Reviews & Comments
Paradise town (Butte County), CA
re: Paradise is fine just the way it is, thank you -
4/29/2016That is fine if you choose to live among illegal marijuana grow houses and honey oil labs like I live next door to, with sleazy people in and out all times of the day, yards filled with rotting cars, people guarding their grow/lab with guns, several very aggressive pitbulls that charge the fence when I or my dogs step in the backyard, your druggie neighbor shining a camera on your house monitoring your coming and going, shining a light in your face if you step in your backyard at night and a town leadership that says, and I quote "so what." That is what it is like for me living in "Paradise." I have not had my grandchildren over to my house in 5 years, it is too unsafe. The grow next to me is year round, complaints to the town police, sheriff, butte county drug task force, and town leadership yielded zero results over six years of living with this. My house is now worth very little as I now prepare to leave it, not knowing where I will go but life is too short to live next door to what I do. But I will keep paying taxes on it. I will keep working and paying taxes to supplement my neighbors drug profits with public assistance. I know others who have already literally abandoned their homes here as well, because of how horrible it is living next to a pot grow. You keep liking this corrupt drug town, you keep denying the problem and make sure no one does anything about it. You could end up like me, retirement age, lost the value of my home, working the rest of your life not knowing if you will have a home again, but you will keep paying their public assistance and you have no rights as a taxpayer whatsoever. Not how I pictured my 60s, but this is what life in "Paradise" gave me. You may be happy with what our town has become, I am not. I vaguely remember a time when coming home from work was not the most stressful part of my day, did not make me sick to my stomach. I vaguely remember a day when I was not stressed the entire time I am in my home. Yeah the sky may be blue but one chokes on the air because of the stink of pot. I vaguely remember a day when hard working tax payers had the right to useful enjoyment of their property, those vague memories have not existed for me for 6 years now. If this town is "Paradise" to you I am happy you found the perfect place for yourself.
Paradise town (Butte County), CA
Only Paradise for Pot Growers Leaving as Fast as I -
5/18/2014I have lived in Paradise for 25 years and owned a home here for 20 years. Up until about 5 years ago it was truly paradise, a small, safe town surrounded with lakes, beautiful parks, rivers, you name it. I am not sure what happened but the town council wrote up a ridiculous marijuana growing ordinance which allows people in our once lovely, safe, peaceful neighborhoods, to grow a ridiculous amount of pot. Neighborhoods have come to look slummy, gangs are moving in slowly, and the entire area wreaks of pot, much of the year, so badly that it literally burns one's throat to go outside. Myself and many others I know do not even go in their yards too much of the year due to the stink. Pot growers are guarding their grows, yes in residential neighborhoods, with guns and attack dogs. The town reports low crime, that is because the police do not care about the drug houses popping up in neighborhoods throughout the town. The police and the county do not care about the pot grows and the danger they pose to their neighbors. It is no longer safe here and it is getting worse very quickly. Some misguided people in the town's leadership may think all the pot growing is going to bring them a lot of money. One need only open their eyes to see the damage to our neighborhoods, schools, and the future of our children. There will be a large social cost for all of this. In the long run the taxpayers that remain will be paying much in taxes to support the welfare roles, the medical expenses from all the drug abuse, social services, child protective services etc etc. I have lost a ridiculous amount of money in trying to keep the stink out of my house, asthma med, increased energy costs because I cannot open my windows to let the cool air in due to the stink of the pot grows that permeate the neighborhood. My property is worth far less of course. One need only look around this once lovely neighborhood to see the dramatic change.
If you want to grow pot in a town that does not care how much you grow or the harm your drug operation does to your neighbors and the community, the harm done to the wildlife and environment, then paradise is the place for you.
If you want to raise a family, live in a peaceful community, if you value being able to sit on your porch and have a cup of tea, if you want your children to have friends whose parents are not pot growers, then stay far away from Paradise at this time.
I do not believe the town council or anyone will come to their senses until this community is in dire straights financially as hardworking taxpayers move out and welfare collecting, non-taxpaying pot growers (making hundreds or thousands of dollars a year through their illegal drug businesses) move in. I am sad to leave Paradise but the pot smell is nearly year round now and is making me quite ill. I have unwanted visitors coming to my house at 11-3 in the morning speaking unintelligibly, undoubtedly mistaking my house for one of the drug houses that surround me. As a hard working taxpayer however, views and experiences like mine do not matter at all here. Only the pot growers have power here. I just pay a ridiculous amount in taxes so the pot growers can collect welfare and get free medical.