The quality of life on the Mendocino Coast - in my opinion - is unsurpassed. The air is very clean - there is no land mass upwind nor industry that generates significant effluent - and it is freshened by the Pacific Ocean. Our environment is pristine, well preserved, and sustains abundant wildlife. The density of population is very low. People are receptive to new ideas, and are independent while maintaining affinity and involvement in support of community. There is much love here, and like everywhere, there is also room for more positivity, kindness, mindful awareness and progress in spirit and deed.
This is a great place to retreat, heal, be single, be coupled, be married, grow up, raise children, work hard if you want to; be an entrepreneur, an artist; telecommute, use as a home base, to learn, to leave and then return to, to simply be or to live simply.
If you like the outdoors, there's plenty of that here. Canoeing, running, mountain biking or road riding, tennis, golf, swimming, kayaking, diving, fishing, hiking, walking, mushroom picking, horseback riding, sitting on the beach or gazing up into the forest canopy is all just outside your door. Similarly there is plenty for a person to do in art, theater, music, education and community service indoors year round.
There is ample room for the do-it-yourselfers who want to be off the grid, build their own home with wood they have cut and milled on their own property, have a big organic garden and develop a spring and gravity feed water system.
Mendocino Coast schools are great and offer small class size, alternatives to traditional curriculum, enthusiastic teachers and administrators, college preparatory support, excellent participation and support from the community, scholarships, a College of the Redwoods community College and "Distinguished Schools" in both Mendocino and Fort Bragg. There is at least one local private school. Many locals exercise the option of home schooling their children with favorable results.
Mendocino schools recently (1999) rated in the top 10 percent in the state.
Mendocino County Office of Education also enhances areas of study at the schools countywide through the Regional Occupational Programs (R.O.P.) which develop vocational skills such as computer training, electronics, horticulture, audio electronics, and video technology.
R.O.P. programs are available to people of all ages and walks of life at an extremely low cost.
Mendocino High School offers four paths of study and consistently graduates 80% of its students into fine colleges and universities world wide. Students and teachers greet each other on a first name basis and there is a strong element of trust - there are no locks on the lockers.
There is a world renowned fine woodworking program here at The College of the Redwoods directed by Krenov.
Having been to some great schools I wish I could do "it" over again here. Great opportunities for kids and "grownups" alike!
The arts are alive and well here, flourishing in fact. There are Symphonies, a very popular music festival, theater groups, numerous galleries, a well established Art Center in Mendocino offering classes year round, and a strong community of artists enjoying good support from the population at large. The Mendocino Coast can be considered an artist's colony.
Ceramicists, Sculptors, Writers, Painters, Actors, Musicians, Singers, Dancers, Printers, Photographers, Wood Artists, Builders, Architects, Weavers, Glass Artists, Jewelers, Metal Artists, Boatbuilders, Toy makers, Game Inventors, Collectors, Interior Designers, Illustrators, Chefs, Instrument Makers, Producers of Films and Sound Recordings, Songwriters, Graphic Artists, Computer Engineers, Furniture Makers, Herbalists, Crafts People, and those of us that are developing our vocations - and vacations - as an art form are just a few of the Artists In Residence.
Some of the above Artists are quite famous. More, probably, are quite happy if not striving for same.
Few people dress formally for day to day work here on the Coast; suits and ties are an anomaly. The pace of life here is as calm as you wish or as busy as any city can be... You can move at the pace of your choice.
Ideologically, The Coast embraces and encompasses a broad spectrum of orientations from meditators to staunch conservatives and from dropouts to doctorates. We - these people - live and work side by side in an atmosphere of affection, respect, and appreciation for our choices, freedom and an elevated quality of life.
We have our workaholics and those without visible means of support; we like each other and where we have come together despite differences of opinion, allegiance, and values.
There is an atmosphere of safety, trust, knowing your neighbors, an interest in sharing, a respect for privacy, a spirit of cooperation, a willingness to improve, a common desire for positive change and strong community support for one another. This takes time to assimilate, absorb and appreciate; there seems to be plenty of time here for you to create, develop and flourish in the choices and life that work most elegantly for you.
And the four "hamlets' inland eastbound from the coast on Highway 128
NAVARRO 148,
PHILO 216,
BOONVILLE 654,
and YORKVILLE, 79.
The County is (was) sparsely populated with about 86,000 (according to the 1990census) people in 3,510 square miles. This means 24.5 people to the square mile or 1 person every 26 acres. Just for comparison, Los Angeles County, according to one source recently (2007) has 1,000 people to each 1.07 acres!
About one third of the land in Mendocino County is publicly owned with substantial tracts of the balance of private land owned by corporate timber concerns.
The current County growth rate (1990 to 1995) is 1.4% per year.
The top five industries in Mendocino County are: Manufacturing of wood products and food industries, Services - largely health and social service, Retail Trade by food stores and eating and drinking establishments, Wholesale Trade, and Agriculture led by fruit production.
The above four towns are the only incorporated "cities" in the County;
unincorporated area supports about 60,000 people.
On the coast, The town of Mendocino has about 1,000 residents,
As you see, these are not large towns, and one may have the impression that the coast is deserted. This is not the case; in fact there are large numbers of individuals and families inhabiting the ridges running inland from the coast that come to town to do their business and then go back to the comfort of homes and settings that are private and as secluded as they wish.
Population on the coast is made up of retirees (more and more of these), artists, individuals that work in the timber industry, fishermen, people that work in restaurants and the lodging field, teachers, government workers, entrepreneurs, musicians, people in the building trades, gardeners, caregivers, medical and healing tradespeople, retailers, business people and numerous service providers. Increasingly, tourism is the area's bread and butter. Frankly, timber and fishing resources are nearing exhaustion and habitat failure due to over 150 years of intensive exploitation without renovation or consideration for sustainability.
Considerable effort is being made by many here to preserve, nurture and replenish natural resources.