Imperfect but still very nice
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4/11/2022
Chico is imperfect like most places, but it's still good. Any and all of it's issues proceed from it's main fault of growing increasingly liberal, which is to be expected with a major state university as the backbone of the community and negatively influencing much of it's culture.
What the town does have going for it, is that it retains much of it's "small town identity" (a characteristic often observed by many), though it still has an abundance of resources in the areas of food, culture, entertainment, education, retail, etc. To be sure, it doesn't have EVERYTHING, but it has plenty, and it's reasonable close to cities like Sacramento and San Francisco for those things it doesn't have.
This makes up for it's somewhat isolated location away from I-5 and any major cities (the nearest being Sacramento 90 miles south). It's a city for nature lovers, from the city's park which ranks nationally as one of the largest municipally owned parks, to it's direct access to national forests, lakes, beautiful rivers, and it's a 3-5 hour drive to the Pacific (not terrible). Because of this natural environment Chico is a popular place to live for outdoors enthusiasts of all stripes, be they hikers, hunters, mountain bikers, road cyclists, rock climbers, campers, kayakers, fishermen, or just people who like to soak in some sunshine.
There have been efforts in recent years to restore air service to Chico Municipal Airport which would open up access once again to at least one major CA city (likely either San Francisco like several years ago via SkyWest) or perhaps even to LA allowing Chicoans to make quick trips to SoCal and vice-versa.
Housing prices have exploded in the area since 2018 when the Camp Fire flushed 30,000 residents out of their homes in Paradise, and many of them sought immediate relocation next door in Chico. Venture capital firms from outside the area swooped in and bought up dozens of properties to drive up the market and rents nearly doubled overnight.
The job market can be a bit monolithic. If you're not in healthcare or education it can be much harder to find employment in Chico if you're looking for something that pays more than a minimum wage retail or food service job. Entrepreneurship is growing in the area, and there are some significant companies that have their roots in the area like Build.com.
The most obvious downside is that a disproportionately large homeless community has been left to grow unchecked, and the few measures the city council has attempted to address it have been struck down by corrupt judges. There have been two different city councils, one liberal majority and one conservative majority and neither has accomplished anything meaningful in addressing this issue. The liberal majority encouraged it and the conservative majority has ignored it. Unfortunately the bulk of this homeless community has no interest in rehabilitation or reintegrating into society, rather they want to be paid to live a vagrant lifestyle, ravaging the environment as they go. This makes some of the best places in the city like downtown and Bidwell Park less appealing (at best) for law abiding individuals to enter into for fear of injury or uncouth behavior (especially if one has young kids).
Despite these issues, Chico can still be a nice place to attend college, raise a family, or run a business. It's not without hurdles and challenges, but it's still beautiful with nice amenities and it's fairly affordable relative to the rest of California. The schools are ranked decently well from the kindergarten to 12th grade, and there are a couple of private, charter, and alternative schooling options to choose from as well. Additionally, CSU Chico was ranked #26 in the US on College Consensus list of "Best Public Colleges and Universities" and the school also regularly ranks high on lists for affordability.
Andrew | Chico, CA