A great decision for kids to move here | Why we (still) love Chico
As a relative newcomer to Chico, I “still” love the city mainly for the same reason my wife and I moved here from southern California six years ago: it’s where our two adorable grandchildren (and their parents) live. If they had settled in Barstow, we would probably live in Barstow, and if they had set down stakes in Stockton, we’d probably live there.
But they chose Chico, and the longer we’ve lived here, the happier we are with their choice.
I’m not much into chain retail stores, but it’s hard to imagine life without a Costco or Trader Joe’s, and Chico has us covered on both counts. As a home brewer, I am very much into craft beer, so having one of the world’s premier breweries (Sierra Nevada) in town is an incredible blessing, and having another excellent brewery (Secret Trail) down the street is really an embarrassment of riches.
We love golf, and were fortunate enough to find a house in Chico that’s on a golf course, overlooking ponds (a.k.a. water hazards) where we delight in observing geese, ducks, egrets, turtles, and otters. Black-tailed deer and wild turkeys saunter down the fairway beyond our backyard, and we’ve spotted mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Country club initiation fees and annual dues in southern California were prohibitive, but there was no buy-in to join our club, and we end up paying less than a dollar for every hole we play on a picturesque and challenging course.
As retirees, we love to give back to our community, and Chico provides many volunteer opportunities. We literally give our blood (Vitalant), sweat (Bidwell Park leaders/stewards), and tears (coaching/ officiating youth sports).
As for what we enjoy doing in Chico that we can’t do anywhere else, spending time in Bidwell Park has to be at the top of the list. We’ve put in hundreds of hours interacting with visitors, clearing trails, and picking up trash in our beautiful park, and have loved every minute of it! Our preferred spots are long-time Chico favorites: Sycamore Pool, Caper Acres, Five Mile, Horseshoe Lake, Monkey Face, Bear Hole. We love taking out-of-town visitors to tour Bidwell Mansion or to hike the Yahi trail (as well as showing them the giant yo-yo at Bird in Hand, of course).
We love the events that bring the whole community together, such as Taste of Chico, the Silver Dollar
Fair, the Sierra Oro Farm Trail, the Pioneer Days parade, and Christmas Preview.
We love our friendly and helpful neighbors, and all of the new friends we’ve made here in the various clubs we’ve joined.
We love strolling the rows of fresh fruits, vegetables, and homemade goods at the Saturday morning and Thursday night Markets. We love shopping at Made in Chico, Collier’s Hardware, and Maisey Jane’s. We love grabbing a couple of bagels from Brooklyn Bagel, sharing an apple fritter from Donut Nook, or sitting down for breakfast at Mom’s,
Cafe Coda, Beatnik’s or Bellachino’s. On Sundays, it’s brunch at Nash’s, LaSalle’s, Sin of Cortez, or B Street. Lunch may find us at Burgers and Brew, Halo’s Hawaiian, or Madison Bear Garden, and for dinner we love Fifth Street, Red Tavern, Grana, Garibaldi’s, Basque Norte, and Japanese Blossoms. And for dessert, ice cream at Shubert’s or Flor de Michoacan, cookies from the Cookie Shoppe, or cupcakes from Lovely Layers or Denine’s.
We love that the seasonal changes are far more definitive than in southern California, and that the Spring and Fall colors are more varied and vibrant. Driving down the Esplanade this time of year is breathtakingly beautiful.
We love no longer having to put up with the SoCal smog and gridlock. It’s amusing that if Chicoans see any brake lights on 99 they consider it a traffic jam.
We love rolling down the car windows every time we drive past Sierra Nevada, inhaling the heavenly scent of their mash tuns.
But frankly, as I said before, what we really love most about Chico is that we live just a couple of miles from our adorable grandchildren. We sure hope they never move to Barstow or Stockton! — Scott Paulo