Grass Valley, CA Reviews

Cute little town with nature all around. - 5/1/2022
I've lived many places in California. I've now lived in Grass Valley for 2 years. Grass Valley and it's sister Nevada City are adorable little towns full of history and filled with beautiful Victorian homes. Many residents also drive around in their antique cars which adds to the nostalgia. Tourists come up and walk the downtown areas and enjoy the shops and restauraunts. I think it's beautiful up here.

It is pretty far from all the big, new shopping centers you find in the valley metros. The closest Wal-Mart is about 45 minutes away in Roseville but for day to day shopping, there are plenty of stores and, if you need something special, there's always Amazon. We did have a Kmart but it's in the process of becoming a Target. There's also plenty of shopping in Auburn which is about 30 minutes away.

The only real complaint I have is about the forest fires, but it's a risk I'm willing to take when the alternative is to live in the valley, which is one city Read More

Expensive, high crime, no good jobs. - 12/8/2021
Grass valley has become a sad place to live. I was born and raised here and can no longer afford to raise my small family here. Look up the median annual wage and the median average home price. Currently the average wage is 33k a year and the average home sells for 550k. You can quickly see the problem. you'll find that almost anyone that hasn't retired or dosent live at home still does not work locally. If you want to afford to live here prepare to commute at least to roseville, a 45 minute drive with zero traffic. You might think that crime wouldn't be an issue in such an expensive place to live but you would be wrong. Drug abuse is rampant, especially in the younger crowd. I would say that 1 in 3 people in my age range have a drug addiction. The homeless population is rampant and to fix this issue the county has established several homeless shelters and many resources for homeless. This has had the undesirable effect of bringing even more homeless population to take advantage of Read More

The Decline of Grass Valley - 1/16/2018
I'm 25 years old and I've lived in this town all of my life, and I'm saving every single dollar I make to leave here and never come back.

It's a shame, because at one point I would say with pride I came from here, but it's become such a shadow of what it used to be that I cannot recommend it to anybody in good conscience.

I try to be as objective as I possibly can, but honestly, this is steadily becoming one of the worst places to live in the state. I'll get to my reasons why, but first, let's start off with the good parts of Grass Valley. Pretty much everything I say can also be applied to its sister city, Nevada City.

The Good:

Lots of golf courses, lots of medical practitioners that take medicare, and some really pretty views.

Sacramento is not too far away.

Somewhat close to Tahoe, and some other outdoor activities.

Lots of goldrush era history and museums. If nothing else, this is a very Read More

Not a good place for families - 10/27/2017
Once upon a time this was a nice town where people talked about not locking their doors, asked their neighbor to borrow some eggs and didn't have a lot of break ins. Now we are one of the highest in the nation for car theft. Have more trimmagrants than before. The transient population is huge. You can't sleep well at night because they wake you up. They try to get in to people's cars at intersections. Punch them if their window is down at an intersection. Try to pull people out of their cars for refusing to give them money. Go to the bathroom everywhere including on people's driveway, business patios, in the post office and this is with strict hours because they were spending the night in the post office and damaging people's boxes so the post office is no longer open any time. Mail theft is through the roof, locked or not. Forget taking your kids to the park unless the police are hanging out. People shooting up in the middle of the day at parks, gas stations, public Read More

What's not to like? - 7/26/2016
The Good:
Swimming, fishing, rafting, kayaking (lake or stream), hunting, local farmers markets, off roading, kids sports, some the very best schools in California, less than an hour to Tahoe or Sacramento, local history museums, gold panning, horse back riding, reasonable real estate properties (though getting higher which is good if you already own). You like rain? Lots of it here in the winter with the occasional snow that doesn't last long except on some roads that don't get winter sun.
If you lead an active life or want to lead an active life there is an abundance of things to do. Also, lots of classic cars enthusiasts.

The Bad:
Transient population, losers hooked on whatever, lots of illegal pot growing, 3 hot, hot, hot months, lots of retirees driving up housing costs, low salaries, rednecks or hippies whichever you don't prefer....lol. Hot months can be brutal, just go to the local swimming hole and stay chillie and relax.

Best Read More

(growing up in GV) - 2/17/2015
Let 's just list the pros and cons.
-pro: nice mountain setting,awasome river, semi ok schools,close to Tahoe....small town if that's what you looking for.
-cons:Not much to do,town shuts down at 530 besides a couple dirty bars and Mexican restaurant.Unless you work as a nurse,construction/labor,grow pot or cook meth or a beauty Solon/waitress your gana have a hard time finding any work so hopefully you have some money saved/rich parents.This town is set up for retired people like I said not much to do.
When your a kid that's growing up in a town with little to do you can end up getting into trouble/drugs and there is plenty of that.The police are more likely to give out skateboarding tickets to children then try to clean up the streets.Don't get me wrong there are no crips/bloods even though 85% of the youth think they are thugs but they are just really poor white trash that are stuck in a little town that cant find ways to make life more proactive.Luckly for Read More

Are You a gGood Fit for the Road Less Traveled to - 11/20/2013

12 ques­tions to ask your­self before mak­ing your decision

1. Would only 4 golf courses be a prob­lem for you or can you warm up to unlim­ited golf­ing on a cham­pi­onship course on beau­ti­ful Lake Wild­wood for only $1050 a year?

2. Will the reg­u­lar view of two charm­ing Vic­to­rian towns, an assort­ment of wildlife, tow­er­ing trees, glo­ri­ous moun­tain views, pris­tine lakes, crys­tal clear, and blue-green rivers— all of which has been fea­tured sev­eral times in “Sun­set Mag­a­zine” improve your outlook?

3. Could easy and inex­pen­sive access to all gen­res of live music with per­for­mances this year by David Crosby and Gra­ham Nash, The Smoth­ers Broth­ers, Judy Collins, nation­ally known film fes­ti­vals, inter­na­tional bicy­cle races, Celtic and Blue Grass Fes­ti­vals and end­less oppor­tu­ni­ties for the­atre, opera, orches­tra and jazz be a lit­tle more sophis­ti­cated than you imag­ined for an his­toric Gold Rush town?Read More

What type of job can be sustainable in a rural are - 2/7/2012
I want to move to a more rural environment and need to know how to support myself. What type of employment or business would be needed in Grass Valley? Thank you in advance for any Read More

Pretty place, but lack of a middle ground - 10/6/2011
Whether or not you would like Grass Valley depends on your lifestyle and priorities. It's a beautiful hilly area, with a lot of greenery compared to lower altitudes. Traffic is easy. There are a fair to good amount of events going on here for a town it's size, such as street fairs, festivals, etc. There are great health food stores if you are into a health-minded lifestyle. There are also a decent amount of opportunities for interesting events and speakers. The economy has hit this place hard as there is a lack of large scale employers. The music and nightlife scene is very limited.

Winters are very wet, cloudy, and sometimes snowy. Not much to do here between October and May except go to the grocery store or KMart (unless you are into winter sports). Summers are very hot and dry, with somewhat poor air quality (high ozone) making it difficult to do outdoor activities during daytime hours. Most of the air pollution from the valley settles in at this altitude. The Read More

Scenic, but with a price - 12/28/2009
This little town is nestled in thick green forests of Gold Country. The weather is warm most of the year, with only light rain in winter. Some snow, but very little ice. For shopping there is almost nothing (unless you love KMart), requiring a trip down the hill to Auburn (about 15 miles) and the restaraunts are just average (in quality, the prices are sky high). Grass Valley and next door Nevada City are very historic, with lots of architecture and relics from California's gold rush. Unfortunately, the negatives mostly outweigh the positives for this area. Cost of living is ridiculous; homes less than fifty years old are almost all well over $300 K. That's why you'll see tons of little shacks on tiny plots all over town (even on main street). Traffic is bad because it's California, and also the roads are old, small, worn out and badly designed (get used to cars backed up through three or four stoplights). The whole town seems carved out of the hilly forests, so everything is squeezed Read More