As you drive up Highway 99 headed for Redding, you notice on your navigation system that you should be passing through a town called Red Bluff. If that is true, where are the lights? Where are the cars? The highway has only one lane in each direction as it enters the city. Can this be called a highway? For that matter, can this be called a city? Ah, there are the lights. On the side of the street sits a gas station with several pumps, then another, and another. Still, it’s only a few hours past dark and there are no cars on the road. You plod onward through the thick silence. How far is it to Redding? Another thirty miles. You stop for gas. The station is closed, so you use your credit card and fill up before anyone else has a chance to stop here. Back on the road, you look for signs to Interstate 5 North. As you pass McDonald’s, you see it ahead on the right. You enter the freeway and then see something hugely bright ahead. A Ford dealership signals the end of Red Bluff, its lights envying only Las Vegas in their luminescence. As you pass it, you make your escape. For you, like most people, Red Bluff is just a stop along the way; but for 13,147 people1, this is home.
When compared with most cities, Red Bluff is small. This is shown in its population as well as its structure. There are no tall buildings or malls or universities, because none are required. Shasta College, a local community college, has a branch in Red Bluff for the students who want to stay close to home or want to try out a few things before deciding on a major course of study. High school students either go to Red Bluff, the public school, or Mercy, the private school. These students come from all around, as Red Bluff High School draws students from an area of almost 2,000 square miles2. Students who live in Red Bluff seem to have reached the consensus that there is nothing to do there, and like to spend their time in nearby cities seeking entertainment. They have a valid point. Nearly everything of interest to young people in Red Bluff is on a stretch of Main Street less than a mile long. These main attractions include, and are severely limited to: a bowling alley with miniature golf, a run-down movie theater, a skate park, and Wal-Mart. Yes, in this area of low entertainment, Wal-Mart has been upgraded from a store to a hangout.
In contrast to the number of social hotspots is the vastness of the orchards. If you’re looking for trees, come no further. Red Bluff’s outskirts are lined with dozens of orchards and fields. Some of the main crops are walnuts, almonds, prunes and hay. In the spring, pollen is thick in the air, so if you have allergies be sure to bring some anti-histamines. And be careful where you park, because you might find that when you return to your car it’s completely yellow. But it is a beautiful sight, to see the highway lined by blooming trees and grass that is fresh and light green. And in the midst of the orchards are family businesses, contributing their lives to the service of the community, selling meat or repairing cars. Houses, businesses, orchards, and parks also line the banks of the Sacramento River, which splits Red Bluff in half. In the summer as the temperature reaches easily to 100 or 110 degrees Fahrenheit, people can be seen fishing, swimming, and generally having a good time in the waters which remain about 52 degrees year round.
The lack of outside entertainment is probably a large contributor to the sense of community shared here. Although Red Bluff has been expanding over the last few years, and traffic has been getting slightly worse (especially when school lets out around 3:15 pm), it still has the feel of a small town. People know each other well because they entertain each other in their own homes instead of at the mall. The person bagging your groceries or renting you a movie is probably someone you knew in high school, or someone you still hang out with. Because Red Bluff isn’t packed with big businesses, there is room for everything and a place for everybody, and that place is close to caring neighbors. If each person in the world is separated by only six degrees from every other person, then in Red Bluff the separation is probably only one degree.
1 “Red Bluff, CA (Overview).” STI: ERsys. 29 October, 2002. 7 February, 2008.
2 “Where is Red Bluff?” 27 June, 2006. Red Bluff Union High School District. 7 February, 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment