Mixed Bag
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6/13/2017
Cons-- Little economic opportunity, high property crime rates, limited healthcare services, few amenities, prohibitively expensive airfares, gray skies, horrific dating scene.
Pros-- Mild climate, great outdoors destinations, friendly people, relaxed small-town vibe, no traffic.
Eureka (and Humboldt County in general) is a great place to live if you love the outdoors. Housing costs are generally affordable but not cheap compared to national averages, and are probably a bit on the high side relative to the economic opportunities available in the area.
Not a great place for retirees, low skilled laborers, single people, shopaholics, or people who love to photograph their dinner for Instagram.
However, if you can find a good job or work from home and love outdoorsy stuff, this place is hard to beat. One of the very few places in the country where you can go out and enjoy beautiful forests, beaches, lakes, and rivers and not be swamped by other people. Personally, I freaking love this place just because of that. The climate is also hard to beat. Although it's not world class like the bay area, temperatures are pretty mild with it never getting extremely hot or extremely cold. It's not windy. Some years can be very rainy with an almost constant, oppressive gray (much like the Seattle region), other years are extremely pleasant with an abundance of lovely days. There's lots of wildlife if you're into photography. Plenty of boating, hiking, swimming, fishing, hunting, hackey sack, and disc golf. Though the outdoors stuff probably isn't as nice as up in the Olympia area of Washington, I'd say Eureka and Humboldt County might be overall better due to the superior weather and lack of crowds.
All in all, I'm going with five stars because this place is right up my alley.
Stuey | Eureka, CA