Most liberal rural areas in northern CA?

[OnionPatch]

We're in southern CA and hope to eventually retire permanently to northern California. We'd like to start looking for property to buy in a rural area and begin paying it off even though we won't be able to move there for another 5-10 years. We need somewhere we can have lots of space to farm. No big cities.

I've seen threads here about liberal areas in California, but they refered more to cities. I'm wondering about the rural areas and the small town areas. I sure would hate to finally buy my "dream property" and realize I'm living in Freeperland. I want to be able to be involved with the community and besides, our daughter will probably still be in school when we move. (We started the parenthood thing kinda late.) I don't want her surrounded by Freeper idiots either.

What are the most liberal rural areas in northern California? What areas should we avoid? Thanks so much for any tips you can give me.

[realFedUp]

1. Santa Cruz, Aptos

still land south of Santa Cruz I think...farming
area and still progressive/ecologically minded.
Don't know about prices...probably high.

[Clovis Sangrail]

12. re: Don't know about prices...

Santa Cruz or Aptos?
insanely expensive.

Going further south towards Watsonville the prices are a bit better... good farmland too.

[MaryBear]

21. Hi Clovis!

Are you still our neighbor?

[Technowitch]

24. I live in Santa Cruz County

Yes, rather expensive to buy a home, and to live here... but on the other hand, we know quite a few folks who are getting by on very little.

But the beauty here is so so SO worth it. I've lived here since '97, and the redwoods still take my breath away.

[freedomburn]

36. Santa Cruz rules! I lived in Santa Cruz for thirty years. Berkeley now.

Santa Cruz is the most liberal place. And there are parts of the county in the mountains or out by Freedom that are very rural. Santa Cruz rules!

[getmeouttahere]

2. Mendocino County is pretty liberal....

from what I've seen and heard over the years. Also Eureka, home of Humboldt State, might be worth taking a look. I would definitely avoid the Sacto north along the I-5 to Yreka area.

[OnionPatch]

5. Geez and I thought

Weed, California would be the most awesome place to live! :smoke:
Don't tell me it's full of Freepers!

[getmeouttahere]

6. I'm afraid so, OnionPatch...

Weed doesn't describe that little town very well, unless you're talking about those weeds that grow along the highways that they wait months to cut...and let's just say they aren't green.

[Juneboarder]

40. Weed

Yea, Weed is scary in a Twilight Zone kind of way...

[Webster Green]

11. Humboldt State University is in Arcata

Up the road a little from Eureka.

Eureka sucks, by the way!

[Juneboarder]

41. There are a lot of permanently stoned...

...folks in Eureka. Watch out when you're driving; they like to stop in the middle of the street when there is no traffic signal or stop sign. And I can say that I speak from experience =)

[OnionPatch]

38. I fell in love with the town

of Mendicino! Wish I could live there. I'm guessing it's pretty pricey.

[tmooses]

3. I would avoid the valley and stick to the coast. I have lived most of

my life in the Bay Area and the Sacramento area (Placer county) before relocating up here to Oregon. I found the valley areas up to Redding pretty conservative, but areas along the coast (Mendocino, Humboldt counties) more liberal. Of course, you can NEVER guarantee who your neighbors are no matter where you live!

[robertarctor]

7. What about Davis?

It's in the valley, it's a college town, and it's pretty liberal.

[MaryBear]

22. And very expensive.

[Bullwinkle925]

14. What brought you to the Corvallis area?

I'm thinking of moving to Bend, OR.

[tmooses]

20. Took a retirement package from my telco after 30 years-time to get out

when the Gropinator emerged. My wife's got relatives around Oregon and the NW but we checked out different areas and liked it here. College town, fairly liberal, surrounded by nature within 5 minutes of downtown, only a couple hours or less to Portland and education good for our middle schooler. We had checked out Bend and almost moved there. Although more conservative than Corvallis or Eugene, the scenery is spectacular and I've always been partial to mountains. I'm a lifelong Californian (mostly Bay Area) so I'm still adapting to the wet
climate here after a year and a half. I think I might be getting close because I found myself out in the rain the other day in my shorts. Let me know if you have any questions or pm me.

[Greyskye]

26. Central OR...

Central OR used to be very conservative - I grew up near Bend, little place called Prineville. Not sure what the political make-up is these days.

Hope you like high desert! It's nice in its' own way, but I wouldn't want to live there again.

[Bullwinkle925]

28. Give me your reasons for not wanting to live there.

Political climate? My other option is moving to Texas - outside of Dallas to be near my sister - but Texas just doesn't appeal to me.

aarrggh

Where are you living now?

[Greyskye]

29. reasons

Well, please take into account that I last lived in central OR in the early 1970's. I understand that Bend in particular has grown up quite a bit in the last 35 odd years.

As for the reasons I wouldn't want to live there (again, 35+ year old reasons in no particular order):
1) I don't care for either of the types of music that's most popular there - Country or Western.
2) Sagebrush as the dominant landscape feature gets old pretty quickly.
3) Lava fields likewise.
4) I've developed an allergy to red-necks. (again - this is from 35 freaking years ago, I don't know how much this has changed)
5) Cowboy boots hurt my feet.
6) Going to a cultural activity meant spending the weekend at the Rock-Hound Pow-Wow and Rodeo.

Since then I've lived in New Mexico, Virginia, and Central California, which is where I'm at now. It would take a lot to make me give up all of my Oak and Pine trees and my year-round creek.

I think the only place in Texas that I could handle is the Austin area - from what I hear it's swimming in liberals and great live music!

You should ask about Bend in the Oregon forums - I'm sure you would get much more accurate and current info about the area then you will from me! :smoke:

[Webster Green]

4. Sonoma, Mendocino, & Humboldt Counties....

All on the coast, lots of rural property, absolutely gorgeous and all very liberal!

Can't be beat!!

[shanti]

39. i second that

beautiful (but pricey) areas, all, and very liberal.

[ailsagirl]

43. Although parts of Sonoma County are a little redneck

If bumper stickers are any indication.

There's a HUGE billboard as you're driving north on 101, right
before you reach Petaluma that reads: GOD BLESS AMERICA
with the flag as the backdrop.

It's been there for years (i.e., since 9/11)

[99Pancakes]

8. Here is a color map

Green=Kerry and the % he won that county by (why they didn't use BLUE is anyone's guess)
Red=Bubba Shrub and the % he won that county by

[OnionPatch]

9. Wow, great map. Thanks.

Ug, there's my Riverside County, as red as a tomato. Yuck. I wonder how Imperial county and that other two counties in north-eastern CA are green.

[99Pancakes]

10. You know what?

When I see maps like this, it makes me cringe to see all that blood red.........I live in Kern County (66% to Bubba Shrub--ugh!) and my husband and I can feel the Repoop vibes everywhere. It IS noticeable. If we could afford as nice a house as we have now along the coast, we would leave in a heartbeat, but Bakersfield (where we live) has very affordable housing (esp. for a teacher & social worker). But alas, I network with Dems in this RED county and stick with my "own kind". Good Luck! I'll be interested to know where you decide to move to.

[siliconefreak]

13. Imperial County

I don't know about the 2 NE counties, but I can tell you that Imperial County is very poor and has a large number of Mexican immigrants who are struggling to get by from day to day.

The same could be said about the Central Valley, but the large numbers of Freepers in places like Bakersfield and Fresno cancel out the votes for Dems in those areas.

[99Pancakes]

17. Sadly True

:cry:

[XemaSab]

18. Alpine county

is full of hippies. They also have a very small population and it was a very close race.

[davidinalameda]

15. try Humboldt

it's beautiful

[proud patriot]

16. I'd look somewhere around Napa and Santa Rosa

Gurneville and there abouts

[XemaSab]

19. Check out

Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties.

However, be careful: it really varies from town to town.

Whoever bagged on Eureka hasn't taken a good look at Scotia or Fortuna. Those towns are SCARY. Eureka's got a conservative reputation, but it's really not that bad.

[jfern]

23. Probably

First tier: Santa Cruz, Arcata
Second tier: Northern Marin, Sonoma couties, areas near Monterey, areas near Davis

[Greyskye]

25. Nevada City, CA

Nevada City is a wonderful liberal bastion in the Sierra's. In addition, they have one of the best public radio stations around - check 'em out at www.kvmr.org.

Beautiful area and great people! My wife loves going up there for day trips.

Edited to add some area links:
http://www.ncgold.com/
http://www.nevadacitychamber.com/
http://www.city-data.com/city/Nevada-City-California.html

[mitchtv]

27. Sonoma Valley

IF, you can afford it. 1 hr from SF, Sebastapol even more liberal Cotati, Santa rosa ,Represented by Lynne Woolsey, the best Avoid Tracy, Davis is good but kind of hot in the Valley

[Xithras]

30. Liberal, rural FARMLAND is extremely hard to find

I see a lot of people mentioning a lot of great liberal rural areas, but very few of them are suitable for farming unless you're a big time multi-millionaire.

If you really want to farm an appreciable piece of land, and do so in an area where you're surrounded by liberals, Yolo, Solano, and Sacramento Counties are about the only parts of the state you can do it in. The land isn't exactly cheap, but I'd recommend looking at the still-reasonably-priced farmland north of Woodland. Just make sure you're looking outside of the 20 year growth zones, or you'll be competing with the housing developers.

Also, be VERY careful that you don't buy any Williamson Act land with dreams of building a great retirement home on it. A LOT of ag land in the northern valley is under the Williamson Act, and building large homes on them is prohibited (the Williamson Act protects ag land from development...even a single house).

[Conservativesux]

35. Dont forget to mention the flood zones north of Yolo and Sacramento.....

..counties. If you build on ag land north of Interstate 5, figure on placing the house on raised soil, to avoid flood damage.

Also keep in mind that even though many of the farmers in these counties benifit from farm subsidies, most vote and preach the Republican mantra, in part to keep enivornmentalists, who the farmers views as "the left", at bay.

If most people knew the kind of hazardous pollution and toxic chemicals that most farmers, or more aptly put, "Agribusiness-persons" spew into the water, air and soil 24/7, they would have a massive heart attack and grow thier own food.

My recommendation, if you choose the Sacramento valley, would be to move to Davis, as it is a very liberal city, unfortnately enveloped by very conservative towns and counties.

[proud patriot]

31. whatever you do don't move to Weed California

Now that's scary :scared: full of skinhead neo nazi freaks .

[ailsagirl]

44. That name always cracked me up!!! Still don't know its origin

[99Pancakes]

32. Okay OnionPatch

Let me put it another way:

If more pissed off Liberals would move to red areas of CA......me and my husband would have more friends! Ha! Lots of good growin' land in red-neck Bakersfield.....and cheap! Hey, we can always give the evil eye back to those devil-spawned Repugs.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:0gLdkGSYXtUJ:mattfitt.com/albums/Dump_Bush

[OnionPatch]

37. I wish there were more here too

in in my little red patch.

Bakersfield is close to the Sierras, so at least that's pretty cool.

[Duer 157099]

33. Sebastopol in Sonoma country

You'd love it, but it's expensive

[FrannyD]

34. Point Reyes is the place you wanna be

I live in San Leandro, south of Oakland. The first place that came to mind after reading your post, is POINT REYES. In my opinion you can't get much closer to paradise. West Marin County is awesome, yet not to far away from civilization. I lived in the San Fernando Valley for years before moving north, I never regretted it once.
Good Luck

[Sequoia]

42. Willits is affordable

About 80 miles north of Santa Rosa. I know someone who just stole a beautiful 2 story for $300,000. Sebastopol is way overpriced.

[ProudDad]

45. If you don't mind being somewhat remote

Anderson Valley around Phylo and Booneville are GREAT!

The Anderson Valley Advertiser is probably one of the most liberal newspapers in the country. http://www.theava.com/

But anywhere on the North Coast would be, uh, Groovy...

:bounce: