COMMENT BY
bill from Oceanside, CA
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Oceanside, CA
COMMENT
Small town close to great outdoor recreation areas
Retired a few years, moved here from California after 2+ years of visiting the area during all 4 seasons. I live right in town.
Some observations.
Weather- it’s true 4-season climate but fair to said each season is pretty moderate. Winter has pretty frigid mornings, afternoons are cold but not too bad; snow in general is minimal – no heavy shoveling here. Summer is HOT, daytime in the low/mid 90’s – it does cool overnight quite a bit. In fact this area is known for VERY WIDE diurnal temp swings, very prevalent in winter and summer.
Town: it’s small, Gardnerville & Minden = 7,000 people. Shopping for the basics are here, beyond that drive up the road 9 miles towards Carson City and you find the big box stores, etc. In town restaurants are pretty few and far between, not a lot to offer. Nice parks and GREAT modern community center. Downtown is basically a sting of local business spaced along Hwy 395 – ‘Main Street’ – which runs thru both towns and is major North/South route – it sees a good deal of traffic, including 18 wheelers during morning and afternoon hours – not exactly a nice quiet walkable area.
People- Generally quite friendly, small town feel. There is some ‘anti-California’ sentiment from the locals but there are a LOT of Californians living here. Politically speaking Douglas County is one of the most conservative (i.e. RED) counties in the State, something to be aware of.
Employment / Housing- many retired folks here; if you need to work it’s not much of an overstatement to ‘bring your own job’; there is not much right in town in terms of businesses beyond local retail and of course the city services, healthcare and the like. Housing is more costly and difficult to locate than one might realize, be prepared for that – be it buying or renting.
Healthcare: be prepared for less options in terms of providers if you come from a major metro area – Gardnerville does have small local hospital.
Not a lot to do right in town but Tahoe is a 30 minute drive, and of course all of the Eastern Sierra is very close by – so lot’s of outdoor opportunities for recreation. 40 minute drive to Reno; 3 ½ hour drive to San Francisco –a small town area that is not too far from a couple of pretty large metro areas.