clearlake and surrounding areas...still bad? (Kelseyville, Lucerne: 2014, homes, to buy)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Quewbism

This might be a little late, but here goes.

I have lived in Hidden Valley Lake for over 9 years. Lake County is a wonderful
place to live, especially the west side of the lake. Wineries are popping up everywhere. Clothes/furniture/Home Depot type shopping is hard and most of us go into Ukiah or Santa Rosa as Lake County doesn't have much shopping. It's rural here so if you like excitement and night
Life it's not a good place for that. But people are super friendly and always ready to lend a hand.

As for Clearlake, ugh. It's the blight of Lake County. It's not dangerous just full of drunks and homeless. There are efforts to clean it up and it could be a fantastic lakeside community but it's got a ways to go. I wouldn't live there.

The fires have taken a toll but Cobb is beautiful. A lot of people commute down the hill for work but roads are pretty icy in winter. Kelseyville is very desirable, Hidden Valley is utopia, Lakeport is nice. The east side of the lake is ok but the west side is more desirable.

Hope this helps.

It's great to get a first-hand account on the area, and especially re: Hidden Valley Lake! Thanks for posting. Nice to hear that a little bit of economic development is making its way into the community.
And btw, how's the water supply up there? Did lake levels fall during the drought? Where does the Hidden Valley Lake community get its water?


Welcome to the forum!

[dbadami]

Originally Posted by direstraights

I have been looking for a house in affordable areas in Ca and have family in Napa. I live in so cal and looking to move that way. I've read a number discussions here and elsewhere on the clearlake and surrounding areas that speak of extreme crime, mexican mafia growing drugs in the area, lots of methheads, police that are corrupt and all sorts of things that make it sound like the kind of place that would be a nightmare to live in.

Heres the question....all the threads like that i have seen like that are one the order of 10 years old. Is it still like that or has it been cleaned up as i heard was in process at the time those discussions were recorded? Also, if it's still a bad place to live, what about nearby areas that are also reasonably priced like cobb, hidden valley, etc? I only ask because my financial situation is such i cannot afford to live anywhere else, at least not close to family. Thanks.

I was just there again for a few days. South of lake, Clear Lake (town) is pretty dumpy. Lake is very full, maybe 2 ft from coming up over the road, I was told by a local. Keep in mind about the stench coming off the lake a few months of very year due to the algae issue. Google "algae and odors from Clear Lake in California". You don't want to be downwind of that. Once you get a bit away from the lake, it's better. Upper Lake is a beautiful town, with some nice countryside north of there. From what people say about Cobb Mountain, that's where I'm going to explore next - sounds very nice. Re fire: be smart, do what the fire officials tell you about limbing up trees, keeping a defensible space around your home. A home with metal roof and siding made of HardiBoard will give you a kind of security you can't find any other way.

[PixelatedTherapy]

I just looked up the crime stats, and I had no idea. In 2015 the city had a murder rate (per capita) that far surpassed Oakland...

https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html


https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html

wtf... If Clearlake was in the Bay Area it would by far be the worst city.

[melindayoung4]

If all of you would consider moving into Clearlake, instead of moving to the neighboring towns, it would bring the necessary changes. The majority rules. I for one am believing that Clearlake, will one day, be the place to be. Buy now!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by melindayoung4

If all of you would consider moving into Clearlake, instead of moving to the neighboring towns, it would bring the necessary changes. The majority rules. I for one am believing that Clearlake, will one day, be the place to be. Buy now!

Who are you, a real estate agent?

A large part of the problem, from what I understand, is that the state sends in ex-cons upon their release, to the town of Clear Lake, or Lower Lake, I forget which. Other towns in the area have lower crime rates, though. There's also a tribe on the west side that has federal recognition, but their land base was taken away, historically, and didn't get restored. So I wouldn't encourage people to buy in certain parts, until Indian land claims have been settled.

[Macrina]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Who are you, a real estate agent?

A large part of the problem, from what I understand, is that the state sends in ex-cons upon their release, to the town of Clear Lake, or Lower Lake, I forget which. Other towns in the area have lower crime rates, though. There's also a tribe on the west side that has federal recognition, but their land base was taken away, historically, and didn't get restored. So I wouldn't encourage people to buy in certain parts, until Indian land claims have been settled.

Well I do know there is a certain percentage of registered sex offenders who are sent to both Clearlake & Lower Lake, but am not certain of that number. (Clear Lake is the name of the lake, whilst the city itself is Clearlake...)

I live somewhat north of the depressed part of Clearlake, and when I go down there now, I think I see signs of landowners cleaning up and trying to upgrade. Haven't been here that long, but I think there are multiple reasons and part of these have been poor city planning and managing.

Lake County is fiscally the poorest county in all of California, (Yikes!) and other little cities and burghs in the county are in better shape than Clearlake. Lakeport (the county seat) is quite picturesque in some areas and one can see a "there" there. Kelseyville is quaint and the Riviera has some nice areas. And no, I'm not a realtor!

I know about tribal lands which are little north and east of Clearlake. Ruth, were you speaking of tribal lands west of Lakeport?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Who are you, a real estate agent?

A large part of the problem, from what I understand, is that the state sends in ex-cons upon their release, to the town of Clear Lake, or Lower Lake, I forget which. Other towns in the area have lower crime rates, though. There's also a tribe on the west side that has federal recognition, but their land base was taken away, historically, and didn't get restored. So I wouldn't encourage people to buy in certain parts, until Indian land claims have been settled.

The ex cons sent to Lake County are those who were sentenced in Lake County and it just happens that they send a lot of people to prison. For a time State Parole was sending VSO (violent sex offenders) to rural counties because parole thought it was easier to manage them out of urban centers but in July of this year that rule was changed and now the only violent sex offenders who will be sent out of the county they were sentenced in are those who have family who will support them in a different county.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by PixelatedTherapy

I just looked up the crime stats, and I had no idea. In 2015 the city had a murder rate (per capita) that far surpassed Oakland...

https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html

https://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html

wtf... If Clearlake was in the Bay Area it would by far be the worst city.

Ok, to be fair about that number, it makes no sense to say that 5 homicides in a rural county means there is more crime in Lake County than in Oakland. Even a virtually crime free county like Marin can end up with 5 homicides in a year and then have none for the next 10 years. The incidence of property crime and robbery are better figures to use for a comparison.

Lake County has a big meth problem that's for sure and there are very very few jobs. Those are better reasons not to live there than the fact that they had 5 homicides.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Macrina

Well I do know there is a certain percentage of registered sex offenders who are sent to both Clearlake & Lower Lake, but am not certain of that number. (Clear Lake is the name of the lake, whilst the city itself is Clearlake...)

I live somewhat north of the depressed part of Clearlake, and when I go down there now, I think I see signs of landowners cleaning up and trying to upgrade. Haven't been here that long, but I think there are multiple reasons and part of these have been poor city planning and managing.

Lake County is fiscally the poorest county in all of California, (Yikes!) and other little cities and burghs in the county are in better shape than Clearlake. Lakeport (the county seat) is quite picturesque in some areas and one can see a "there" there. Kelseyville is quaint and the Riviera has some nice areas. And no, I'm not a realtor!

I know about tribal lands which are little north and east of Clearlake. Ruth, were you speaking of tribal lands west of Lakeport?

Thank you for your input. I'm trying to learn more about the area. There's a tribe that has a land base and a casino at the north end of the lake, at Upper Lake. That historically lived around Lakeport, and is trying to get a landbase in the area, not necessarily Lakeport . And there are other tribes with a history of residence on or near the lake, who are kind of in limbo. There's the Elem band of Pomos near a defunkt mine on the east side of the lake (mercury in the environment is a health issue for them), and I think there's another tribe in and around Lower Lake. I'd like to get in there sometime, and interview some of those people, to find out more about their situation.

Your description makes the area sound nice, though! Except for here and there. What is it you're calling "the Riviera"? And have you noticed some of the wineries buying up land nearby? Maybe that's some of who's behind the clean-up/upgrading efforts?

[2sleepy]

Riviera is an HOA in Kelsyville, mostly SFH's in the low to mid $200,000 range. There is a restaurant and golf course in the area, I don't know if they are public or if they are part of the HOA.