The Decline of Grass Valley
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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 historic town.
If you're a rich retiree with no kids, this might be a good fit for you. The good ends here.
The Bad:
Drugs are an enormous problem here. The police don't seem to realize how serious it is. Almost EVERYBODY below the age of 70 does drugs at some level. Not just weed, all around town you find meth addicts stumbling around at night, shaking their heads and yelling at themselves, looking around your house or following you at night. So many of the classmates that I went to school with that didn't leave this town ended up addicted to some drug or working retail to finance their drug addiction. Kids as young as 14 do LSD, cocaine, peyote, mushrooms, meth, whippets, DMT, ketamine, ecstasy, and everything else under the sun. While in high school, I witnessed three students get arrested for drug charges. Raising kids here is essentially sentencing them to become some sort of substance addict, and the main reason is that there just isn't anything for kids to do.
The cost of living is $$insane$$. Fixer-upper home prices average in the $400k+ mark. There are never any apartments available, and there's just not enough room to build any more here. If you are lucky enough to be put on a several month-long waiting list for an apartment, $1200 for a 1 bed 1 bath is about the average. Again, at some point this town used to be fairly affordable, but bay area transplants have more or less caused real estate to skyrocket.
You would think that a town with such a high cost of living would have less crime, but not here. Crime is rapidly rising because of the transient "trimmigrant" population that flock to the town to help locals cultivate and process marijuana, and these transients linger for about 3-5 months before leaving. Property theft is rampant, and there are people constantly having things stolen from their cars, lawns, and backyards. Violent crime is on the rise as well, but not as much as property crime.
The job market absolutely sucks. The only jobs available here are essentially retail. You will almost never find a job that pays more than $13-$14 an hour here, certainly nowhere near close enough to keep you afloat. The construction sector might be okay, as there's constantly some roadwork or some new real estate office being built.
Summary:
There never was much to do in Grass Valley, but at least back then, it was nice, affordable, and relatively crime-free. Now, it's nothing more than a dirty, meth-infested, ludicrously expensive hole.
As I've said before, if you're a retired senior that likes the outdoors, and a million dollars for an average-sized house seems like a fair price for you, then this might seem like an okay place to live, though you still do have to worry about the rising crime and drug use.
Otherwise, ESPECIALLY if you're a young adult or looking for work, stay FAR away from Grass Valley. There's nothing left here, and this town is only going to get worse.
not | Grass Valley, CA