what's with the crime stats in Oroville, CA?

[JackieOnLine]

I ask because there is a job there, with a company that I like, and it's one of those places people don't want to live (small, IOW) so the company will pay a big ass bonus* to anyone who agrees to work there for a certain amount of time. (how much, I'm not sure about)

you look up this town of about 15,000 and the first thing that smacks you in the eye is really high crime stats.

but! stats debunked here! (FYI, Chico is the nearest city, about 25 minute drive)

what do smart folks think about the debunking? and do you know anything about the Chico area? I know it's a college town and that it's really hot in the summer. I guess I assume the air quality isn't ideal (central valley, right?) and Lake Oroville is really low because of the drought.

any info appreciated!


*the only other job they have currently is Pahrump, NV - another place nobody wants to live and so the big ass bonus - it's between Vegas and Death Valley, argh!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

The cowboys and cowgirls we know in the area spend a lot of time in Pahrump. I don't know why. While you are comparing, NV has no state income tax. But they also have no mandated state disability insurance the way CA does.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Don't try to go to Mercury, Nv because it's actually gated and closed to the public.

Thirty years ago, our kid had a friend whose dad drove to Mercury and then went by air to some unmentionable location in the Pacific. He'd be gone a couple of weeks and then home for a couple of weeks.

Secret ****.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I'd move to Bozeman instead.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I am leaning towards relocating northward more than anything (Washington!) and I left a voice mail for the company with Bozeman as an option. they also have a job in Durango.

Pahrump is full on desert (not dessert) so probably never going to happen. scorpions!

I was just searching on Oroville and got the 2nd worst crime in CA, right after Stockton I think it was. can't be that bad, can it?

Secret ****.

don't say anything!!!!!!

 

[KathyF]

Stockton is pretty bad. Can't imagine that Oroville would be anything like it. I've never been there but my best friend and her family moved to Paradise, which is 10 miles east of Chico, and it was a lovely place. My son lived there for a number of years. I will try to remember to ask him what he knows about Oroville. Chico is a college town and, as far as I know, a nice place to live.

 

[JackieOnLine]

@KathyF - thanks, appreciate any info you can get.

 

[k9ophile]

How big is Oroville? It's really strange how some small areas have high crime rates due to drugs. Nothing else to do for recreation or income?

 

[KathyF]

@JackieOnLine I talked to my son and he says Oroville is a dump. He was warned off by his girlfriend from looking for a place to live there. He says, "Oroville is the ghetto, Chico is the college town and Paradise is the retirement town."

 

[JackieOnLine]

thanks for the info, I appreciate it!

 

[Munchkin]

We are talking temporary, not forever? And it's all about the money?

The difference in taxes from CA to NV makes a big difference in the paycheck. Pahrump is pretty rural. Trailers in the middle of no where. It's high desert and they usually get more rain than Las Vegas. The people who live there work in Vegas, the Casinos/etc in Jean and Primm. And there are 2 casinos in Pahrump. Lots of retirees too. Ranchettes/farmettes and small cottage industry. You can get raw milk there and there is a town of sorts. They have a great used book store that is 4 trailers cobbled together. Most everyone I know who lives there does their major shopping in Vegas a couple times a month. But there are local stores. Overall it's a quiet place.

Living in Vegas has taught me to be skeptical of those crime reports. Most of the crime happens between people who know each other. Family disputes. Very seldom does someone just get murdered by a stranger. Usually you have to get to know me before you want to kill me.

I lived and worked in MN for about 15 years before I retired. I hated it with a passion. If it wasn't 60 below with 4 ft of snow and ice, we were having tornadoes and endless clouds of biting insects. Some of my neighbors wore bee suits to mow the yard! It was miserable. But I knew I would not stay there. I did it for the money and the chance to retire early. I loved living in SLC and it was beautiful but I knew I would never have the opportunity to make half the money there that I did in MN. Too bad the places you want to live have no jobs or pay poorly! But find an armpit and there will be great jobs there! It's just a matter of finding the least objectionable armpit!

 

[JackieOnLine]

sadly, it seems like it's always temporary - I need to settle down and put down some roots. it's felt like that for a long time.

and it CAN'T be all about the money because I am too mentally ill to ignore the way I don't deal well with stress and change, specifically.

so: no - I need to find something that is tolerable. this place was DAMN close if I could have made the job work or could have lived on only working there part time. that was an option I probably didn't try hard enough to make happen.

I won't do either of those places; I will end up relocating to Seattle or Boise or something.

can I ask where in Minnesota @Munchkin ?

I grew up in Duluth but had NO idea it was beautiful there until I went back - I think in my 30s...or was it 40s - I was all, by GOD look at this huge lake, it's beautiful!

then I lived the biggest chunk of my adult life in and around Minneapolis. never minded the winter but I never had AC so I hated the heat and humidity. instead of getting AC I moved to Colorado - because I honestly didn't think of getting AC.

Living in Vegas has taught me to be skeptical of those crime reports.

I did the street view with google and I have to say, it does look like a dump.

 

[JackieOnLine]

new today, a job in Carson City, NV.

the good job in Bozeman is gone, only thing left is a not as good one (lots of driving) and jobs in Great Falls and Butte. boo!

 

[southernlady]

new today, a job in Carson City, NV.

the good job in Bozeman is gone, only thing left is a not as good one (lots of driving) and jobs in Great Falls and Butte. boo!

Butte would work.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

new today, a job in Carson City, NV.

the good job in Bozeman is gone, only thing left is a not as good one (lots of driving) and jobs in Great Falls and Butte. boo!

Butte and Great Falls are both interesting communities in their own right, with far better costs of living than Bozeman. Great Falls is an Air Force town (Malmstrom AFB).