So Tell Me About Arcata and Humboldt State University?
August 5, 2020 3:23 PM Subscribe
I am thinking of going there to get my Masters in Social Work. I have only driven through once and only know of Humboldt County by reputation. What is HSU like? What is in Arcata of interest? Restaurants? Bookstores? Coffeehouses? Farmer Market's? Hot Springs? Music? Give me the whole kit and kaboodle :)
Arcata, of course, was the home of the infamous Arcata Eye Police Log. Interesting to look at what cops were getting calls for back then.
posted by hanov3r at 4:47 PM on August 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 4:47 PM on August 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best hot tubs ever: Finnish Country Sauna & Tubs
posted by unknowncommand at 5:29 PM on August 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by unknowncommand at 5:29 PM on August 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
I went to undergrad there, but it was 2002-2006. My friend went to undergrad and also a master's there -- I'll see if they'll speak to details.
Arcata is a liberal bubble squashed between Eureka and McKinleyville. I've heard it's safer and more tolerant now that the university expanded, but it's also more expensive to live there because there are more people competing for housing, jobs, etc. It's minimum 5 hours of driving from a major city and frequently, roads are washed out or in poor shape due to earthquakes. Expect multi-day delays if you fly, since the airport is tiny, often enveloped in fog or weather, and only has one airline servicing it. To get to Los Angeles, it's a flight to a hub (SF or Sacramento) and then to LA, or roughly 15-20 hours on a combination of buses and trains on Amtrak. You can also drive-- it's like 10-11 hours if you speed and only stop for a restroom and lunch.
Weather frequently (and more rarely, an earthquake) knocks out the power for more than a week (and sometimes the data cable for the county) so make an emergency plan that accounts for that. There's a lot of poverty and drug use, especially meth, and crime problems related to that. There aren't a lot of chain stores-- you have to go to Eureka for what there is. Arcata has an ordinance banning them and banning most chain restaurants, which means the food and shopping is excellent but not cheap. Health care can be hard to access, especially birth control and women's health care or anything specialty.
You'll need a car if you want to leave Arcata or be eligible for many jobs. I can't speak to the landscape for social work, but most people should plan to relocate for a job after graduating. Public transport is reliable but runs infrequently and often not on weekends or at night. You can bike and walk all over Arcata and the campus if you don't mind being rained on (plus it's very hilly. They call it Hills & Stairs University for a reason.)
And those are the downsides...the upsides are that it's a gorgeous place. The pictures in the brochure of enormous forests and fabulous sunsets on the beach are all accurate! You do have to drive to get to many of the notable state parks, but it's worth it, for example Patrick's Point and Fern Canyon. You can backpack all over the place, fish, hike, swim, etc. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a nice day trip.
Arcata itself is fun to explore-- there are a lot of cool architectural details and most of it is truly lovely. Tin Can Mailman is the best used book store. Toni's is the comfort food hangout that's open late. So is Don's Donuts. Wildberries is the Whole Foods equivalent and is generally great but expensive. WinCo in Eureka is my favorite grocery store of all time, largely because of their extensive bulk section. Mazzotti's is fancy Italian and delicious. The Big Blue Cafe is gone forever, but it was my favorite place next to T's North (across from a really nice Ace Hardware.) I personally don't think the Los Bagels bagels are all that great, but I am picky about bagels. Mosgo's is the place for coffee, hands down but the Jitter Bean is also a good takeaway coffee and I like the logo better. Cafe Mokka has good coffee, but it more notable for the hot tubs in the back yard.
Holly Yashi is the place for unique jewelry and Moonrise Herbs for herbs, crystals, and assorted souvenirs. Don't miss the Kinetic Sculpture Race or the Humboldt County Fair! Little shops open and shut all the time-- the window shopping is great. Thrift can be kind of picked over but you can score great deals. Find out when the res halls are closing down for the summer and check out the piles of misc stuff people leave behind. I still have an ironing board I scavenged!
Generally, it's a laid back and pleasant place to live. It can be depressing when it's been raining steadily for several weeks, a cow in Ferndale sat on the data cable and knocked out the Internet for the county and it's winter so the sun comes down at 4, but in the summer it's intensely gorgeous and usually not too hot. Excellent libraries, both at the school and at the county level. And there are many unique experiences, academically, that you will discover. I think there is a can-do, homebrew spirit and a strong interest in sustainability that I haven't see matched anywhere else.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:37 PM on August 5, 2020 [11 favorites]
Arcata is a liberal bubble squashed between Eureka and McKinleyville. I've heard it's safer and more tolerant now that the university expanded, but it's also more expensive to live there because there are more people competing for housing, jobs, etc. It's minimum 5 hours of driving from a major city and frequently, roads are washed out or in poor shape due to earthquakes. Expect multi-day delays if you fly, since the airport is tiny, often enveloped in fog or weather, and only has one airline servicing it. To get to Los Angeles, it's a flight to a hub (SF or Sacramento) and then to LA, or roughly 15-20 hours on a combination of buses and trains on Amtrak. You can also drive-- it's like 10-11 hours if you speed and only stop for a restroom and lunch.
Weather frequently (and more rarely, an earthquake) knocks out the power for more than a week (and sometimes the data cable for the county) so make an emergency plan that accounts for that. There's a lot of poverty and drug use, especially meth, and crime problems related to that. There aren't a lot of chain stores-- you have to go to Eureka for what there is. Arcata has an ordinance banning them and banning most chain restaurants, which means the food and shopping is excellent but not cheap. Health care can be hard to access, especially birth control and women's health care or anything specialty.
You'll need a car if you want to leave Arcata or be eligible for many jobs. I can't speak to the landscape for social work, but most people should plan to relocate for a job after graduating. Public transport is reliable but runs infrequently and often not on weekends or at night. You can bike and walk all over Arcata and the campus if you don't mind being rained on (plus it's very hilly. They call it Hills & Stairs University for a reason.)
And those are the downsides...the upsides are that it's a gorgeous place. The pictures in the brochure of enormous forests and fabulous sunsets on the beach are all accurate! You do have to drive to get to many of the notable state parks, but it's worth it, for example Patrick's Point and Fern Canyon. You can backpack all over the place, fish, hike, swim, etc. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a nice day trip.
Arcata itself is fun to explore-- there are a lot of cool architectural details and most of it is truly lovely. Tin Can Mailman is the best used book store. Toni's is the comfort food hangout that's open late. So is Don's Donuts. Wildberries is the Whole Foods equivalent and is generally great but expensive. WinCo in Eureka is my favorite grocery store of all time, largely because of their extensive bulk section. Mazzotti's is fancy Italian and delicious. The Big Blue Cafe is gone forever, but it was my favorite place next to T's North (across from a really nice Ace Hardware.) I personally don't think the Los Bagels bagels are all that great, but I am picky about bagels. Mosgo's is the place for coffee, hands down but the Jitter Bean is also a good takeaway coffee and I like the logo better. Cafe Mokka has good coffee, but it more notable for the hot tubs in the back yard.
Holly Yashi is the place for unique jewelry and Moonrise Herbs for herbs, crystals, and assorted souvenirs. Don't miss the Kinetic Sculpture Race or the Humboldt County Fair! Little shops open and shut all the time-- the window shopping is great. Thrift can be kind of picked over but you can score great deals. Find out when the res halls are closing down for the summer and check out the piles of misc stuff people leave behind. I still have an ironing board I scavenged!
Generally, it's a laid back and pleasant place to live. It can be depressing when it's been raining steadily for several weeks, a cow in Ferndale sat on the data cable and knocked out the Internet for the county and it's winter so the sun comes down at 4, but in the summer it's intensely gorgeous and usually not too hot. Excellent libraries, both at the school and at the county level. And there are many unique experiences, academically, that you will discover. I think there is a can-do, homebrew spirit and a strong interest in sustainability that I haven't see matched anywhere else.
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:37 PM on August 5, 2020 [11 favorites]
My parents met at Humboldt in the 60s. I grew up in McKinleyville in the 70s, and blnkfrnk’s comment above has broken my heart with nostalgia for that place. My Pop Warner football team played during halftime of a Lumberjacks football game. It’s damp and remote. There’s a wonderful park up on the hill behind the college with a big open grassy field and trails through redwoods. There’s a square in the middle of town where hippies and students congregate. Down south of Eureka there’s a cool historic park (Fort Humboldt?) with old logging machinery. A bit north, mentioned above, is Patrick’s Point, but also Clam Beach and several lagoons. The coast all the way up to Crescent City is fabulous. Drive east on 299 along the Mad River and just before the road begins to climb, you cross a high bridge over the river, pull off into the wide spot and that’s where the swimming hole is. I’d better stop.
Logging and fishing were still economic drivers back then, but not so anymore, and I understand the North Coast in general is struggling (Arcata was, even then, somewhat insulated from the rest of the region due to the college, and that’s probably still true).
It’d be worth a trip up for a few days to get a better sense. I wouldn’t hesitate, especially if I were confident in the quality of the program at HSU.
posted by notyou at 9:23 PM on August 5, 2020
Logging and fishing were still economic drivers back then, but not so anymore, and I understand the North Coast in general is struggling (Arcata was, even then, somewhat insulated from the rest of the region due to the college, and that’s probably still true).
It’d be worth a trip up for a few days to get a better sense. I wouldn’t hesitate, especially if I were confident in the quality of the program at HSU.
posted by notyou at 9:23 PM on August 5, 2020
A friend of mine works for the social work department at HSU! Memail me your specific questions and I can pass them on to her.
posted by centrifugal at 11:06 PM on August 5, 2020
posted by centrifugal at 11:06 PM on August 5, 2020
I'm a Humboldt State grad ('99) who thought to weigh in, but saw that binkfrnk covered pretty much everything I miss and wanted to talk about in Humboldt County.
Instead let me talk about how weird it feels when you leave Humboldt County (assuming this is part of your plan). I moved from Humboldt to Eugene, Oregon which is pretty similar in many ways, but the experience was never-the-less jarring. I got very accustomed to the Humboldt lifestyle, even with frequent visits back to my hometown in the southern part of California. I don't know if it was the pace, the politics, or the prevailing mentality, but I really felt my "otherness" when I left Humboldt. I still go back on occasion to visit my brother there (25+ year resident), and he confesses that he wouldn't know how to live outside of Humboldt.
posted by El_Marto at 3:29 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Instead let me talk about how weird it feels when you leave Humboldt County (assuming this is part of your plan). I moved from Humboldt to Eugene, Oregon which is pretty similar in many ways, but the experience was never-the-less jarring. I got very accustomed to the Humboldt lifestyle, even with frequent visits back to my hometown in the southern part of California. I don't know if it was the pace, the politics, or the prevailing mentality, but I really felt my "otherness" when I left Humboldt. I still go back on occasion to visit my brother there (25+ year resident), and he confesses that he wouldn't know how to live outside of Humboldt.
posted by El_Marto at 3:29 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
OH SHIT you know what I forgot? The Samoa Cookhouse. Worth the money, worth getting a ride to get out to Samoa.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:20 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:20 AM on August 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by assenav at 4:02 PM on August 5, 2020 [1 favorite]