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| The Weather Is Great! - 3/13/2012
The weather here in Chico is great![read more...]
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| College Town - 3/7/2012
Every Fall a new crop of college students arrive and keep this small town thriving. Always fun and always lively.[read more...]
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| Awesome Family Town! - 12/14/2011
I'm from the Central Coast and always considered Chico a party town. I was surprised when we moved here three years ago to find an awesome family town. Great parks, schools, and activities of all kinds. Chico is locally minded and very supportive of small business. There are extensive bike trails and there isn't a person in Chico who's too cool to ride a bike. Owning a bike in Chico is considered a nessecity. Lots for free fun! Lots of oppertunities to serve and contribute back to the community. Chico has some rough areas like all places do. The people are caring and friendly. In three years, I know more people round Chico than I did in my home town. Big town ammenities with a small town feel. Its been the full package for us![read more...]
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| Great place for outdoor activities - 8/11/2011
Chico is a perfect place for any individual who likes to be outside. During the winter it snows in nearby towns (about 20 mins away) giving those who like to sky and snowboard time to do so. During the summer when it gets too hot to move a lot many people are found in the river floating or playing in the creek. The rest of the year however is great for going on hikes in Bidwell Park, fishing, camping, picnicking, bicycling, and many other outdoor activities.[read more...]
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| Chico totally not the same - 6/27/2011
I just went to Chico a couple weeks ago and spent a couple days there. I went to college there in the late 80's and even though, that was quite some time ago...the place has changed and Im left really feeling very sad. Even though the parks, creeks and river havent changed. Bidwell park is still very nice. The campus has grown and has awkward modern buildings sticking out with sharp edges that really dont fit with the modest simple architecture of the original campus. The addition to Whitney Hall (where I once lived)..looks like a huge Star Trek space ship that overcame the beautiful green grass park strip that used to be beneath its floors. The people are no longer that friendly. I used to be so stunned how warm the locals were and how everyone every where smiled and said "hi". There are major subdivisions with new city dwellers taking up the open space, the creeksides and nice cute neighborhoods. It was really sad to see million dollar houses lining Butte Creek so you can hardly get access to Butte creek anymore except by the HoneyRun bridge and they now charge a fee to park there. There is gang writing all over the walls behind Safeway on Nord. There were absolutely no gangs when I lived there. Just a tiny bit of crime in chapman town. Now all these rich bay area transplants..or wherever they come from, ride around in there gas guzzling SUV's. Chico was very environmentally friendly when I lived there and very liberal and would gawwk at a SUV and all the gas wasted when we all rode bikes and walked everywhere. I never had a car the whole 4 yrs I lived there as I could walk, bike or (take a short bus ride) to wherever and whatever I needed. Its really sad how the place has changed. Im sure there are a couple die hard older locals there with the same simple, country, no growth values I have...but they sure are the minority. Only saw one house with people sitting out on the front porch..like we all used to do and just sit and reflect on our surroundings. I think I saw one bike riding across town when I was there. Very different, from how we lived, on our bikes, feet, wearing birkenstocks. Now you see kids wearing high heels on campus...its sad. I dont even like to go there now. It used to be very earthy and simple. Now Chico is a small town taken over by yuppies and city folk. They also have routy college kids that burn couches in the streets. We sure did none of that. We just went there to learn, make friends, enjoy the friendly community and enjoy the beautiful parks...so sad.
Ann[read more...]
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| Quality of Life in 2011 - 6/15/2011
In a nut shell, Chico is basically a mini-Sacramento. There may be some gangs as a couple of people reported, but every town has trouble-makers and most of the hubbub is around the University where all the Frat and Sorority houses are. We've lived in Chico over a year and a half and haven't seen any crime (we don't live near Chico State though). Cost of living is close to what it is in Sacramento, temperatures are basically the same as Sacramento, and the schools are reportedly about the same as in Sacramento. The average level of intelligence though, if you want to call it that, is higher in Chico than Sacramento. Over a third of the population in Chico is college educated. That's a huge percentage compared to an average town. Neighbors seem to be very nice where we are although you always get some who think they're the only ones who matter and they don't care how their behavior affects others -- you get that in ANY town on the planet though. So, pretty much mini-Sacramento except the downtown center isn't the State Capital building, it's Chico State University.[read more...]
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| Chico is no longer a well-kept secret! It's a town - 5/18/2010
Though I am hearing many gripes about the influx of bay area families moving to Chico for the affordable housing and the complaints of college students taking over our town, Chico really has so much to offer that it was only a matter of time before the surrounding areas found out about our lovely town.
Chico is what you would call a micro market as far as the economy goes. Much of our economy thrives because of the college students, meaning many businesses are seasonal (the in-school season). Some may not like that our downtown is crawling with students, but let's face it, our downtown is able to sustain its appealing look and feel because we have the students to help drive our economy.
When the sub-prime mortgage meltdown hit California our surrounding communities in the San Francisco bay area and Sacramento were hit much harder than our little town of Chico. We were able to sustain more of our home values than most other communities making the perks that came with the economic crash (like excellent interest rates and home buying programs) a wonderful plus to an already affordable place to live.
It's no mystery why more and more people are moving to our wonderful town. Although we don't exactly have a small town population (about 83,000 +/-) Chico still feels like a small town because of its attractive downtown, University, pride and small businesses. In addition bordering towns do not enjoy the economic, cultural, and entertainment benefits of a University so more people prefer to live, shop, and recreate in Chico since it is the closest thing to a city until Sacramento (which is about a 1.5 hour drive). We are not so developed as to have a Macy's, but hey, we do now have an In-n-Out Burger. That's pretty handy.
I hear complaints that people wish we had "this", and we're too far from "that", but they don't want people to move here. I say the gifts we have in life are meant for sharing. The secret is out and with more inhabitants come more pros and cons alike. If we are able to grow in population, more brilliant and innovative people will learn here, move here, and grow their businesses here in turn providing more jobs, growing our economy, and helping sustain more amenities for our town's inhabitants. As with any big changes, we all have a voice and can protest, or vote against some changes to keep Chico amazing even while it grows. Chico is what progress looks and feels like and it is something to be proud of. [read more...]
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| Voting? - 11/4/2009
11/4/2009
I am 70, new to Chico; new to CA. I love it here and am from back East, but Chico is very like the town where I grew up. It is a lovely quiet easy place and a great place to find yourself when you have retired. I have one question and I'm not sure it applies, but did Californians go to the polls yesterday. Do we get ballots and/or notification for all voting times and if this is not the place to ask where can I find out? Thanks for listening, Nancy[read more...]
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| Great place to grow up... - 7/28/2009
Great place to grow up, and maybe return to.[read more...]
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| saddened - 7/24/2009
It breaks my heart to read the negative comments about Chico. I lived in Chico from 1997 - 2000 and got my bachelor's and teaching credential there. I loved every minute of my college experience in Chico and go back to visit often. I realize that it has changed which is unfortunate. Chico has so much to offer the outdoorsy kind of people. I remember going to the Bear Hole or just walking the One Mile Park. I don't remember a lot of crime, but I do remember the cops shutting down the downtown area on Halloween because it just got too out of control. Chico's Halloween was known all over CA and people that would usually come to visit were asked not to by the news, cops, and newspapers.
I do agree that there is a lot of farming in the area because it's in the country. I had headaches quite often from the crop burning. I worked at an elementary school as an aide while in college and I remember that it would have been hard for me to get a teaching position because no one ever wanted to leave. (which is a good sign about a city)
Hopefully Chico will go back to what it used to be. It's a shame that it's changed so much in 10 years. It's a beautiful city and one of my favorite places in the U.S.[read more...]
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| good - 6/1/2009
good web site[read more...]
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| Not so great since the housing boom - 12/7/2008
Thanks to the housing boom a few years ago a lot of bay area families moved here. That is fine, in theory. The reasons they came here are the problem. Reason number 1, they wanted affordable housing compared to the bay area. This of course raised demand here which in turn raised our cost of housing. Reason number 2, they wanted to get their gang banger kids away from the gangs. Rather than removing their kids from the gangs, they actually brought the gangs here. Now we have increased violent crime. I cant recall a single murder from when I was a teenager. Now I hear on the news about murders all the time. Thank you so much to the all of you who brought your problems to a town that 10 years ago was a nice place to live.[read more...]
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| 90s Visit - 8/18/2008
I visited Chico once in the early 90s for a lenghty stay with my mother's childhood friend and family. The town was very VERY HOT and it seemed a bit humid. Lots of college students, but also lots of hicks and rednecks. The last poster on this forum is not serious or he is misinformed when he says Chico is too liberal. Chico is VERY conservative for a college town and the stats in the Sterling profile support it--just read them. Registered republicans far outnumber registered democrats. Even here in the conservative Midwest of Columbus, Ohio where I live, dems far outnumber repubs in my county. Politics aside, Chico did seem like an OK place back when I visited in the 90s, but it probably is a lot worse now, and not worth the outrageous housing costs to live there.[read more...]
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| Hot Enough For You? - 8/4/2008
Chico is one of the best college towns in California. In fact,it is one of the few true college towns in the entire state. Set in the middle of the Sacramento Valley, Chico is close to Lassen National Park and the Northern Sierras. Due to its valley location, Chico is an agricultural hub, producing a vast array of vegetables and fruit. Almost all important agricultural products can be grown here except for tropical and cool-weather plants.
Because of CSU Chico, the city has an extensive array of cultural and entertainment options along with a relative mild sense of political activism. Chico may be more liberal than other valley towns, but is no Berkeley.
Chico's main issue is how to contain growth. It is by far the most desirable small city in the North Valley (except for Davis), but there is a strong movement to limit growth. At the same time, the city is hemmed in by a green belt on the West to protect agricultural land and environmentally sensitive foothill locations.
Despite the positive aspects of Chico, it is not the place for cool weather lovers. Summers are frequently over 100, even 110 with average daily highs in the upper 90s. Humidity is low, but 105 is still hot.[read more...]
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| POLITICS - 4/22/2008
If you are at all republican then steer clear of liberal Chico. We are hammered with teachers in this town who are generally liberal and teach thier students to be like them then be fore warned. While Chico has some great outdoor activities to indulge in the politics run by money grubbing city coucill men and women, find art more important than lets say firefighters jobs and other saftey jobs in this community. They find it easy to buy global flags and hire personel to hang them, huge expensive pieces of art to put down town, yet want to cut wadges of our saftey staff when they know it was them who are overspending and want someone now to point the finger at. The real estate is great here though, some very unique homes to buy and referbish. If we got a new city council team and people who knew how to build a sucessful business then this city could thrive, but the mentality of our council members is not to do whats best. It's to do what looks best in the eyes of the liberals watching.[read more...]
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| Culture & Recreation for Retired Persons - 2/1/2008
1.For $45 per year retired persons can take all of the classes they want in a Chico State University program in which seniors teach seniors.
2.Folk Music events occour about 8 times per month.
3.There are about 4 Swing dances per month.
4.The University provides many cultural events for all age groups.
5.More parkland per capita than almost any city in the country.
6.Excellent restaurants at reasonable prices.
7.Still a small town feel (but less so every year) coupled with big city amenities.[read more...]
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| Politically active community - 1/24/2008
The City of Chico has a large council chambers for a city its size, but it is common for the audience attendance to be standing-room only. If you're interested in politics, Chico will be a fun place for you to live.[read more...]
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| Becoming unlivable - 3/15/2007
I've lived in Chico since 1996. I found myself here to be with a man I am no longer with. I found one who is better and now we are married. I would have never chosen Chico but now am a homeowner and married to a man who has many family members in the area. After hearing about all the cold weather on the East Coast, I guess I should feel fortunate to live in central California but I have been thinking about leaving for two main reasons and a few minor reasons. The main ones: extreme heat and poor air quality. The heat by itself is oppressive, and add extremely poor air quality, which is getting worse by the year as the population increases, and you don't want to do much but sit inside by the AC all summer. Allergies and asthma are very high here and I have developed asthma and hyper-reactive airway disease since I moved here. It is a combination of auto exhaust pollution, smoke from agricultural, backyard and fireplace burning, and airborne pesticides (this is a major agricultural area of the U.S.), and also pollen. Wages are very low and local employers exploit college students, making it difficult for permanent residents to find decent-paying jobs. I was lucky to be able to purchase my house before the housing prices skyrocketed, but I know a lot of people who can't afford to buy even a small house here. But in spite of that, there seems to be a building boom going on here as people flee the Bay Area. The cost of living is rising and wages aren't keeping up. On the plus side, there is a lot of easily accessible natural beauty here and also it is pretty good, culturally. My neighbors are wonderful and I live in a very stable neighborhood. It is very easy to grow vegetables and just about any type of plant here, but it can get down to freezing in the winter. I am looking to leave and move somewhere a little more Liberal, politically, and someplace cooler and dryer with cleaner air.[read more...]
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| No longer a place worth living in - 1/1/2007
I grew up here. While I have wonderful memories of how Chico USED to be..... it is no longer the town I loved. The cost of living & housing is rediculous. The crime is UNbelievable. We now have gangs & it'sntounusual to have a murder a week. I actually check the newspapers Monday morning to see how many murders there were over the weekend or what the latest crime is.
The college students are self centered, spoiled & DO NOT respect that this is ALSO a place where families live. Yes I guess thats their age......... but it makes it very uncomfortable trying to raise a family & live around such garbage.
Don't believe that it gets to be 94 in July on average here. It's hotter than HELL here alll summer long. My PG&E (utility) bill in ONE summer month was 600 dollars and we were STILL miserable!
looking forward to leaving this place which is sad.........I thought I would never leave. I loved it here. The real estate is the MOST over inflated in the COUNTRY according to CNN.
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| Read this before going to chico!!!!!!!! - 9/22/2006
I lived in chico from when I was 6 to 22 and am now leaving at 22yrs old. Chico does have some.. well did have some awesome party's like no other place in US but the cops are totally stoping the parties and holiday events for good or bad. I think bad but im sure theres a lot of people better off without them. The council of chico is shit and they even have commercials telling people not to go to chico on holidays and not to invite family!@! Also thers always road blocks all over for alcohol checks. Theres jobs easy to get but not much good payin jobs but if you look around enough you can get some. The gangs thow are out of controll. Mostly NORTE but some scraps too. They are constantly shooting and stabbing eachother and others on a daily basis but probally wont mess with you if you ignore them and don't party and walk around drunk. Half the cops are nice and do a good job and the other half are corrupt really bad all around cops that make you wan't to never call the cops again even if your getting shot at! I have even smoked weed with a few cops when they were off duty! Theres plenty of nightlife and some great bars. Theres good dining and all kinds of places to eat and kinds of food. Theres a University and community college that are both pretty good but lots of out of controll students. Theres is mountians close by and lots of nice park spots and beautiful areas. It's a decent place all around but really bad gang problem and cops out of controll most of the time. If you move here ask about "BEar Hole" during summer everyone goes swimming there, bidwell park is very nice to BBQ, jog, swim, fish, etc. The taco wagons are better than most mexican restuarants, very easy to get laid if that interests you, and home to a sierra nevada brewery so cheap beer and lots of alcohol seletcion, can even get a $2,000 bottle of hennessy at a ghetto liquer store, oh and theres like 30 liquer stores! heh. Anyways e-mail with any questions. norcal_114@yahoo.com I know a lot about the city and area and will answer anything. Also if you smoke pot theres lots of good weed and half of it is grown in area.[read more...]
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