CaliforniaWaiting

Hi there,
I'm new to this forum and just wondered if anyone had any comments to make about Redding, CA and the surrounding area...
My husband has just been offered a position there (an international transfer with his current company) and we are really keen but I have read so many mixed reports about the area that I would be hugely grateful for any further input.
We are not worried about being a long way from a major city and we've moved countries before so the move itself isn't a massive concern. It is more that the drug problems and crime rate in this beautiful part of the world look pretty bad.
Am I worrying too much?!
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

AmerLisa

It gets hotter than hell but they have a pretty good motel if you're traveling the I-5. Sorry, not much more than that.

Peter124

AmerLisa is right about 'hotter than hell'!

South of Redding on I5 is flat and featureless. North starts to get very pretty, all the way up to the Oregon border. Can't say much about the town itself, I've only ever driven by.

Pulaski

I can't speak about Redding, but much of America has a drug problem, especially those cities on major interstates i.e. just about all of them!

In practice America does a very good job of compartmentalizing the problems, so as long as your not hanging around in the wrong part of town, or at truck stops or seedy motels, you may never actually notice the drug problem at all. NC is on the Mexico-Texas- Atlanta-DC-NY-Boston drug and human trafficking route, and the media reports drug busts here from time to time, but it really doesn't impact the Pulaski family from day to day.

SalopianFunk

Redding itself has a cool bridge, but nothing else really to speak home about. Going north into the forrests though, that's a completely different story.

Jerni

Hi CaliforniaWaiting! I lived in Chico for just over 10 years and visited Redding many times. As others have said it gets really hot there, it's not uncommon at this time of year to have week upon week of 100+F. It is dry heat though so it's not muggy like the East Coast. Just fry an egg on concrete hot hee hee (I'm not kidding lol)

Redding is OK some people really like it. The area is beautiful, if you like to boat Lake Shasta is really nice, plus Mount Shasta is right around the corner. You are also close to Oregon. They also have the Sundial Bridge as mentioned above and a good shopping selection. Probably the best north of Sacramento within the valley.

I much prefer Chico but it would be quite the commute for your husband (60 miles in each direction).

There is an small airport there with a single service to San Franscisco, handy if you are going on vacation from San Francisco but expensive unless you book it as part of a bigger trip, United has a monopoly on the service so the prices are not cheap (Chico has the same situation). We would drive to Sacramento which has a much better airport for flight connections but from Redding that's about 140 miles or so.

It's a nice area as I said, like any city has it's pros/cons but with it being right at the top of the valley it is quite isolated when traveling.

CaliforniaWaiting

Thanks so much everyone. Any advice is very gratefully received! I wasn't too worried about the heat initially as we currently live in Queensland but the heat in Redding sounds insane!

Pulaski - It's been so hard to gauge how bad the crime problem is when we have never even been to the area so I really appreciate your comments and found them reassuring.

Jerni - it's great to have some input from someone who knows the area. Funnily enough, Chico was my first choice of places to live but think it is going to be just too far away. The flight info is very useful - I had foolishly assumed that the short flights to San Francisco would be cheap. D'oh!

Anyway, the move is looking ever more likely and we may be heading over for a reccie in a few weeks so it's all getting very real and very exciting!

Michael

If Southwest Airlines is at a California airport and you can book two weeks in advance for a late Friday night or all day Saturday departure and a Monday afternoon return or book midweek, commuter flights are pretty reasonable. However if Southwest Airlines isn't at the airport, then it likely the airport only has regional airlines with propeller planes and the price is likely very high.

Southwest Airlines also allows customers to cancel their flight without charge for future use, a one way ticket are 1/2 the price of a round trip ticket, and checked luggage is free.

Jerni

As I mentioned United Airlines has a monopoly at Chico and Redding airport, they are the only commercial airline that flies in/out. They are indeed smaller propellor type planes. Speedy though, you have just enough time to drink your drink and eat the tiny pack of peanuts before the plane is ready to land.