Max Whittaker/Prime / Special to The Chronicle
Paul August loves the silence of the North San Juan home where he and his wife moved after retiring from their teaching careers. But life in the woods is not for everyone, he says.
We have some new Bay Area “expats” in our neighborhood. I have not met them, but I did notice an “Obama” bumper sticker on the car. In the past we had retirees flocking up here to the “gated” communities of Lake of the Pines and Lake Wildwood. But this migration includes people like Paul and Muriel August to North San Juan. I hope we welcome them — in this case, into the same county district as Wildwood.
“The first thing Paul August noticed when he drove into the small and charming town of Nevada City was the ample parking. Then August put a quarter in the parking meter,” according to the S.F. Chronicle.
“It hit one hour, paused, and then it went to two hours,” August marveled. “Coming from the Bay Area, I thought I had hit the jackpot. One quarter gives me two hours!”
“August and his wife, Muriel, both retired from teaching careers in the Oakland public schools, moved in 2005 from Oakland to North San Juan, a town of about 260 people situated in Nevada County along Highway 49, an area made famous by the California Gold Rush.
“The Augusts were ready for a new chapter in their lives, one that took them away from the daily headaches that came with work, traffic, constant rushing and relentless noise. They also wanted a place where expenses were lower and houses offered more space and privacy.
“‘When I came here, the silence was beautiful,’ said August, standing on his 26 wooded acres. ‘Now when I go back to the Bay Area and get out of my car, the first thing I notice is the noise – the sirens, jackhammers, cars.’
“A guitar player, aspiring writer and self-professed ‘neoliberal rabble-rouser,’ August said he envisioned retirement to be full of writing and singing. He has a small cabin behind his house, but spends little time there. He goes to the local cafe to play his guitar.
“But, August said, life in the woods is not for everyone.”
The rest of the article is here.
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We’ve lived 2 miles outside of GV for 33 years and we’ve seen folks move up from LA and SF, build their dream retirment home and enjoy what Nevada County has to offer. Now, many are moving back to Sacramento and SF Bay for 3 main reasons. Health care, family close by, and walkable community. I know several other aged singles and couples planning moves back. The exidous began in 1997.
In 1997, at the behest of Kaiser and competing insurance companies, congress limited the service area of Kaiser Permenante. Nevada County was eliminated. Many who retired on Kaiser benefits or moved up here to raise their famliess with Kaiser Permenante benefits found themselves making alternative choices or moving back into the Kaiser service area when health insurance rates went through the roof.
I don’t know if a demographic study has been made for why residents of Nevada County move here or move away but in my circle, I can account for 22 who have returned to urban living because they didn’t have a choice to remain in rural Nevada County.
We lost Kaiser, but have gained access to UC Davis Med Center via SFUSD’s City Plan, United Health Care. Kaiser was a mixed bag for us. Davis seems to be pretty solid. Have CalStar helicopter account to make sure we can get to Davis.
We are but a reflection of the Supreme Court:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/7328196846/sizes/o/in/photostream/
I guess Russell Steele (once a county ERC board member and Transportation Commissioner, no less) won’t be welcoming them:
http://2012nevadacounty.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/liberals-escaping-the-urban-rot-they-helped-create/
“Nevada County has always been a conservative County, we have resisted the efforts of liberals to take away our freedom, and create another liberal mess, including NH2020. We were not always successful, as we are still living with the job killing planning and policies culture at the Rood Center that the Gang Four put in place in the 1990s.
Now I ask you? How will these liberals escaping urban rot vote? Not to preserve what Nevada County conservatives have struggled for years to preserve! Our local liberal blogger claims that it these bay area imports that at turning Nevada County purple. I am assuming he is including his family as well. I prefer we sustain our Tea Party Red Conservatism. Vote to preserve our conservative values on the 5th of June.”
Wow!
(For the record, one family member of mine is a registered GOPer. I’m “decline to state.”)
I guess that old man thinks a welcome wagon includes emptying their bladder on a guys leg?
This comment is my favorite, likening John Boehner’s district in Ohio to our “area community” (you know, the one with Nevada City, the Ridge, Washington and Truckee):
“Russ: We moved here in 1998 because the area is conservative. Politically, our area community reminds me of John Boehner’s district rather than northwest Indiana. I would not put too much credence in the purple thing. Over the past 20 years, Democrat numbers here are relatively unchanged by percentage with conservatives who were upset with Bush (rightfully so) re-registering as decline to state. This year will be an interesting election locally…next cycle will be even more so.”
http://boehner.house.gov/District/InteractiveDistrictMap.htm
We should offer tours of our county to the locals!