A Quarter-century in Paradise

Twenty-five years ago today - February 26, 1982 - I first set foot in Humboldt County, California, and my life changed forever. During the five short days that followed, this born-and-raised urban Angeleno fell in love with Humboldt, and the quaint, quiet little rural college town of Arcata in particular. After a second visit in August of that year, I determined to make Arcata my new home. Over the next few months, I sold or gave away more than half of my worldly possessions in preparation for my move, and on April 2, 1983, my dream came true. I left the nest of my birth and began a whole new life in my idyllic adopted home town.

Time changes everything, though, and Arcata was no exception. By the mid-'90s, the town I loved was all but gone. Physically the place wasn't much changed, but the population had become increasingly urbanized, to the point that by the late '90s, Arcata had almost completely lost its rustic charm. Gone, too, were most of the places and institutions that were familiar to me in my early years here...

( Vanished Arcata... a very long list, of strictly local interest only. )

I know that today, people still come from L.A. and S.F. and elsewhere and see Arcata with the same eyes I saw it 25 years ago. Even now, it must appear as a Heaven on Earth to those who were born and raised in our hellish big cities. But know this: Arcata today is nothing - NOTHING - like it used to be. The town has completely shed its old skin, and it's a different creature now altogether.

But Humboldt County and the rest of the North Coast is still one of the best places to live on the whole planet - there's no doubt of that. And moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made. I do miss the old Humboldt, though. I miss it quite a lot...

 

A Quarter-century in Paradise

Twenty-five years ago today - February 26, 1982 - I first set foot in Humboldt County, California, and my life changed forever. During the five short days that followed, this born-and-raised urban Angelino fell in love with Humboldt, and the quaint, quiet little rural college town of Arcata in particular. After a second visit in August of that year, I determined to make Arcata my new home. Over the next few months, I sold or gave away more than half of my worldly possessions in preparation for my move, and on April 2, 1983, my dream came true. I left the nest of my birth and began a whole new life in my idyllic adopted home town.

Time changes everything, though, and Arcata was no exception. By the mid-'90s, the town I loved was all but gone. Physically the place wasn't much changed, but the population had become increasingly urbanized, to the point that by the late '90s, Arcata had almost completely lost its rustic charm. Gone, too, were most of the places and institutions that were familiar to me in my early years here...

( Vanished Arcata... a very long list, of strictly local interest only. )

I know that today, people still come from L.A. and S.F. and elsewhere and see Arcata with the same eyes I saw it 25 years ago. Even now, it must appear as a Heaven on Earth to those who were born and raised in our hellish big cities. But know this: Arcata today is nothing - NOTHING - like it used to be. The town has completely shed its old skin, and it's a different creature now altogether.

But Humboldt County and the rest of the North Coast is still one of the best places to live on the whole planet - there's no doubt of that. And moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made. I do miss the old Humboldt, though. I miss it quite a lot...