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  #1  
Old 09-12-2013, 10:45 AM
jay_cue jay_cue is offline
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Default Insight on living in Ukiah

I currently live in San Diego, and up until now I've never thought about leaving. there isn't much to complain about. weather is top notch, traffic isn't too crazy and everything is nearby. it's not as fast paced as Los Angels or the Bay Area. mountains,desert, ocean, LA, shoot even Mexico is a short day trip away. it's diverse as far as demographics go.

a couple years back, after a split up with my ex I felt I wanted to leave San Diego to see somewhere different and eventually come back. however I used the excuse of owning a house hold me back and never left. now that I'm 34 now and have kids I don't need much as far as entertainment. I find myself not even leaving the house on my days off unless its for one of their extra curricular activities. I don't need a night life where a small city would probably lack like when I was younger.

I know work is slim in ukiah, but I would already have a job there so that's nothing I have to worry about. I've looked at all our centers and seems like everything points to ukiah. I looked at SLO, Ventura and Monterey but cost of living is pretty high. LA and Vallejo is out of the question due to it being just as busy (as far as work load) and cost of living and traffic are worse. there were a couple of other smaller centers but weather was unfavorable for me. I figured in order to work where I do for the length until retirement I wouldn't be able, or would want to work in a busy city to ensure mental health doesn't quickly deteriorate. ukiah seems appealling so far since cost of living is a lot less. using a cost of living calculator it states cost of living in ukiah would be equivalent to making $13k less, and I would be basically making the same minus $300/month of retention pay but obviously lower cost of living makes that irrelevant. as far as I've read pros so far would be cost of living, less work load (ukiah on a Friday call volume is ~200 vs ~1600 in San Diego), weather seems to be good [high 30s in winter, 90s in summer, more rain than San Diego (but that's not saying much) but nothing too crazy, and minimal snow that doesn't seem to be something you can even count], SF and Sac seems to be only 2-3 hrs away, and would have a whole lot more roads to take the motorcycle out. now some cons that I've come across are talks of transients being pushy (but those are anywhere you go), meth/marijuana epidemic (not sure how big the problem really is), and small population. I currently have small population on the con side only because I'm not sure yet if this will be a good or bad thing. I guess moreso lack of diversity. not sure how people are as far as being open. I'm Filipino and SO is multirace, and see that there are only 2% Asian so I'm sure well stick out. I just wondered if this would be an issue for residents or it's just my concern and I really don't need to worry about it.

oh a huge plus is Mendocino county being a shall issue county for a CCW.

any thoughts on life in ukiah would be great. good, bad, and ugly would help immensely. we do plan on heading out there next month to take a look, but I figure that won't be enough to make a finally decision. this would probably happen a little ways out probably 2-4 years or so.

thanks in advanced.
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  #2  
Old 09-12-2013, 11:22 AM
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mike_the_wino mike_the_wino is offline
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Mendocino is beautiful. And you can pretty much get a CCW, as long as you qualify. The schools seem pretty good and there is a JC in town. Not sure how good it is. I have the auto class do work on my car and they seem competent. The people I know are great and love their community. Those are pluses.

Now for the negative. I couldn't get a recommendation to mountain bike anywhere. In fact, the locals all told me to avoid going in the hills, especially in the fall for fear of stumbling across a weed grows. Speaking of weed, every fall disheveled muppets from all over hitch hike to Ukiah to trim, help with harvest, etc. So expect a huge influx of homeless every fall. Weed is every where and is a huge problem but no one seems to really do anything except ***** about it. Choose carefully which neighborhood you live in, as there can be quite a difference.

But spend a weekend up there and see for yourself. I chose not to even look at living up there when I compared some Northern Sonoma county areas versus Ukiah.

IM me if you want any more info.
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  #3  
Old 09-12-2013, 12:32 PM
jay_cue jay_cue is offline
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thanks that's a good start. im inbound.
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  #4  
Old 09-12-2013, 2:31 PM
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bergmen bergmen is offline
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I don't necessarily disagree with the post by mike_the_wino, we feel much the same way.

Here are my thoughts in a nutshell. I have lived here since 2001, my wife was born and raised in the area. I moved to her little farm that she has had since 1984.

We live a couple miles out on Boonville Road so it is rural (a small 3 acre farm).

My wife has a saying about Ukiah: "It's not the end of the world but you can see it from here." Accurate in my view.

In our case, we acknowledge the existence of the homeless bums, weed growers, etc. but since we do not interact, we can easily go about our business as though they do not exist. They do not negatively affect us.

Personally, I love it here. The air is always sparkling clear (unless there are forest fires that create smoke that drifts our way). Every night we can go outside and look up and feel as though we are camping in the Sierras, billions of stars. We are close to the coast and the drive out there is beautiful.

Santa Rosa (and all of the urban businesses that one would need) is only an hour south. We seldom have to travel down there to shop but we can if we need to.

San Francisco is less than 2 hours south and it is a wonderful drive to run down and spend the day there, we never get tired of it.

There are lakes and rivers close to us and the famous Redwood Forests are everywhere north and west. Breathtakingly beautiful. Lots of hiking/camping to enjoy. The California Coastal Highway is a true joy to explore, small towns that have not changed in decades, beautiful rocky coastlines to gaze at.

Ukiah has a few good restaurants, a good theater, Wal Mart, Home Depot, Food Max, Safeway, Raleys, all of the major fast food places, excellent pizza, good hardware stores, okay auto parts stores, major banks, some cool civic events, an excellent golf course, small airport, excellent hospital and medical facilities. Private physicians are somewhat spotty and the choices are thin. Same with dentists.

This is a very gun friendly area, four local gun shops, an excellent gun club (Ukiah Gun Club) that we've belonged to for over ten years. CCW is "shall issue" if there are no disqualifiers. Wife and I have been licensed for over ten years.

The downsides: It is hot up here. It is essential to have a well insulated house and central air is a big plus (we have both). There are transients and low life's but the crimes associated by their presence seems to be confined to that stratus of society. We do not feel vulnerable and I do not carry every time I go into town (but I do if go at night, not very often). I have never gone into "Condition Orange". We have never been bothered (break-ins, etc.) at our house and have not been approached while shopping, etc.

My wife is a school teacher (has been for close to 50 years) and she does not think highly of the K-12 schools here. Poorly managed and so-so teachers. She now teaches with a virtual home school outfit that fits her teaching methods well. The Mendocino Community College is pretty good and gets good reviews for curriculum and staff.

Dan
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  #5  
Old 09-23-2013, 8:16 AM
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mike_the_wino mike_the_wino is offline
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I rail on Mendocino but I should also add that I love the scenery. The coast is beautiful too. Plus the people that I have met are for the most part great. It is sad to see the devastation done by the current state of MMJ laws in this state. Just freaking legalize it so we can enjoy our national forest land without playing OK corral with some illegals guarding Cartel or Mexican Mafia grow site.

When the laws the change, I think Mendocino will be a much better place. The economy will take a hit and a bunch of slacker muppets are going to find their world completely turned upside down but overall things will improve. IMO.
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Old 09-26-2013, 8:12 PM
LynnJr LynnJr is offline
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Two miles east of Ukiah is Talmadge,Ca.
They have a large temple there called The City Of Ten Thousand Buddhists If you keep going east there is The Cow Mountain Recreation Area which is 54,000 acres of off-roading hunting and hiking.
Fort Bragg is to the west and if you like Abalone Salmon and Albacore you will enjoy it.
It only rains about 18 days a year if I remember that correctly but in the summer it gets very hot like 105+.
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  #7  
Old 09-26-2013, 8:27 PM
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polo.45 polo.45 is offline
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Ukiah it's a great place to live ... There is peace and freedom. CCW and Cow Mountain ... Great food and great people..
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  #8  
Old 09-26-2013, 8:31 PM
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I lived in Ukiah for 10 years. They have a great range, super CCW availability, and it really is the sweet spot for weather, traffic, lines, and ability to get to the city for some culture when one feels the need. If you like fine wine, then look no further. Mendocino County has some of the best. All and all it was a very good place to live. Work can be a problem. Mine took me elsewhere.
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  #9  
Old 09-26-2013, 9:23 PM
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Its a decent town. I go there for business all the time. Make sure you shop at Friedmans and not Home Depot!!!
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  #10  
Old 09-27-2013, 8:10 AM
jay_cue jay_cue is offline
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thanks for all the additional info. we plan on visiting next month to see it in person. everything on paper points to ukiah. with San Diego being very diverse and a population of over a million and going down to 15000 will be a huge difference. and being Filipino slightly concerns me. I'm just hoping it's more in my head and not really a problem as I know we will stick out. not like we do anything bad to have to worry about but just hope with such a small place it's not unwelcoming. as far as jobs go, I've heard the same but i work where I can transfer basically anywhere in the state so that won't be an issue. we're still looking for hotel accommodations and so far going solely on yelp reviews, so if anyone can shed any light on a nice or at least nicer choice or which ones to stay away from that will help. also any local restaurant recommendations would be nice as well. thanks again for everyone's feed back. most have reassured me this will be the right choice. the negative comments seem to be a consensus and so far feels like it should not effect us for the most part.
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Old 09-27-2013, 8:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jay_cue View Post
thanks for all the additional info. we plan on visiting next month to see it in person. everything on paper points to ukiah. with San Diego being very diverse and a population of over a million and going down to 15000 will be a huge difference. and being Filipino slightly concerns me. I'm just hoping it's more in my head and not really a problem as I know we will stick out. not like we do anything bad to have to worry about but just hope with such a small place it's not unwelcoming. as far as jobs go, I've heard the same but i work where I can transfer basically anywhere in the state so that won't be an issue. we're still looking for hotel accommodations and so far going solely on yelp reviews, so if anyone can shed any light on a nice or at least nicer choice or which ones to stay away from that will help. also any local restaurant recommendations would be nice as well. thanks again for everyone's feed back. most have reassured me this will be the right choice. the negative comments seem to be a consensus and so far feels like it should not effect us for the most part.
Personally, I would not be concerned about being Filipino, I have never seen or experienced any prejudices here (that does not mean they don't exist like any community). But I believe you will be received as the person (and family) you are and not related to your heritage. Just my humble opinion.

Dan
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  #12  
Old 09-27-2013, 9:08 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jay_cue View Post
thanks for all the additional info. we plan on visiting next month to see it in person. everything on paper points to ukiah. with San Diego being very diverse and a population of over a million and going down to 15000 will be a huge difference. and being Filipino slightly concerns me. I'm just hoping it's more in my head and not really a problem as I know we will stick out. not like we do anything bad to have to worry about but just hope with such a small place it's not unwelcoming. as far as jobs go, I've heard the same but i work where I can transfer basically anywhere in the state so that won't be an issue. we're still looking for hotel accommodations and so far going solely on yelp reviews, so if anyone can shed any light on a nice or at least nicer choice or which ones to stay away from that will help. also any local restaurant recommendations would be nice as well. thanks again for everyone's feed back. most have reassured me this will be the right choice. the negative comments seem to be a consensus and so far feels like it should not effect us for the most part.

I won't worry about to be Pilipino ... I know many here in Ukiah .. Our catholic prist is Filipino ...
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  #13  
Old 09-27-2013, 1:28 PM
jay_cue jay_cue is offline
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thanks again for more feedback. didn't think there would be any other Filipinos based on census info I've found with 2% Asian. I assumed it would've been the Buddhists that consisted of that 2%. figured as much that most would be welcoming and it would just be that small percent that exists anywhere. this makes things more positive and makes it feel more like it's going to be a great move. unfortunately I found out there are no current openings for transfer immediately but they foresee 3 openings which should be the near future and at least a gives us a chance to be able to tie up a few loose ends down here in the meantime. we still plan to make the trip next month just to confirm what I seem to believe is a good decision so far in paper. getting excited more and more each day.
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  #14  
Old 09-28-2013, 1:10 PM
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Bring your jackets!! Start getting cold here...
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  #15  
Old 10-01-2013, 2:37 PM
Turbo95Max Turbo95Max is offline
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my friends and I go to Ukiah about 6-8 times a year. Offroading, shooting, camping. I love it. We are mostly asian. We have noticed sometimes people will stare and even had a little girl point at us once and said "Mommy, what are they?" I don't get offended easily so we just laughed. Haven't experienced racism there, happened to me more growing up in Petaluma. Generally speaking, I think people are actually more friendly then other parts of California. I currently live in South SF. If you are not camping, Hampton Inn or Fairfield suites are decent hotels. Right across from Walmart. If you want cheaper motels there are lots of choices in the area.
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Old 10-01-2013, 8:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbo95Max View Post
my friends and I go to Ukiah about 6-8 times a year. Offroading, shooting, camping. I love it. We are mostly asian. We have noticed sometimes people will stare and even had a little girl point at us once and said "Mommy, what are they?" I don't get offended easily so we just laughed. Haven't experienced racism there, happened to me more growing up in Petaluma. Generally speaking, I think people are actually more friendly then other parts of California. I currently live in South SF. If you are not camping, Hampton Inn or Fairfield suites are decent hotels. Right across from Walmart. If you want cheaper motels there are lots of choices in the area.
Living in South City is your biggest problem right now.

I grew up there so, now some of you here know why i am the way i am
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Old 10-05-2013, 6:03 PM
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Originally Posted by taperxz View Post
I grew up there so, now some of you here know why i am the way i am
OK, I'll try to more understanding....
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Actually I only started collecting Milsurps 3 years ago. I think I might own about 24...They're cheaper than guns that will most likely never get the opportunity to kill somebody...

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  #18  
Old 10-11-2013, 6:38 AM
jay_cue jay_cue is offline
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heading up to lakeport after work on Saturday night. then heading into ukiah Sunday morning/noon. any other recommendations of food and places to check out while there is greatly appreciated. spoke to. supe up there and everything seems to be sounding better and better.
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