10. Lack of diversity
And I don't mean racially although we have few minorities in this area, no, I talking simply about lifestyle diversity. Around here you are either a redneck, a hippy or a rippy (redneck hippy). We have a few stuck up city liberals too but that's about it. I'm lucky to have found the few friends I have. I myself am not a redneck or a rippy. I have hippy tendencies but the hippies here are snooty rich ones because they grow weed, hence I have nothing in common with them (generally speaking).
9. Inability to hike randomly
Because of the high rate of illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands it's super dangerous to hike about (you can get shot, seriously). Well known trails are dotted with homeless youth with large, often violent, dogs, hence the hiking opportunities suck.
8. Mold
Oh, I'll just set this car seat on the porch for a little while it will be OK. After three car seats you would think I would have learned, but no. I have never gotten use to the mold factor here caused by...
7. Months of unending rain
I don't like the mold true but usually I love the rain itself but being in a rain forest causes certain health issues like repeated strep throat and debilitating allergies.
6. Mariposa Market
I love the atmosphere, I love the friendly employees, the selection and the price. Why wont I miss it? The owner. After years of loyal shopping there, last year I sat down to enjoy a beverage in the cafe section. I was heavily pregnant with my third child. That's when, at the table next to me I hear the store's owner go on and on about "dirty hippies" having their babies at home and how stupid they are and how dangerous it was. This woman must have had no clue who was shopping at her store! She was loud, crude and rude. I haven't wanted to shop there since and have taken my business elsewhere when I can, even when it has cost more. The owner didn't care about the young families she was insulting because of a ...
5. Lack of a family friendly culture
Willits was founded by frontier rodeo folks but it's the aging first wave hippies and the seasonal young, childless hippies that fill out the population with few families like ours in between. Hence there isn't much to do here, a lot of older folks can be rude to my children and family services are always the first on the chopping block that's why the...
4. Libraries are always closed
The one low cost thing to do around here is our teeny library but budget cut after budget cut has it open about 3- 4 days per week when we are lucky. We need low cost family fun because of the...
3. High cost of living
It's crazy! The rent is so high, our water bill alone is $120 a month and that's AFTER we conserve and reuse as much as we can. It's $60 just to have sewer and that's before the water we flush. Plus it's illegal to build an outhouse so you have no option but to pay it. The food, the gas, the clothing, everything in California is expensive.
2. Arnold
As in Swartzenegger, the "Governator." What a jerk! He always balances his budgets on the backs of the working poor. He's really let the whole state down. I can't wait to be free of him (even if he's about to term out anyway).
1. Marijuana crazy culture
Unlike places that have recently legalized marijuana, Mendocino County was practically founded on it. Which would be fine accept I don't smoke it, I don't care about it, and I don't want to discuss it's virtues which means I have very little to do or say with most Mary Jane obsessed people here. It's also nearly impossible for one to afford the cost of living without growing it which is still somewhat illegal so it puts the working family in a terrible position of risky behavior just to survive. I'm sooooo over the whole thing!
5 comments:
Interesting list. I live in Ukiah, but I'm not sure I can relate to some of these things. Haven't found mold to be a problem. This was my first year here and I loved the rain compared to six months of snow in Utah! That's just a personal taste thing.
I haven't found it much more expensive to live here. But you do have to be careful. It does frustrate me that we don't have much in the way of thrift stores. :(
Each area has its own particular water politics that can really skew the cost - Redwood Valley is in serious trouble with that right now, but we only pay about $13 a month.
I have not experienced ANY problems with hiking. None. We hike every weekend and I often hike alone during the week. Maybe I'm just lucky but I've never had a problem wandering into someone's pot farm.
There is a lot of discussion about pot here, of course. My partner works at the Waldorf school and I work on the tuition assistance committee, so I'm fairly aware of how much money is funneled through our community via marijuana sales. The only thing about it that discomfits me is the struggle in relationships between people who grow and people who hate growers. I wish we could have more mutual respect and tolerance. The growers I know are small-time families who are out of work and turned to pot to survive. They're not hurting anyone, that I can see. It is a shame that this fallback profession is so unsafe. So many families have gone through a bust and come out bankrupt on the other side.
I can't agree with your categorization that people are either redneck, hippy, or "rippy" (never heard that label before!). I can't think of anyone who fits so squarely into those generalizations, including me! But I hope you find a place you love in Colorado. You'll have good hiking for sure and snow instead of rain! And maybe they'll have libraries open more frequently. I've been very sad to see the Ukiah branch closed more often than it's open lately.
Chandell,
“Haven't found mold to be a problem. This was my first year here”
I’ve lived here for 6 years now. We have lived in three different places and we’ve had mold so bad in two of them it’s made us very ill.
“I haven't found it much more expensive to live here.”
The house I rented in Utah before coming here was a much nicer and bigger home then I have now and it was $700 per month, the home I rent now is $1,000, the house I lived in on the Lake County border last year was $1,200 per month to SHARE a four bedroom house with another family.
“I have not experienced ANY problems with hiking. None. We hike every weekend and I often hike alone during the week.”
I cannot say this strongly enough, YOU NEED TO STOP DOING THAT. Especially DON’T hike alone. I have had gun shots fired at my car when I’ve gotten lost north of Willits, I’ve had friends who have had guns literally put their heads when they were walking down a dirt road after their car broke down. I’ve know people who have been threatened with pepper spray guns, had their dogs shot etc. And some people JUST DISSAPEAR and that’s NOT a legend. Go ask someone who grew up here. All the lifelong Mendos know NOT to do that.
“struggle in relationships between people who grow and people who hate growers. I wish we could have more mutual respect and tolerance.”
All the years I have lived here I have been a champion for the right of people to grow. I have NOTHING against growers, quite the opposite. As I said in my post the cost of living makes it so that families must grow just to make ends meet however it’s still illegal and I have seen children taken away from their parents (Lintott and Alman REGULARLY call CPS to all busts now). It isn’t fair for the politics of the community to put families in this position and I’m tired of seeing people have their lives destroyed or living in fear. What I don’t like about marijuana is the people who care about nothing but weed and that’s all they think about. I just don’t get along with those people.
“I can't agree with your categorization that people are either redneck, hippy, or "rippy" (never heard that label before!).”
You’ve never heard of rippies! LOL OK, so go to Hydro Pacific over in Ukiah or any grow shop really and take a gander at all the “Rippie” t-shirts, bumper stickers, hoodies, etc. Or look on the back of the next pickup you see, they have decals too. It’s a HUGE sub culture.
I’m certainly more rural where I am than Ukiah, it’s a bit different culture wise. There is a lot to love about this area (as I mentioned in my “Top 10 Things I’ll Miss” post yesterday) but there are obviously reasons why after 6 years I’ve decided to call it quits.
Yes, maybe it's a bit different where it's more rural. I find it surprising that I haven't heard these references that you've named given the circles in which I run. But maybe they'll come up over time. Good luck in CO!
wow- that is one big bill- I live in a huge house- with 8 of us, have things to water, and have never come close to $120 a month water bill! We have septic, but even our sewer isn't that big.
saskia,
The crazy thing is we only use like 3,000 gallons per month! And, the rates are going up! The kicker, you're in a desert and I live in a RAINforest. How screwed up is that? LOL
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