Merced, CA Reviews

Merced: The Hippest Place in the Valley - 12/22/2020
Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go.

The town itself has plenty of diverse trees, a beautiful (and emerging!) downtown, and a creek that runs through the town.

We’ve got three beautiful national parks within a couple hours drive, a growing University of California campus, the Bay Area nearby is nearby and great for day trips, and Merced will play a critical role in the CA High Speed Rail being built. Literally every place in CA can be comfortably reached within a day, making it the perfect home for someone who likes to travel and explore the best state in the country.

We’ve got coffee shops featuring local talent, downtown boutique apartments featuring a downstairs taproom, a bunch of cannabis shops, two downtown live theaters AND a Multicultural Arts Center, and delicious Thai food and taquerias.

Not everything is Read More

Good place to live - 2/25/2020
Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and really enjoy the change of pace. Read More

Great place to live. Do not listen to angry people - 2/22/2020
Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is being revitalazed and lots of contruction and business being brought to down town. Merced is up and coming. For whatever reason Merced does have a lot of residents who spread hate about their city. I believe they should look at all the positive or move somewhere else. They are actually part of the problem not the solution. I love it here. Read More

Seriously? - 9/16/2019
It's one of those places where you feel uncomfortable at first, then a few years later you grow into it. The town has a strange feel to it. It's small enough that you lose the sense of anonymity, yet you'll get the bad traffic of a big city. That's because Merced is run by a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats who do not listen to any smart suggestions, but insist on the old way of doing things. This result in rather uncomfortable place to live. The quality of education, including at UC Merced, is rather low when compared to a refugee camp in Syria. Read More

Do you really want to know? - 9/16/2019
For the most part, Merced isn't as bad as some have claimed to be. The good of Merced is that the air quality is relatively better than anywhere else in the Central Valley. Its cost of living is relatively low. There bike paths and parks around the city. Its location is ideal for out door activities, including day trip to Yosemite national park. Two hours to the coast of California. It's relatively a quiet town that is constantly evolving. There's a campus of university of California on the north side, where things seem to be better, safer, compared to the south side of the city. And the real estate value reflects that.

Now, the bad side of Merced. First, crime rates are relative high because of high unemployment in the city and drug usage. Police aren't really effective there. Court system is corrupt as it's always been. City management consists of incompetent, self-serving locals that are stuck in the 20th century mentality. There's a culture clash between the new Read More

Do not move here - 8/3/2019
Do not move here. Crime is rampant all over the town. Shootings very common all over town. Nothing for the kids to do. Too many homeless. Rampant drug problem (meth).
Unsafe Read More

Rainy Cloud Over This Town - 10/3/2017
I grew up in Modesto and moved to Merced for work in 2012. I was in my early 20's and had my first real full-time job. Since I was in my early 20's and single, I wanted to go meet people. This was my first bad experience.. It seemed like everyone my age was about 4 years behind. They were 23 and partied, acted, and had the maturity level I did in high school. Since Merced has little to do, most of the people would go to dive bars every Fri and Sat night. The few times I did, Merced PD would be outside with long guns and tactical gear watching people come out. I found out later on shootings and stabbings around last call were common. When it came time to look for other career opportunities, I found that most jobs that required degrees also required you to be bilingual in Spanish. I guess it is what it is since about 50% of the population is Latino according to statistics. The streets have pot holes and are narrow, leaving little room to widen the road. In the time it would take me to Read More

Merced is not a bad place if you could change a fe - 6/9/2016
I resided in Merced for over 4 decades, basically grew up there and we truly loved the place. However in 2006 we saw a shift in the city and 2 years ago our family moved out, and from reading the online local paper, it’s gotten worse. Merced was a great city as long as the Air force was there but has struggled since the base closed in 1995. The city rallied around the UC Merced campus in the late 1990’s and secured it by taking over a small golf course near Lake Yosemite in the early 2000’s. It was hoped the UC would make up for the base loss. However, after 10 years in operation the UC hasn’t changed the city much. The city and UC are isolated from each other and the area between them is pretty much a no man’s land. This was a direct result on the City and county fighting over a revenue sharing agreement for the last 10 years stone walling any development and economic growth. Site developers quickly walk away from this place for a number of reasons starting with the infrastructure, Read More

Merced, CA - 5/17/2015
When I first arrived in Merced, 8 years ago, I was disappointed in my neighbors. But, they all got foreclosed on and moved. The new neighbors are ALL employed, happy people, who enjoy life. It made such a difference in my outlook of Merced. It's like the city's composition changed before my eyes. Took 8 years, but I really love Merced. The ethnic food at restaurants is pretty outstanding. I ride a bike, not because I'm homeless, but to save oxygen for breathing. And I ride a bike to stay in shape. And my bike is a 23 speed with electronic shifters which cost more than I care to say. My husband got into biking after moving to Merced and owns 3 bikes now. All bikes were purchased at the local bike shop, Kevin's Bikes. There are local bike teams you can join and there are hills and bigger hills you can climb here. The countryside and small towns to ride to are beautiful. The wildlife and flora on the way are spectacular. I don't get bored here because they have so many clubs Read More

I have hated a few places - 1/14/2014
It usually comes down to frustration over an endless horizon of buildings and traffic, crowds of people and feeling isolated in the thick of it all. This is most places. "I can't wait to leave this **** hole," I always say yet in the end I grew to love them. I do appreciate the local countryside of Merced, in spite of the growth and expansion that took place. I grew up here. It holds memories of a period in my early adult life when I often felt hopeless and stuck, yet became very hopeful to leave. I was going somewhere then, and I did. This was 7 years ago, and returning with a leg-up in the world I often feel like I'm right back where I started. Jobless, hopeless and stuck. Attending Merced College where I get the feeling few actually attend to graduate. Looking around it's not very inspiring for someone wanting to explore a new beginning or to get a fresh start. The face of this city isn't as I remember - every where you go, it's down and out and people struggling. If you are Read More