The City of Redding is not only worth the time to explore, it's a gateway to so many wonderful treasures in lesser trafficked Northern California. I've been here a handful of times - always on my way to or from somewhere else - year I've always wanted to spend more time here after discovering some of the local goodies. For starters, everyone should stopover at the magnificent piece of architecture that is the Sundial Bridge, the neighboring arboritum, and the Turtle Bay nature preserve. The downtown has plenty to explore as well, including countless small shops and restaurants in a very walkable environment. Lastly, it's within an hour of piety of natural splendor, including multiple lakes, rivers, Lassen National Park and lake and Mt. Shasta. Like any reasonably sized city, there are some downsides. Get in the wrong part of town and you will find some crime and more drug use than some other cities of its size. Take the mostly good with the little bad and you have a new place to visit! I'd recommend Redding to anyone looking for a foothold on exploring the northern part of our state. read more

Things and stuff in Redding... The coronavirus changed the way people live and how businesses operate. Redding has plenty of outdoor activities from hiking to fishing to kayaking... not to mention within a 30 mile radius of Redding are more than 600 square miles of State and National Parks and Forests open to public access. You'd be complying with social distancing! Redding is known as the "Trails Capital of California" unfortunately, I'm not an avid hiker. I live through hiking photos from seasoned hikers, Elmer and Shayla. I do enjoy sightseeing and beautiful scenery so we do "some" hiking. Redding experiences over 300 days of sunshine, Redding is the 2nd sunniest city in the U.S and last week we came to spend a weekend here. It was 108° degrees, humid, then the following day thunderstorm! Forbes Magazine named Redding a "Top 10 Fishing Town in North America." The Sacramento River runs clear and cold right through the heart of Redding and is California's longest river beginning near Mt. Shasta and flowing into the San Francisco Bay. All of Redding's drinking water comes from the Sacramento River. Redding is home to the Cascade Theatre which opened Friday, August 9, 1935. It's got some historic background behind it and, supposedly, it's haunted! Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 it remains temporarily closed. Under Governor Newsom's plan, venues like the Cascade Theatre will not be able to reopen until stage four. Damn this pandemic! Lastly, we saw for the first time The Sundial Bridge. The bridge is pretty famous and is a California icon and one of the largest working sundials in the world. It is a pedestrian bridge over the Sacramento River in the heart of Redding. Beautiful bridge. Saw it in the daytime and nighttime. Redding is not exempt from wildfires. In July 28, 2018 the city experienced one of the California's large wildfire that burned in Shasta and Trinity Counties -- The Carr Fire. This was big news in Northern California. The fire burned 229,651 acres destroying many homes and structures and, sadly, deaths. I found it ironic that the Carr Fire was caused by a car... yup, the fire started when a flat tire on a car caused the wheel's rim to scrape against the asphalt, creating sparks that set off the fire. So sad. We have not experienced a good dine-in restaurant in Redding because of the pandemic. I'm not fond of takeout too much. Once in a while I like to be served inside a nice restaurant. Review #1912 read more

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Downtown Redding is tiny. The main street is going through a renovation phase. There are unique stores to shop and restaurants to dine-in. The only down side is there are trasients would approach to ask for money. The businesses frowned on it because they come back the same restaurant and wait on customer to peddle. Overall, not much to do in the downtown area. read more

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I was just here for work, but I enjoyed my short stay. Mountain backgrounds, open land, green grass, trees, blue skies, and open highways. Much nicer than big cities. read more

Katelyn at the City of Redding Clerk's Office just made my day! Talk about excellent customer service - this hardworking lady helped me save money on my business license, helped me navigate a tricky situation with ease, and was so kind in the process! She treated the other clients behind me with the same courtesy, respect, and kindness. I love honoring great customer service, Katelyn ftw! read more

I enjoy stopping over in Redding whenever we are travelling in this part of the country. Nice selection of restaurants. Clean air. Friendly people. Not crowded with traffic like the big cities. Terrific location close to everything. Just about everything is only 2 to 4 hours away. Missing the big city? Sacramento is only a couple hours away. Want to do some tax free shopping? Oregon stateline is an easy day trip away too. Love nature? There are a ton of outdoorsy activities to do. Redding is a fine laid back city from what I've seen and experienced from my several visits. By the way, they also have a GREAT July 4th Fireworks Show every year!! read more

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These trashy assholes allowed someone else to open up a utility bill in my name. It was from a previous landlord, who obviously had all my info. They let her do the whole thing over the phone. I only found out when a $450 charge showed up on my credit! They claimed they went back and listened to the call and that it sounded enough like me to be me. Oh really, two white females the same age sound the same, especially when one is attempting to impersonate the other? Whaaa? I never would have thought that! What a crock of shit. I asked they retrieve the phone number the call came from, and now no one is calling me back. I call, leave a message, no one calls me back still. Fuck this place. Fuck Redding, I am so glad I got myself out of there. And as for the woman who did this, you'll get your karma, Traci Tripes, if you haven't already. Since you're still obese, single with no prospects, no hopes to have the children you want, working dead end jobs and likely just using people still, I'm guessing that karma has kicked in and is here to stay! read more

The "natural beauty" everyone talks about wears off after the first 60 days. Then you really start to see and experience what living in Redding is like, and you'll wonder why you moved here in the first place. In 3 years we've had 3 attempted break-ins, 2 acts of vandalism, and 2 acts of property theft... and we live in what most consider a "cute, friendly part of Redding". Bad drivers, rude people, horrible mismanagement at the city and county levels, rampant crime, prevalent homelessness... the list goes on. In my nearly 50 years on this plant, having lived in multiple states and cities of various sizes on both coasts, I've never had to call the police for anything. In Redding, I have them on speed dial. There have been numerous ballot measures to add more police and build a bigger jail, but it's always been voted down due to the fact that people don't want their tax dollars to go into a mismanagement fund (which it would). The result is increased crime/homelessness, which the people constantly complain that the city/county isn't doing enough to address. It's a circular argument that will likely never get resolved. They spent who-knows how much on the downtown renovation, with 85% of the storefronts still empty after a year because the tax system (and overall bureaucracy) in the city/county is designed to thwart small-to-medium sized businesses at every turn. The result is that the only stores that survive are chain stores, so there's no 'charm' or 'personality' to most Redding businesses or restaurants. They've speed YEARS talking about revitalizing the riverfront. Years. Work accomplished: nothing. As the last 'big' city on I-5 in CA before you hit the mountains into Oregon, Redding should be a hub city for big businesses like Amazon, Costco, etc. The airport SHOULD be a hub for a number of major cities. But they'd rather operate out of Sacramento, 2 hours south. Reason: All of the above issues. Result: A huge loss in overall revenue. Redding could be.. should have been... an oasis on the river. Like Bend, OR, or Boise, ID, this place could have been beautiful and fun and vibrant, with money coming in left and right. But, the real reason it isn't is that the people of Redding (residents, politicians, etc.) don't want it to be. It should be a beacon of the 21st century, but instead, it's stuck in the worst parts of 1974. And that's the way they like it. read more

we live on Hazelwood Ct. right off Placer. There is a field that is next to us that is someone else's property. Last year someone came before summer and cut a 100 foot fire break next to our house in that field but they did leave a large pile of debris next to our house. This year they have not even come to cut a fire break. We had a friend that came over and cut about 30 feet but was unable to do any more. We have contacted the local Fire Department, Fire Marshal and the City about this very dangerous field and nothing has been done. This field belongs to a house on Placer. We were told that due to the high fire danger here in Redding that if you see something say something. Unfortunately nothing has been done and we have not been contacted about it either. My next contact will be to the Media since nothing is being done by the city to protect us or our home.. read more

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Redding is a great place. Beautiful nature, amazing outdoor activities and lots of exciting development happening downtown. There is a plethora of parks and trails for families. I wish there were more shops and restaurants but there are some great ones here. It is hot in the summer but with easy access to Whiskeytown Lake and Shasta Lake as well as the Sacramento River you are never too far from water. read more

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I love Redding. I would give it 5 stars if I could. However I keep finding levels of corruption and extortion that are unnerving. On the lighter side of the foil practices is the records office. I just had twins here, was married here, wanted a life here. A copy of a marriage certificate is $15. A copy of a birth certificate is $28. I asked if the paper was better...same paper. I asked if the ink was better. Same ink. I said surely you have to travel a few steps further to get it...same machine. She looks st me and says " more people get birth certificates than the others....its just another way for the county to make extra money. " That's price gouging and that's nearing extortion. read more

Over the times Redding has been getting bigger and bigger. When I lived there it was such a small town hardly anything to do. Now it has expanded and there are more options for events and late night outings. I still enjoy visiting and stopping back by to see how things have changed over the years and will definitely be back again. read more

I moved to redding 6 months ago. I immediately noticed a chemical smell from the tap water. I had only been here one day and filled the bath tub with water, the water was blue. Water should be clear not blue. When I shower the water makes my eyes burn and my eye lids turn red from inflammation. I assume that the chemical smell is fluoride and chlorine. read more

IN the past, I've always been excited to come to Redding, the "Big City" as it were of far Northern California. I lived in the country near this area, and would come to get supplies and see movies and such. It is a great place to do that! Not only becasue of the stores, but the people and places as well. Now having lived here for a year, I can honeslty say I probibly won't be back to live, at least not in the city proper, but it will always have a special place in my heart. First of all, the summers are hot. It is seriously unbearable, especially without air conditioning, which I don't have in my car, and I can't wait till I finish my last semester and tranfer outta here! Why do you people live here? (:P j/k.) Don't you know your ancestors called this place Poverty Flats, and left it here at the end of the tracks for a reason. In history, it has only ever been a stopping place and travel through between the Central Valley and the mountains all around. Gold, that's why. That's right, a few white guys found gold here (the same ones who named it Poverty Flats) and decided to settle. People decided to stay because of all the lumber they noticed in those there surrounding hills. Well again, as these things go, the lumber slowly started to peter out, and so did the city, but then comes along Shasta Dam. It brought a revitalized sense of purpose, as well as hoardes of men to construct it, and the city was once again reborn. And again, collapse. But becasue of the climate, people started coming from all over to grow cannabis, and for many years (think 50 years) the city embraced this enterprise, as it has all entrepreneural enterprises in it's tulmultuous history. But then recently it decided to outlaw all the businesses who sold this herb, and forfeit all the profits therefore, and criminalize the folks who grow it. For money, the city accepts trash from all over the state to go into our wonderful ginormous landfills, finds new and creative ways to tax and hike up utility bills, has a revolving door for criminals at City Hall, a.k.a. Taj MaHall? Best of all, it started accepting criminal inmates from many large cities and allows them to live on our nice green parks and lawns because of charity contracts and government subsidies, not feet away from where children play tee-ball. Oh, and watch out for the many red light camera tickets, they are quite costly. Not to mention, the city makes it impossible for local businesses because of thier absurd utilities (wait, wasn't Shasta Dam promised to make power cheap for the honest hard working citizens of this city?), their impossible lucrative zoning laws which are updated frequently and hard to comply with, and very high taxes on local business. Did I mention, the police will not even respond to shoplifitng calls from your business anymore? Nor will they enforce people camping out under your storefront. There is so much crime here, you can't even drive anywhere without almost running over some zombie staggering across the street. If you are thinking of moving here to start a business, don't, and if you are trying to run a business get out while you still can. They that run this place are stuck in their own fantasy world. There are serioulsy a lot of great people here, but unfortunatley, so many have already left, and it's only a matter of time before all that will remain is the theives, both political and criminal. read more

It's an okay place to live. I moved here in 2015 for a change of scenery, and while it is a step up from larger cities, it has its own issues. Pros: We have lots of mountains and trees, and recreational parks. Beautiful open skies, and tall trees. We have a number of lakes and rivers, which are perfect for cooling off in during the summer. It doesn't take that much driving to find solitude. We have a Sundial Bridge, which is pretty cool to walk on at night. Drive times are short; depending on where you live, everything is pretty close by. Not much happens here, which is good if you're not a fan of change. Cons: Lots of homeless people, and tweakers. There's a serious drug problem here, and it's dragging the rest of the city down with it. Not much of a job economy. Bad city politics prevent industrial growth. Finding a job is nearly impossible, even with experience. Flights out of Redding are pricey; it's cheaper to catch a flight out of Sacramento. Utilities are priced extremely high when you get outside of the city. We do have a number of bad drivers, but they aren't as prevalent as you may think. It's worth noting that there's not much support for LGBTQ+ folk. Most of the populous is religious, and openly goes against anything relating to that. The summers are very hot here (between 100-115, on average). There's no sea influence, so it doesn't cool off much at night. AC is a must have. Fall and Spring are the two seasons where outdoor life is remotely appealing, as the winters are too cold and the summers too hot. All in all, it's not a terrible place to live, but it shouldn't be your first choice; especially to people who dislike the heat. read more

Redding, like Fresno, is one of those Southern California towns that serves as a point between two points: The kind of point you happen to drive through at 70mph on your way from your starting point to your ending point. read more

Redding is my home. We are a beautiful haven nestled against our front range and close to I-5. The Sacramento River runs through our area offering some of the most fabulous views as well as fishing and other outdoor sports. Admittedly, we have some issues here but the community has risen up to do all we can to change what led us to this place & time and have determined these issues will NOT define us. Our identity is evident as one looks at the beauty and quality of Redding's people. Come and enjoy and be a part of our family. read more

We moved to this area 20 years ago - looking for a great place to raise our family -- and we found it. We've found a caring, generous community with accessible leadership. We found a place where we feel safe, and where our contributions to the local business community and the arts community make a real difference. The local trails are spectacular and we enjoy the proximity to lakes and the mountains. We made a leap of faith 20 years ago - so glad we did. Most of the negative reviews seem to focus on traffic tickets. Funny. I've managed 20 years here without a single traffic ticket - so maybe I'm lucky or maybe I'm just careful to obey traffic laws. read more

This place sucks. Don't bother especially if you have kids. You will be very disappointed. Turtle Bay and the Sundial Bridge are a must to visit. Due to the lack of employment here, it is better for singles and retirees. read more

First visit and I'll be back in the Spring. The river, the trails, Mt. Shasta, the parks, the nature; it's truly beautiful. I have a good memory about some things and remember many a weather report on the Sac new stations; extreme heat is the norm in the Summer-and we're not talking about 103 degrees valley heat, more like 110-120 degrees. I'll keep our camping agenda geared toward mid to late Fall and early to mid Spring. Looking forward to some quality time with nature; Bob of course, will be fishing. Must do while in Redding, visit the Sundial Bridge and adjoining park along the river, a real treat....we must put bicycles on the list of things to bring! read more

I've lived in many places. I currently live in Redding and have for 1-1/2 years now. I love Redding. I have never seen so many public spaces (i.e, parks and trails) in such a small community in my life. The roads are pretty well maintained and, unless you're around Cypress and Hilltop during rush hour, they are wide, plentiful, and more than sufficient for the population. The public areas are generally pretty clean. My only complaint would be the crime, which there is more of than I'm comfortable with. We definitely need to care for the homeless, rehabilitate the substance abusers, improve job opportunities, support the police force, and crack down on the drugs. Summers are hot, but even Hawaii has its uncomfortable weather. I hope to make Redding my last home. I hope you find it a wonderful place to live as well. read more

This place is absolutely the worst. The garbage truck drives are so bitchy. They complain about absolutely everything. I'd garbage cans aren't out in the middle of the street in a cul-de-sac they aren't capable drivers to pick up cans. Then they go and whine to there supervisors. They force there service on you and charge a fortune for it. In live in the my vista sub division in Shasta county and the driver is absolutely terrible. He whines about everything. I HATE CITY OF REDDING AND THRE PRICED OVER RATED TERRIBLE SERVICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Beautiful scenery with the oddest combination of lovely and pretty crappy people. 100% no place for a young African American or biracial family. Speaking from multiple personal and shared experiences read more

Oh Redding.. What to say? Unlike others I'll start out with the bad, & then switch to the blindingly obvious good things that have kept this town from simply disappearing off the map. The Bad: * Isolation. Any other populace is an hour away - There's Mt Shasta an hour to the north, Chico an hour to the south - half of the trip being down a dangerous road with everyone speeding & trying to pass even when they shouldn't, & Sacramento 2 hours to the south. Nothing to east or west. And the drive to Sacramento is desolate. All this give Redding a very isolated feel, & not in a good way! * Governance. This city could probably be run better by a group of domesticated monkeys. From corruption with the municipal utility, to horrifically bad city planning that's spanned longer than I've been here (13 years, sadly), to corruption with the Police force (just do some googling/youtubing), to special interests played out like crazy. My recommendation is to simply not read the news if you live here - ignore it completely! If you do, Redding will appear to be an OK place with a nice touristy attraction, beautiful - if out of place - palm trees along the main strip, etc. If you read the news it'll just ruin all of that ;) * Job Market. Redding is very well known locally as having a very limited job market. I believe this stems from a few things: Isolation (as noted above), education, & city planning (as noted above.) A disproportionate number of Redding-ites are not educated. Generally people leave here as soon as they can to go to college - those who do generally don't come back, & if they do they end up working at starbucks. But seriously - Redding has an extremely higher than average (for the state of California!) unemployment rate, & that's not even touching on the problem. The real problem is that those who are employed are often employed in retail, food service, or construction & are getting 4-8 hours a week per job with no benefits. Even with a good skillset & education there simply aren't many places to go to work here, as others have noted Redding tends to be strip-mall after strip-mall - you either work at one of those strip malls doing some menial job, you're living on retirement funds, or you happen to be the lucky few who have a real job (most of which are in government, education, or legal.) * People. There are sooo many idiots in this town it's unbelievable. Most of them are either a) male, driving huge trucks & wearing flat billed hats or b) female, not driving due to suspended license, but hard at work popping out kids they can't take care of. * Bethel. If you live here, you know what I mean. Bethel is a local mega-church that operates a school of ministry as well. This school is great, because it attracts people from all over the world. Any time you talk with someone & they have an accent you can rest assured that they're here because of Bethel. The problem with this is that Bethel takes a very aggressive, charismatic approach with their church & school, and so you can't go anywhere in public that's not a bar or seedy club without hearing people talking loudly and excitedly about God (as if they purposefully believe that if you just hear them speaking such good things it will convert you & save your soul.) Now, I am christian, and this annoys the heck out of me - so I can't even imagine what it's like for anyone adverse to organized religion or of a faith that doesn't coincide with Bethel's. Basically, if you go to starbucks, jamba juice, the park, or really anywhere nice and not at all seedy (cause God forbid they go where the sinners are!) you will encounter these people, they will want to lay hands on you & heal you of your depression, your runny nose, your low-paying job, etc. If you ever break a bone and are wearing a cast - do not leave your house or they will get you ;) * Weather. Redding is HOT during summer. We've tied with the Sahara Desert before for the hottest place on earth. And it's more humid than when I lived down in the desert in SoCal. Winters are generally cold but not by any means extremely harsh. It usually snows once or twice, but just enough to make the roads mush & bring out the worst drivers known to man (which Redding is also full of!), not enough to actually be pretty. The Good: * Outdoor activities. Quite simply: If you aren't going to be camping, snowboarding, kayaking, rafting, hiking, snowshoeing, horseback riding, going to the lake, mountain biking, paintballing, or some other outdoor activity - then there is no reason to live here. These are the main things going for Redding, and it does admittedly have a LOT that you can take advantage of, & lots of groups to do them with. All of these activities are under an hour away, many of them can be done within city limits. The ocean is close enough to make a day trip of it. * Gangs. There are none. Not for real. Not like SoCal or the Bay. People think there are, but if you're not from here you'll just chuckle inside. read more

Redding is surrounded by lakes, rivers and hiking trails. Nice slow paced city. Not much to do here unless if you're into hiking. It gets hot during the summer months. They do have a lot of restaurants for a small city. read more

Redding is a great place to live. Good schools, and most people are very honest and down to earth. I have lived in Redding for 9 years and love it. The mountain biking and hiking is the best of anywhere I have ever been. Hundreds of miles of trails. The hunting and fishing is also second to none. Sure the summers get hot but that is just population control. Fall, winter, and spring are amazing. Unfortunately prop 47 has released the thugs back on the streets that should be locked up and crime has increased but that is being seen all over California. Oh I didn't mention boating and swimming, Whiskeytown lake and Lake Shasta are awesome. Clean water and great for boating. There is also a great christian community within Redding, Bethel and Neighborhood Church just to name a couple. Yes Redding has a homeless population but most of the community is full of really good people. read more

I stopped here for a small weekend get away and was very disappointed. Ended up staying in the hotel most of the time with the AC on. Found out later that high 90's and 100's were the norm during the summer. There was no one on the streets except the homeless. Couldn't wait to get out. Pretty on paper but miserable in person. read more