corrupt, Eureka and Humboldt county in general have small town corruption down to an art. While I agree with many others about the cliques that are here, there is another worth mentioning. Satanism. It has a firm grasp on this area. From big well known local names to locals who manage to stay off the local public's radar. Many of the meth heads, pot heads, and even the "up standing people of the community" belong to this network. Proof you ask? Open your eyes and look around Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville and especially Fortuna and Ferndale. Opening your eyes requires the skeptic or more then likely debunker to look past their own belief system and many won't. Satanism controls a lot of Northern California from Santa Rosa through Crescent City. I would absolutely not move here. The one post complained about Sex Offenders. I would be more concerned about the professional class of this area. They are a much bigger threat to you and your family's personal safety, in my opinion. If anything Humboldt county and a big chunk of Northern California need an exorcism and a massive Federal investigation, arrests, prosecutions, and very long prison sentences for this network. Don't move here.

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The worst place I've ever lived. - 4/13/2015

So many others have said it well. Don't move here unless you're so rich, you don't need to work and can afford the overpriced real estate in this area. Everyone else falls by the wayside and serves at the pleasure of this rich elite.

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Bad Press On Eureka - 1/20/2015

For the folks that have written in and condemned Eureka as a "horrible place to live" I suggest: "Move! Be part of the solution or get the heck outta' here. We didn't ask you to move to our town. Go back to Los Angeles or Oakland or wherever."

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Humboldt County is REALLY TERRIBLE. It's driving m - 6/1/2013

Nothing to do. Tons of drugs. Crappy economy. Time goes really slow. Rains most of the year. The mall is run down and ugly. Thieves. Prostitutes. Snobby self-important people. If you don't do drugs you won't have any friends or anything to do. Everyone has an alcoholic related and or smoking addiction. Terrible place. CRAP!

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Humboldt County is REALLY TERRIBLE. It's driving m - 6/1/2013

Let me say that I am looking for a job currently in a city that has A 10% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE. National average is like 8%. No joke. Then the meth heads. Prostitutes. Today I ran into a schizoid who was having a debate with himself in the middle of the street on Broadway. Bayshore mall is both ugly and pathetic. We have like 20+ stores here and they are all TINY AND DILAPIDATED. No jobs, nothing to do, and TONS of drugs. Rains most of the year. I hate that the most. I hate Humboldt in general. The drug use is insane. If you don't do drugs you pretty much have no friends. Time goes SO SLOW in this place. Waiting 20 minutes for the bus seems like it takes hours. Being in this place for 10+ years as I have will drive you *insane.* DON'T COME HERE. Nobody does anything else except drugs. The real estate is overpriced. How can anyone afford this crap? Heck I have seen a tiny home with like 2 bedrooms sell for 400,000$ The Public education system is an embarrassment. The Redwoods aren't all the great. Heck going to the forest when it rains most of the year is pointless because you can't enjoy the scenery BECAUSE OF THAT RAIN. The Consumer service consists of the same strung out and uncaring meth heads in every store. A costco manager that talks down to me like I'm a dog. I talked to a bus driver that treated her job like a chore. Had the worst attitude I have ever seen. Nobody cares about their jobs or even waking up. Do they even try? The trains have been decommissioned. This place is slowly turning into a hermit crab nation. Eventually it will be closed off. No airports except in Arcata. Seriously there are only TWO ways out of this place. If we want people to come to Humboldt we need to at least open up the trains. Then the timber industry, once a prominent force in Humboldt, now dried up and outsourced to China. Nothing is left except dust, echos, and some random schizoid debating himself on Broadway. *I REPEAT DON'T COME HERE*

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Eureka!...the city name that's meant to be ironic. - 3/31/2013

I grew up in the area and the best thing about it was leaving. I agree with the previous descriptions of residents that would enjoy this foggy version of HELL. 1) If you’re a drug dealer, you’ve just entered nirvana! This is the only place where the police are more corrupt than the drug dealers. I actually recommend BECOMING a drug addict in order to live here. Do NOT try and wrestle a job from one of the other 100 people begging to work for minimum wage at the Burly Wurly Pancake House, you will regret it. Take your welfare check, buy all the meth you can get your hands on and hide under the drift wood at Table Bluff. 2) If your family has lived there since the 1920’s, you’re IN! You have enough assets and political power to survive by making sure no other businesses come in to compete with you. You can even hire some desperate idiot with a Master’s degree to run your cash register because you’re probably too inbred to do it anyway, and they couldn’t get a different job if their life depended on it. 3) If you’re part of the Fat and Happy government largess community you can give everybody the finger while you take your 13 vacations to sunnier areas. Oh, AND you get to benefit from the overpriced real estate because you can sell your house when you retire to the only other people who can afford it, one of your government coworkers! 4) If you’re a vampire or an albino, you’ll enjoy the constant shadow of fog and rain that protects you from sun. If you’re like the other 99% of people who depend on vitamin D from the sun to keep you from putting a gun in your mouth, see #1 above and make sure you drop an envelope of cash at the south side of the Bayshore Mall, it’s for the corrupt cops so they don’t pull you over on the way out of town. 5) Finally, if you want to experience life in a third world country with absolutely ZERO chance to escape soul-crushing poverty, you’ve found the area for you…except for the fact that in most third world countries you have the benefit of sunlight or a chance at prostituting yourself to wealthier villagers for cash. Eureka!...the city name that’s meant to be ironic.

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this site is great - 10/4/2012

most of these reviews are on the money!

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A bittersweet experience - 10/4/2012

I spent approx. 4 yr's living in Eureka, although I would not call myself a "authority" on town, I would say that I lived there long enough to get a decent grasp on the social dynamic. Basically your quality of life in Eureka will be determined by which of the following group(s) you fall into. 1. Local- Even though logging and fishing are dead, you lived here when property was still affordable, so you own a home, and it is valued 10x what you paid for it, so at least you have a valuable asset. 2. Retired- you will like it here, except of course for the lousy medical care, which of course is HUGE when you are of a retirement age. Otherwise, a nice place to retire. 3. Student- you LOVE it here! you are on a pot smoking sabbatical from your rich parents in So Cal, and with all your infinite life experience, your ideology dominates the entire region. 4. Rich transplant- like the students you will love it here as well. Your money keeps you far removed from all the drug addicts, criminals, and undesirables that you will tirelessly support. 5. Poor/Middle transplant-the worst scenario of all. No decent work, so will will have to live in the same neighborhood as the drug addicts and criminals who walk on water in Humboldt. 6. Disability/Welfare- every poor persons dream in Eureka. Highest pay outs in California, maybe the whole country. There will be no negative stigma attached to you...its actually encouraged! So that is my summary of Eureka. There are good people in this community with true grit and tenacity for life. It is a beautiful seaside community, filled with redwood's, and charming Victorian homes. However if you are not a person of means, the charm wears off quick. One could say my sentiment could describe America in general, but never in my life was the cold hearted, brutal ugliness of poverty, ignorance, and drug addiction more prominent than in Eureka, Ca.

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