That's one of the great things about California, it's a large and diverse state with plenty of options where to live. You only need to decide what things are important to you and what you're willing to compromise on. (i.e. housing cost, weather, entertainment, etc.) Every place you can decide to live has its pros and cons.
That is why it is so funny listening to some of the responses California has everything. Still a Western state. Very rural. Visalia/Tulare County is one of the best representatives of that.
@@xxchoo3750 There is live music and amazing food for a reasonable price. I don't know why he said it wasn't for foodies. It may not have Michellen star restaurants but there is plenty more than just fast food and Mexican restaurants especially downtown. IOndian, Greek, El Salvadorian, Japanese, Italian, Brazilian, Thai/Hmong, American, and of course Mexican. There is a decent night life for a city of it's size as well. Lots of live music.
I was in Visalia last year and you're right, the downtown is very nice! I couldn't live in the Central Valley because of the heat. The people there say 'But it's only for three or four months a year!' But I was expecting a smaller version of Fresno and Visalia is MUCH nicer.
I grew up in Tulare and we would always drive down the road to our neighbor city for more amenities and shopping. Lots of good memories there and happy to see you share your experiences there. As with other San Joaquin Valley towns it’s been depressing seeing some of the social struggles and slow deterioration of things, despite rising population. The always increasing summer temps and bad air quality is what kills me now when going back to visit. But when it’s timed right, the air is clear and you can see the snow-capped Sierras, it’s a beautiful place.
@@mkrull1 If you want a nice place to retire move up to northern cali. Up by the town of paradise that burned down. Lots of outdoor rec. Fishing mining hiking and the people are alot nicer. If you like meth the heat and the smell of cow shit then Visalia is the place for you.
@@user-kl1kp1yd7l I have a sister who lives in San Diego County. For southern California $900 doesn’t sound so bad. How is the weather does it get cold? Does it get blazing hot where I need a powerful air conditioner etc. does California the state that is tax retirement benefits?
From NJ, south Jersey, and visited Visalia back in July. I was visiting some farms out that way. I really enjoyed myself there and thought if I ever moved to California, considering costs, crime, and all that it was a very nice area to consider. I stayed at the Marriot near Main st, walked to that Starbucks often, it's a good walking town. Overall I loved it; great food, awesome weather (we don't get that kind of heat without humidity in NJ), and a lot of things to see.
Hey Visalia ..greetings from Kingsburg we're just up the road north on hwy 99 on the county lines of both Fresno and Tulare...Kingsburg pop. (13,500) is a very small version of Visalia in cleaniness..nice older home neighborhoods good schools nice place to live....Visalia is our role model.
I live up the road in Fresno but have to travel the 45 minutes down to Visalia for work quite often and can say with some authority that for a small, but growing city in more ways than one, Visalia with its 130K pop. has alot more going for it than Fresno with its 500K pop.
Same. Im from fresno too and take my sis to the college there( on mooney blvd i think) and it has a lot of better food spots already and the freeways are a lot better.
I know right haha. When do you ever here Tulare county in general on CZcams I never do. I prefer living in Exeter, Woodlake, or Three Rivers cuz it’s more country but that’s just me
I live in Fresno and I’ve made several little day trips over to Visalia before, it’s really a pretty nice town. They have an impressive mall for a town of that size as well.
oh wow! Was just in Visalia last weekend to visit my cousin who just moved out there from the LA area and found it to be a charming city. Being originally from the Bay Area and now living in the LA area, would see signs for Visalia while driving along the 99 but always thought there was nothing there but a small airport and a Holiday Inn, since the actual city is tucked away a few miles east from the freeway. Last weekend was the first time I actually went inside the city and was surprised to see it was much bigger than I thought. And then to find out the good ol Geography King is originally from there!!! That is awesome!!
If your aimming for city life but not a big city feel Visalia is your place if you like seeing more mountains and fields that buildings I’d honestly check out Woodlake, Exeter, Three Rivers and other satellite cities
I grew up in pixley. Went to high school in Tulare (tulare western). I lived in visalia for a few years while attending COS. Now I live in east texas. I remember how nice visalia is, tulare County in general is a nice place (pixley is a backwater tbh). The summers were pure hell. Summer is one of the few things about the San Joaquin Valley that I don't miss. Tule fog is pretty bad too. 🤷🏽
My mom grew up in Visalia, and her parents lived there my whole life. We didn't go down that often. Too hot in the summer, and the tule fog in the winter.
Yeah, the whole tri-county area has foggy-day schedules, sorta how other places get snow days. Except foggy days were usually only delays, not whole days off.
I was born in Visalia. Had great childhood there. I'm 66 now and haven't been back for a few years. I loved Moonies Grove Park! But mostly what remember we're the peacocks and oak trees. Both were protected. Against the law to cut down an oak tree. There's a house there with an oak tree in the center of it. They built the house around it. And the peacocks we're everywhere!
Gonna disagree with you on the food scene. I'm not saying it's world-class, but you passed by an Indian, Italian, Quesadilla-specialty and New American restaurant without mentioning it. On top of that there's local pop-ups and restaurants that serve Jamaican, Lebanese, Taquerias, Laotian, Vietnamese, Sushi Kuu and many fusion foods. That courthouse turned apartments is actually a boutique hotel with a rooftop restaurant and craft cocktails which was recently named the Hottest 20 hotels in the world by Trip Advisor.
Great points about food, a little more research was warranted. One thing that some other cities do a bit better is provide guides for shopping and dining. Lodi may be kinda dead downtown, but you know where things are from their kiosks. AND, the Farmer's Market on Saturday is amazing for food. I make a point to hit those kinds of markets when travelling to other cities. Visalia's is certainly not San Diego's market but it is WAY better than most.
Thank you for mentioning this! I was going to mention the same thing. Our pizza is the best in the state and probably in the nation. I was very disappointed in New York Pizza when I went a few years back.
I agree, I feel like we have great food options here. Pita Kabob, Sequoia Brewing Co, Planing Mill, Elderwood, Brewbakers, Vintage Press, Fugazzi's, etc. My boss from the north part of the state is always impressed with our restaurant options when she comes to visit.
I agree with you! I grew up in Visalia and saw the food scene develop into a pretty awesome place to be for a foodie. I've since moved all over the globe and find myself constantly missing the food in Visalia.
I'm retirement shopping. I want lots of parks and public spaces. Bike and walking paths and plazas and open markets. These have become my priorities. Great content as is usual.
@@Svveet69 I've been checking out Redding but admittedly the fires scared me off. If a giant vacuum could suck all the tweakers out of Clearlake, I'd like to live there...
@@Svveet69 Thanks for the suggestion. Right now, I'm in far southeastern CA right on the AZ border, but the culture (or lack of), climate & isolation are killing me. I still like rural living, though, so someplace central or northern in CA would appeal to me.
@@celestepalm6949 Too bad about Clearlake. My great aunt & uncle used to live there back in the '80s and I remember thinking I'd like to live there someday, but it's too far out of my price range now, plus there are too many tweakers where I currently live. No need to move near more of them.
Visalia is a small suburban city of 140k population. Not a town like the others around of 50k or less population .. But it def could use some more modern restaurant's like BJs or Ruthc Chris or Yardhouse. .
I CAN'T BELIEVE GEOGRAPHY KING IS FROM HERE!! I am moving in November and can't wait! The woman got a great job in town. Gonna be all over the National Parks! Groovy Cali baby!
When adjusting for average salary, Tulare county is actually one of the least affordable counties in the state. It only looks affordable because 70% of the people there are poor hispanics making 30k a year. So a 450k home that looks cheap to bay area people is actually very unaffordable locally.
Thank you! I'm a student in Visalia and my life sucks ass but it breaks my heart everyday seeing how many homeless we have and how hard people work just to keep the lights on
There are apartments around 100k and homes with need of TLCfor about 300k Id say that 450k price tag is not for the first time home buyer unless they have solid gains.
I have been up the sequoia nat park. Beautiful . Stopped in Visalia to gear up for camping . Nice town. Thought it was cool. The drive from so cal is quite a distance on the 99 and not … too scenic but nice when you get to Visalia . Good vid .
I might be inclined to visit either Pismo Beach or Visalia since they're only 3 hours away from where I'm at (I'm a Bay Area native). I'm not gonna be in California if what I'm planning goes through successfully as I'll be going to school in North Carolina but I do wanna visit back every summer since it's my home state after all. Love your content Kyle.
I am a Visalia Native. Our downtown is pretty special and I love how close we are to the Giant Redwood Trees. Every time I walk through them I feel like I am riding a speeder bike from Star Wars. Pismo is a great beach town for sure. It is super hot in the summer for about 4-6 weeks. We get into the triple digits I believe it was around 114 this June…but just an hour drive and the weather drops to the 70s either in the mountains or at the coast. Tule fog has not been an issue for 3 years, but it is quite the weather phenomenon. You literally cannot see the house across the street…but everyone drives the normal speed limit and are not phased by it…Brewbakers is one of my favorite restaurants ever (I recommend the Rueben sandwich with potato wedges and a Honey wheat beer).
Nice video. I drove through Visalia on the way to Sequoia National Park. Pretty area and more low key than other parts of CA. Fresno is also relatively affordable by CA standards and not a dump. Thanks for the video Kyle. Safe travels.
So great to see some love for Visalia online. I feel my hometown has the opportunity to be one of the best little cities in the state. Hopefully we will get more love from out of staters and tourists not just Bay Area and LA developers/renters.
Very relevant video, GK. My antenna went up b4 when u mentioned ur hometown & I looked at Zillow then/will look at again. The one thing that turned us off about California the last time we were there in 2019 was the haze from the wildfires that spread across a good chunk of the northern half of the state including the Central Valley, and the forced brownouts - it was dystopian. If Visalia is not prone to that, I’m all the more interested. You do a great job - a GoPro camera will help with your stabilization while you walk and talk & it has good audio pickup as well.
Addendum: read on wikipedia that Visalia has one of the highest air pollution rates in the U.S. ... Add to some of the other comments = scratch. Too bad - has some good points as you noted.
Thanks for posting this as it brought back a flood of mostly good memories for me. I lived in Visalia for 15 years from 1985 until 2000. I truly enjoyed my time there but I moved away for two reasons you forgot to mention in your video. That is the foggy season from October to March. Going without seeing the sun for days (even weeks) on end really can mess with your mind as it did me. The foggy season always brought on a deep & dark depression for me. I hated it! Second was the disease, Valley Fever. Since Visalia & the surrounding area is mainly farmland, the spores that cause this disease are common in the soil & are dispersed when farmers till the soil. Sadly, both my parents caught it & both nearly died. That's when I decided to move to another part of California.
The Valley’s Tule Fog has been really diminished over the years. The rainy season is hardly around anymore. Microclimate areas are the first to disappear as climate change ramps up.
@@SandrA-hr5zk yeah right. The fog ain’t going anywhere. It may have diminished but when we have a strong rainy season. We can get consecutive fog for weeks.
I agree about the depression and the fog, I lived in Seattle for years, and I left because of the gloomy horrible weather. Where would you go instead? Anywhere with less expensive property taxes, low crime, parks, and high quality of life? I do not need the beach. Thanks in advance.
Another great video, I wish I could be on the road every time you upload lol but if I ever end up in Southern California again I'll remember this one. It's pretty cool to see your hometown after hearing about it in your previous videos
I think Visalia is one of the nicest cities/towns in the San Joaquin Valley. I grew up 20 miles west of Visalia in Hanford, CA and went to COS during my first 2 years of college back in the early 80's. I learned a lot about geography and physical geography from a really great teacher at COS at that time named Mr. James Scofield. To this day, 40 years later, I'm surprised at how much I remember from his classes, particularly regarding physical geography now that I live in Las Vegas and am surrounded by land and rock formations that remind me of what I learned in his classes at COS.
I agree, Its quiet and its two hours to the beach or the mountains or the desert. Three hours to SF and 4 hours to LA/Disneyland. The bad is the summer heat and smog. Cheers!
I'm thinking of moving there, but I was wondering if people have lots of problems with cockroaches or waterbugs year round or only in the summer? I know is a silly/weird question to ask, but I was visiting a friend and there was a log of waterbugs and I got scared. By any chance have you had any problems with cockroach problem/infestation or heard from anyone else since you moved there?
@@vthegonzalez it depends where at in Visalia you move too. I dont know where you live now but Visalia is in the valley sooo its get super hot in summer! Where I live in Visalia I dont have any issues with roaches or water bugs but we have a lot of mosquitoes and small spiders outside our house not really inside but overrall Visalia is a really nice town. Everyone is very friendly, great restaurants, bars and atmosphere. I love it!
If you're a foodie, there's several places to check out: Glicks, Bistro di Bufala, Quesadilla Gorilla, Brewbakers, Davorn's, Marriott Lounge, Amigos, Thai Basil, Shanghai, just to name a few. Local, high quality stuff.
The Darling (old former courthouse) is not a apartment complex. It’s a upscale hotel. As I said it’s called, the darling. They have a rooftop bar for hotel stayers. And there are no skyscrapers in Visalia. Those are called mid rises.
California is cheap any where except the Bay Area, LA/OC and San Diego. Basically all major cities. Towns like visilia, Tulare, Bakersfield and Victorville are very affordable.
Yeah but most of the affordable areas in California actually look and feel like a low income area. Visalia is a nice middle ground compared to many others cause it has many of the pros of a low income area without all of the cons
Nice work, Geography King Live on assignment. I already have a family vacation plan to visit Monterey-Hearst Castle-Steinbeck Museum-SLO. I’ll add Pismo Beach to the list. Maybe I’ll just move there in retirement.
I'm in Southern Cali & Visalia is about 5 hours from here. The small surrounding towns remind me of the midwest, it's a very cute area. We usually will visit Visalia when we stay in Three Rivers near Sequoia National Park.
I lived in Visalia for 9 months in 1980. I worked at Lyons Restaurant on the corner of Caldwell and Mooney. That was the last part of town until you got to 137 in Tulare (besides Mooney Grove and K-JUG Radio station). I lived in some cra**y apartments on Walnut nick named “sin city” for 3 months then moved into a trailer park around the corner on Divisadero. I wonder if that trailer park is still there. The mangers of it were named Cubby and Betty. There was only about 40K people back then but I found Visalia to be a nice clean small town. Very thing you needed was on Mooney Blvd and really no need to go into “town”. I remember getting drunk at Flintstones and almost getting into a fight…lol. Lover Ln was WAY out of town and 198 was a two lane road out to 99. The Holiday Inn out there was pretty cool inside too. Found memories of 93277
It does. You have to be careful because what happens is people get pushed to certain areas. Know more about it is in Southern California. For the most part you are right. I would throw Tehachapi in there as well. As crazy as this sounds I use to go to the Central Valley for civilization because my duty station was China Lakes in Ridgecrest. Bakersfield was going to the city
I've lived here in Visalia for the past 16 years. The reason why it's low-cost California is because it's in the San Joaquin Valley, aka central California. Norcal and Socal are roughly 175 miles in either direction, and central coast being a smidge over a 2 hour drive. Things are a bit of a drive, but that's what makes it affordable.
I used to think the same thing. Then I traveled around the country and realized it's pretty nice. If you think Visalia sucks you should see similarly sized cities in other parts of the country.
All Y'all haters stay the hell out,we don't want you here ruining our city,there's enough bullshitters around here as it is,stay in SMELL LA. and the liberal nittwitts bay area!
You can drive from Visalia for 3 hours north south east west and be in some of the most beautiful places in California... amazing low-cost location as compared to the rest of the state ! Amazing fruit and vegetables at Side Road stands and farmers markets... the best in the country... snow skiing 2 hours away China Peak
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Visalia Rawhide, the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, who play at Recreation Park. I haven't been there in years, but it's my understanding that the O'Malley family has improved the park.
I live in Kings county so Visalia is only about a 30 minute drive. Do prefer to go there over Fresno for things like shopping and food. Closer and just less people so less annoyances.
Man! Kyle I literally went right through there last month. Live in Ga but went from San Diego all the way to Fortuna making rounds. Love your part of the state
Visalia was talked about a lot prior to the 2008 mortgage recession. I remember being a kid and listening to my uncles talk about moving to either Visalia or Bakersfield. Most of the people I know moved to Bakersfield, and so did around 100,000 folks based on city-data statistics 😂.
Stayed in Visalia for 2 nights in July 2010. Don't recall it being blistering hot, but must have been pretty warm, being July. Visited Kings Canyon National Park and loved it (visited Sequoia National Park 2 years earlier-didn't go to Kings Canyon also despite them being right next to each other because the day I went to Sequoia I had car troubles and just relaxed by the pool of my hotel in Porterville the next day, but I digress). I recall eating out at a Sizzler in Visalia (don't chastise me for not eating at a local joint Kyle!) and noticed that a large majority of the other patrons were latinos (I'm white). Very family oriented and civil group of patrons. No complaints here. Being in town only briefly, I didn't go out and about since I spent the entire 1 full day I had at KC NP. I've taken a number of cross country road trips (not as many as you though, Kyle), mainly to go to as many national parks and national monuments that can be accessed easily by car and are also a reasonable distance from hotels. Sorry, but the air quality, heat and fog make Visalia a nice place to visit but not to live in, for me. Great channel.
Visalia is my hometown I love to go downtown and eat at restaurants if you want somewhere expensive I would recumbent the vintage press I also love the darling I always drive past it wherever I go downtown they have great food great people also there are a lot of other restaurants to go no matter what you like wether it’s Mexican food Italian food and nothing is to expensive and out of budget and a bunch of sites to see and I still live here today and still think the same also if you like sports go to a Visalia rawhide baseball game
Coming from Pittsburgh, I can't imagine living somewhere that small yet relatively expensive (except the property taxes). I sometimes don't realize how good we have it here. Thanks for showing us your hometown!
I’m also from Pittsburgh and I lived in a small town on the central coast of California for 3 years and I couldn’t agree more lol really puts things into perspective
@@californiamade5608 understood, but we’re comparing two cities against one another. Pittsburgh is a city and California is a state, but in the case of Visalia vs Pittsburgh I would definitely say Pittsburgh gives you more bang for your buck. However, California has way more to offer than Pennsylvania in my opinion lol
I remember when that store was new in the 90s. People were like, "who's bringing that hippie stuff to the Valley?". It was very forward thinking and very "unVisalia". I seem to remember it being originally called Watson's Veggie Garden or something like that.
Not even 30 seconds into the video I swear and I ain’t going to lie tears came out I moved away from Visalia in 2015 born there as well and haven’t been back since seeing this is on some other lvl nostalgia type shit
Grew up in Reedley in the ‘80s. Spent my summers packing fruit and floating the Kings River. Used to cruise Mooney on Saturday nights. Left to go to college and get a career.
They banned cruising on Mooney many, many MANY moons ago. Shamelessly, I also spent countless hours weekend evenings in the 80's driving up and down, back and forth from Caldwell to Tulare Ave wasting $1.09@ gallon gas in an effort to see and be seen. Damn that was so fun! 🤦 🤣😁 Lol! Blessings! 🙏
I liked living there except for the smelly fog, which is just about every day. Not to mention Valley Fever, Wearing a mask there is almost a must, even without the Pandemic
I moved from the Bay Area (Oakland) back in 2008, I was able to Buy a Property for only 100K My Nephew just bought a House in Oakland for 800k, Love Visalia, Miss my Family but the cost of living is Outrageous!
It is a cow and farm town. Make sure to mention that. Lots of cows around the area. Visalia born and raised. And if you have asthma beware the air quality of anywhere in the valley. It’s a beautiful town though. We love it.
Very nice video, but please quit telling our secrets! I live in the orange groves between Lindsay & Porterville, about 3 miles from the original 'Orange Works Cafe' at the stop light on 65 in Strathmore( there are 2 stoplights in town). Wife and I did shopping and appts. in the Big City - Visalia - today, about 1/2 hr north, Had a good morning and came home to beat the heat. 106 to 110 this last week, cooled down today to 96, heat is promised to be back next mid-week. And yes, 'tis true. Orange Works makes the most marvelous daily homemade ice cream, and a 2nd daily flavor (always as good usually a bit exotic), along w/ a few deli sandwiches. A great place to impress our out-of-town guests visiting the boonies, they can't believe such a marvelous hole in the wall in the middle of orange groves, packing houses, small town Strathmore High. I moved here for the job in '82, expecting to promote and move within a few years. this is such a fine place to raise my family, wife and I stayed on. Kids went to school and careers have scattered them a 1/2 day drive north and south, and I do hate So. Cal. and Bay area traffic, but that,s how it goes
Like some other commenters, I am retirement shopping and this helps. Think I've lived on the plains long enough and I'm ready to hit the right coast or the left coast.
I like Visalia. I have also lived in San Francisco and am back in Oakland. I wont live in Visalia over Oakland but I'd rather live in Visalia then San Francisco.
I've only heard of Visalia because I was part of an architectural marketing group and one of the three partners lives there. Really interesting video, thanks! I'm not sure why they've come up in my feed but I've also seen some fascinating and scary videos about Salton Sea. I'm willing to bet that makes Barstow look like paradise! And that orange ice cream in the last scene looks really awesome. Being away from the coast and agrarian is the weather is more like the Midwest? Hot summers and colder winters?
The Darling is a hotel, not an apartment. There hasn’t been a Farmer’s market in downtown Visalia for several years. And Visalia was voted one of the best mid sized city for food by Rand McNally, so yeah he’s way wrong about Visalia not being a foodie town.
Actually I go to Visalia a lot. I'm in Visalia right now. I just didn't bother responding to the previous comment, but I will now. The Rand McNally ranking was completely ridiculous. I have no idea how they chose Visalia. I like Visalia. This is an entire video on it. But don't kid yourself- it's not a foodie town. There's a difference between a town that has good restaurants and one having an eclectic mix of international, fusion, and high end fare. I like Rosa's, Crawdaddy's, and a bunch of the small Mexican joints around town. But it definitely lacks the types of restaurants that would lead to it being called a foodie town.
@@wintonhudelson2252 Because of the elevation change it gets more rainfall than the Central Valley. What they call mountain humidity in Colorado is felt there a lot of times in the summer Twice the amount. Crazy thing it is only 30 miles away. One of the more unique parts of California. Not the Central Valley and not the Sierras. Little bit of both
It does get pretty hot in the summer (low 110s at times) but not nearly as much as places like Phoenix. Like the majority of the state, water is an increasingly scarce resource. I really hope CA has a better water year next time around because here in Sac, we are still far below 50% of normal.
🤦 The water is fine-unless you plan on farming and need to irrigate acres of crops. California is still in a drought, so of course there are some restrictions-like designated lawn watering hours/days, nozzles required on garden hoses, etc. (Nothing outrageous or too extreme.) And if I may say so, it tastes great straight from the tap! 😉
if the air quality wasn't so bad I would move back. we are 7 generation Visalians when mooney was orchards. our family had the saloon house on church street for gold rush travellers.
That's one of the great things about California, it's a large and diverse state with plenty of options where to live. You only need to decide what things are important to you and what you're willing to compromise on. (i.e. housing cost, weather, entertainment, etc.) Every place you can decide to live has its pros and cons.
That is why it is so funny listening to some of the responses
California has everything. Still a Western state. Very rural. Visalia/Tulare County is one of the best representatives of that.
@@xxchoo3750 There is live music and amazing food for a reasonable price. I don't know why he said it wasn't for foodies. It may not have Michellen star restaurants but there is plenty more than just fast food and Mexican restaurants especially downtown. IOndian, Greek, El Salvadorian, Japanese, Italian, Brazilian, Thai/Hmong, American, and of course Mexican. There is a decent night life for a city of it's size as well. Lots of live music.
I was in Visalia last year and you're right, the downtown is very nice! I couldn't live in the Central Valley because of the heat. The people there say 'But it's only for three or four months a year!' But I was expecting a smaller version of Fresno and Visalia is MUCH nicer.
4 months of heat ain't that bad. But then again I'm used to it
@@juankroosfrausto7411 Let's hope it _stays_ only 4 months max.
I grew up in Tulare and we would always drive down the road to our neighbor city for more amenities and shopping. Lots of good memories there and happy to see you share your experiences there. As with other San Joaquin Valley towns it’s been depressing seeing some of the social struggles and slow deterioration of things, despite rising population. The always increasing summer temps and bad air quality is what kills me now when going back to visit. But when it’s timed right, the air is clear and you can see the snow-capped Sierras, it’s a beautiful place.
Yes, too bad the air is bad 11 months out of the year and hot as hell.
Likewise, we would go to Tulare for something different or to got to the outlet mall.
Drove through Visalia in Feb from L.A to San Francisco. Definitely underrated.
This looks like a nice place to retire. Can you live on $4000 a month?
@@mkrull1 If you want a nice place to retire move up to northern cali. Up by the town of paradise that burned down. Lots of outdoor rec. Fishing mining hiking and the people are alot nicer. If you like meth the heat and the smell of cow shit then Visalia is the place for you.
@@Svveet69 Hi. Where is it affordable in Northern CA. I plan to retire next year
If your renting it's about 900 dollars a month and there's a great grocery store called best buy market you should buy there
@@user-kl1kp1yd7l I have a sister who lives in San Diego County. For southern California $900 doesn’t sound so bad. How is the weather does it get cold? Does it get blazing hot where I need a powerful air conditioner etc. does California the state that is tax retirement benefits?
i moved from Visalia California to St. Louis Missouri 7 years ago, and i miss it so much!
You hella downgraded
From NJ, south Jersey, and visited Visalia back in July. I was visiting some farms out that way. I really enjoyed myself there and thought if I ever moved to California, considering costs, crime, and all that it was a very nice area to consider. I stayed at the Marriot near Main st, walked to that Starbucks often, it's a good walking town. Overall I loved it; great food, awesome weather (we don't get that kind of heat without humidity in NJ), and a lot of things to see.
Yea, Property Crime is high in those small California towns.
Hey Visalia ..greetings from Kingsburg we're just up the road north on hwy 99 on the county lines of both Fresno and Tulare...Kingsburg pop. (13,500) is a very small version of Visalia in cleaniness..nice older home neighborhoods good schools nice place to live....Visalia is our role model.
"They shouldn't have, the beer is not that good" -- Kyle LOL
He's the Geography King, not the Sales King.
They make the beer with milk
Hey! I grew up in Hanford. It's growing but I always wanted to move to Visalia when I was younger. Really cool to see it featured in a video.
It's expensive 😩 even renting expensive 😫
Visalia is a beautiful city to live in. It had a good music scene years ago too.
I live up the road in Fresno but have to travel the 45 minutes down to Visalia for work quite often and can say with some authority that for a small, but growing city in more ways than one, Visalia with its 130K pop. has alot more going for it than Fresno with its 500K pop.
Same. Im from fresno too and take my sis to the college there( on mooney blvd i think) and it has a lot of better food spots already and the freeways are a lot better.
I live about 20 mins away from Visalia. It’s crazy to see Visalia getting talked about on CZcams😅
I know right haha. When do you ever here Tulare county in general on CZcams I never do. I prefer living in Exeter, Woodlake, or Three Rivers cuz it’s more country but that’s just me
for realllllll I stay in visa rn😂
@🌿POPULATION-_-420☁ simping haaaaaaaaard bro haha
@🌿POPULATION-_-420☁ lmfao oooooooooooooooooooooooook
@🌿POPULATION-_-420☁ you simping hard af sir
I live in Fresno and I’ve made several little day trips over to Visalia before, it’s really a pretty nice town. They have an impressive mall for a town of that size as well.
To us in the central valley visalia is a city not a town . I understand you big city folks differ but respect our customs
Fun fact: Visalia's mall is the first indoor mall in California when it opened in 1964
oh wow! Was just in Visalia last weekend to visit my cousin who just moved out there from the LA area and found it to be a charming city. Being originally from the Bay Area and now living in the LA area, would see signs for Visalia while driving along the 99 but always thought there was nothing there but a small airport and a Holiday Inn, since the actual city is tucked away a few miles east from the freeway. Last weekend was the first time I actually went inside the city and was surprised to see it was much bigger than I thought.
And then to find out the good ol Geography King is originally from there!!! That is awesome!!
It’s going to be difficult but I’m going to watch a video about potentially retiring to CA with an open mind- thanks for posting 👍
If your aimming for city life but not a big city feel Visalia is your place if you like seeing more mountains and fields that buildings I’d honestly check out Woodlake, Exeter, Three Rivers and other satellite cities
I grew up in pixley. Went to high school in Tulare (tulare western). I lived in visalia for a few years while attending COS. Now I live in east texas. I remember how nice visalia is, tulare County in general is a nice place (pixley is a backwater tbh). The summers were pure hell. Summer is one of the few things about the San Joaquin Valley that I don't miss. Tule fog is pretty bad too. 🤷🏽
The summers in East Texas are better? Haha
@R R I didn’t even think about that, was more thinking about the humidity of East texas
I graduated from Tulare Western too! Class of 2017 😎
@🌿POPULATION-_-420☁ not lying 🤥
If you don’t mind me asking do you prefer living in Texas? Or would you consider moving back?
As a Visalia native I can confirm Orangeworks is very good. Also I’d recommend Taylor’s hotdogs
Good to see you back in the hometown! Big love to the family! Your cousin, Jenny
I need to get back up to the Bay area. I wasn't able to squeeze it in this past trip.
Kyle has a cousin? I wonder if she’s hot.
@Jeremy Barcelo 🤨📸
Loved this more “vlog” type of video. Hopefully there’ll be more in the future!
My mom grew up in Visalia, and her parents lived there my whole life. We didn't go down that often. Too hot in the summer, and the tule fog in the winter.
Yeah, the whole tri-county area has foggy-day schedules, sorta how other places get snow days. Except foggy days were usually only delays, not whole days off.
Went through Visalia recently on the way to Sequoia and Kings Canyon.
Loved it
I drive from Columbus Ohio to and stay downtown in Visalia every year for a convention.... Visalia situated in the middle and center of California !!!
I was born in Visalia. Had great childhood there. I'm 66 now and haven't been back for a few years. I loved Moonies Grove Park! But mostly what remember we're the peacocks and oak trees. Both were protected. Against the law to cut down an oak tree. There's a house there with an oak tree in the center of it. They built the house around it. And the peacocks we're everywhere!
Noooo! Visalia is supposed to be our best kept secret!!! Speaking as a San Diego transplant who moved to the area in 2019😂
Don't worry, I'm here trying to steer People towards Redding... I think that Redding is Where it's at. You can have Visalia...
@@neckofthewoodsupdated7549 Never been to Redding but sounds good
@@neckofthewoodsupdated7549 Shasta county is great 👍
@@lynksis12; I've been through Visalia many times.... It's nice... Redding is a little bit Bigger Though.
@@neckofthewoodsupdated7549 lol Redding is smaller than Visalia. Redding has a population of 92,000. Visalia has a population of 140,000.
Gonna disagree with you on the food scene. I'm not saying it's world-class, but you passed by an Indian, Italian, Quesadilla-specialty and New American restaurant without mentioning it. On top of that there's local pop-ups and restaurants that serve Jamaican, Lebanese, Taquerias, Laotian, Vietnamese, Sushi Kuu and many fusion foods.
That courthouse turned apartments is actually a boutique hotel with a rooftop restaurant and craft cocktails which was recently named the Hottest 20 hotels in the world by Trip Advisor.
Great points about food, a little more research was warranted. One thing that some other cities do a bit better is provide guides for shopping and dining. Lodi may be kinda dead downtown, but you know where things are from their kiosks. AND, the Farmer's Market on Saturday is amazing for food. I make a point to hit those kinds of markets when travelling to other cities. Visalia's is certainly not San Diego's market but it is WAY better than most.
Thank you for mentioning this! I was going to mention the same thing. Our pizza is the best in the state and probably in the nation. I was very disappointed in New York Pizza when I went a few years back.
I agree, I feel like we have great food options here. Pita Kabob, Sequoia Brewing Co, Planing Mill, Elderwood, Brewbakers, Vintage Press, Fugazzi's, etc. My boss from the north part of the state is always impressed with our restaurant options when she comes to visit.
I agree with you! I grew up in Visalia and saw the food scene develop into a pretty awesome place to be for a foodie. I've since moved all over the globe and find myself constantly missing the food in Visalia.
Visalia native here, great to see this video.
This question might sound silly 🙈 but I was wondering if you know if Visalia has a problem with cockroaches?
@@vthegonzalez Depends what area you’re at
I'm retirement shopping. I want lots of parks and public spaces. Bike and walking paths and plazas and open markets. These have become my priorities. Great content as is usual.
Retirement shopper here, too. Good luck to both of us!
Check out northern California. Much cheaper housing, lots of places to go. Outdoor rec lakes etc
@@Svveet69 I've been checking out Redding but admittedly the fires scared me off.
If a giant vacuum could suck all the tweakers out of Clearlake, I'd like to live there...
@@Svveet69 Thanks for the suggestion. Right now, I'm in far southeastern CA right on the AZ border, but the culture (or lack of), climate & isolation are killing me. I still like rural living, though, so someplace central or northern in CA would appeal to me.
@@celestepalm6949 Too bad about Clearlake. My great aunt & uncle used to live there back in the '80s and I remember thinking I'd like to live there someday, but it's too far out of my price range now, plus there are too many tweakers where I currently live. No need to move near more of them.
Visalia is a small suburban city of 140k population. Not a town like the others around of 50k or less population .. But it def could use some more modern restaurant's like BJs or Ruthc Chris or Yardhouse. .
Visalia: halfway between the Sierra and the sea, halfway between LA and San Francisco and halfway between heaven and earth.
I CAN'T BELIEVE GEOGRAPHY KING IS FROM HERE!! I am moving in November and can't wait! The woman got a great job in town. Gonna be all over the National Parks! Groovy Cali baby!
This is where my grandma is from. She moved to LA in her 20's and never went back but I wana visit one day just to see what she saw
Nothing biggie bro its just small azz city bro
When adjusting for average salary, Tulare county is actually one of the least affordable counties in the state. It only looks affordable because 70% of the people there are poor hispanics making 30k a year. So a 450k home that looks cheap to bay area people is actually very unaffordable locally.
Thank you! I'm a student in Visalia and my life sucks ass but it breaks my heart everyday seeing how many homeless we have and how hard people work just to keep the lights on
There are apartments around 100k and homes with need of TLCfor about 300k Id say that 450k price tag is not for the first time home buyer unless they have solid gains.
I miss visalia. Grew up in the 80's and 90's. Haven't been back in 25 years. Hopefully this year 2022.
What type of outdoor activities are available there?
I have been up the sequoia nat park. Beautiful . Stopped in Visalia to gear up for camping . Nice town. Thought it was cool. The drive from so cal is quite a distance on the 99 and not … too scenic but nice when you get to Visalia . Good vid .
I might be inclined to visit either Pismo Beach or Visalia since they're only 3 hours away from where I'm at (I'm a Bay Area native). I'm not gonna be in California if what I'm planning goes through successfully as I'll be going to school in North Carolina but I do wanna visit back every summer since it's my home state after all. Love your content Kyle.
I am a Visalia Native. Our downtown is pretty special and I love how close we are to the Giant Redwood Trees. Every time I walk through them I feel like I am riding a speeder bike from Star Wars. Pismo is a great beach town for sure. It is super hot in the summer for about 4-6 weeks. We get into the triple digits I believe it was around 114 this June…but just an hour drive and the weather drops to the 70s either in the mountains or at the coast. Tule fog has not been an issue for 3 years, but it is quite the weather phenomenon. You literally cannot see the house across the street…but everyone drives the normal speed limit and are not phased by it…Brewbakers is one of my favorite restaurants ever (I recommend the Rueben sandwich with potato wedges and a Honey wheat beer).
Nice video. I drove through Visalia on the way to Sequoia National Park. Pretty area and more low key than other parts of CA. Fresno is also relatively affordable by CA standards and not a dump. Thanks for the video Kyle. Safe travels.
I was just sat minding my own business when something just clicked. Somehow I KNEW the king had returned, and sure enough, I found this video
So great to see some love for Visalia online. I feel my hometown has the opportunity to be one of the best little cities in the state. Hopefully we will get more love from out of staters and tourists not just Bay Area and LA developers/renters.
I have a potential job offer there. I’ve been watching videos Iike these to get a feel of the town. It’s a pretty good offer for me.
Very relevant video, GK. My antenna went up b4 when u mentioned ur hometown & I looked at Zillow then/will look at again. The one thing that turned us off about California the last time we were there in 2019 was the haze from the wildfires that spread across a good chunk of the northern half of the state including the Central Valley, and the forced brownouts - it was dystopian. If Visalia is not prone to that, I’m all the more interested. You do a great job - a GoPro camera will help with your stabilization while you walk and talk & it has good audio pickup as well.
Addendum: read on wikipedia that Visalia has one of the highest air pollution rates in the U.S. ... Add to some of the other comments = scratch. Too bad - has some good points as you noted.
Thanks for posting this as it brought back a flood of mostly good memories for me. I lived in Visalia for 15 years from 1985 until 2000. I truly enjoyed my time there but I moved away for two reasons you forgot to mention in your video. That is the foggy season from October to March. Going without seeing the sun for days (even weeks) on end really can mess with your mind as it did me. The foggy season always brought on a deep & dark depression for me. I hated it! Second was the disease, Valley Fever. Since Visalia & the surrounding area is mainly farmland, the spores that cause this disease are common in the soil & are dispersed when farmers till the soil. Sadly, both my parents caught it & both nearly died. That's when I decided to move to another part of California.
The Valley’s Tule Fog has been really diminished over the years. The rainy season is hardly around anymore. Microclimate areas are the first to disappear as climate change ramps up.
@@SandrA-hr5zk yeah right. The fog ain’t going anywhere. It may have diminished but when we have a strong rainy season. We can get consecutive fog for weeks.
I agree about the depression and the fog, I lived in Seattle for years, and I left because of the gloomy horrible weather. Where would you go instead? Anywhere with less expensive property taxes, low crime, parks, and high quality of life? I do not need the beach. Thanks in advance.
Another great video, I wish I could be on the road every time you upload lol but if I ever end up in Southern California again I'll remember this one. It's pretty cool to see your hometown after hearing about it in your previous videos
I think Visalia is one of the nicest cities/towns in the San Joaquin Valley. I grew up 20 miles west of Visalia in Hanford, CA and went to COS during my first 2 years of college back in the early 80's. I learned a lot about geography and physical geography from a really great teacher at COS at that time named Mr. James Scofield. To this day, 40 years later, I'm surprised at how much I remember from his classes, particularly regarding physical geography now that I live in Las Vegas and am surrounded by land and rock formations that remind me of what I learned in his classes at COS.
My last job was actually in Hanford! A little dairy factory right off 11th Ave.
Nice video covering this area. The Darling is actually a hotel. It has a rooftop bar and restaurant.
Just moved to Visalia last year and I love it here!
I agree, Its quiet and its two hours to the beach or the mountains or the desert. Three hours to SF and 4 hours to LA/Disneyland. The bad is the summer heat and smog. Cheers!
I'm thinking of moving there, but I was wondering if people have lots of problems with cockroaches or waterbugs year round or only in the summer? I know is a silly/weird question to ask, but I was visiting a friend and there was a log of waterbugs and I got scared. By any chance have you had any problems with cockroach problem/infestation or heard from anyone else since you moved there?
@@vthegonzalez it depends where at in Visalia you move too. I dont know where you live now but Visalia is in the valley sooo its get super hot in summer! Where I live in Visalia I dont have any issues with roaches or water bugs but we have a lot of mosquitoes and small spiders outside our house not really inside but overrall Visalia is a really nice town. Everyone is very friendly, great restaurants, bars and atmosphere. I love it!
@@charismacarrillo5736 I'll move their just to see you
Good info! I just got a Job and will be moving to Fresno soon, super excited!! I will be sure to check out Visalia too!
It's good to know that people know so much about this town.
If you're a foodie, there's several places to check out: Glicks, Bistro di Bufala, Quesadilla Gorilla, Brewbakers, Davorn's, Marriott Lounge, Amigos, Thai Basil, Shanghai, just to name a few. Local, high quality stuff.
The Darling (old former courthouse) is not a apartment complex. It’s a upscale hotel. As I said it’s called, the darling. They have a rooftop bar for hotel stayers. And there are no skyscrapers in Visalia. Those are called mid rises.
California is cheap any where except the Bay Area, LA/OC and San Diego. Basically all major cities. Towns like visilia, Tulare, Bakersfield and Victorville are very affordable.
Yeah but most of the affordable areas in California actually look and feel like a low income area. Visalia is a nice middle ground compared to many others cause it has many of the pros of a low income area without all of the cons
Victorville is not cheap unless you’re okay sleeping with a gun under your pillow. What are you talking about
Its cheap but where do you work at in these arears
Nice work, Geography King Live on assignment. I already have a family vacation plan to visit Monterey-Hearst Castle-Steinbeck Museum-SLO. I’ll add Pismo Beach to the list. Maybe I’ll just move there in retirement.
I'm in Southern Cali & Visalia is about 5 hours from here. The small surrounding towns remind me of the midwest, it's a very cute area. We usually will visit Visalia when we stay in Three Rivers near Sequoia National Park.
I did a quick street view tour on Google. This Main & Court Sts area has a nice vibe, but the rest looks like Ft. Lauderdale suburbs.
I lived in Visalia for 9 months in 1980. I worked at Lyons Restaurant on the corner of Caldwell and Mooney. That was the last part of town until you got to 137 in Tulare (besides Mooney Grove and K-JUG Radio station). I lived in some cra**y apartments on Walnut nick named “sin city” for 3 months then moved into a trailer park around the corner on Divisadero. I wonder if that trailer park is still there. The mangers of it were named Cubby and Betty. There was only about 40K people back then but I found Visalia to be a nice clean small town. Very thing you needed was on Mooney Blvd and really no need to go into “town”. I remember getting drunk at Flintstones and almost getting into a fight…lol. Lover Ln was WAY out of town and 198 was a two lane road out to 99. The Holiday Inn out there was pretty cool inside too. Found memories of 93277
I was intrigued by the title, I didn't think the worlds low-cost and California go together
It does. You have to be careful because what happens is people get pushed to certain areas.
Know more about it is in Southern California.
For the most part you are right.
I would throw Tehachapi in there as well. As crazy as this sounds I use to go to the Central Valley for civilization because my duty station was China Lakes in Ridgecrest.
Bakersfield was going to the city
I've lived here in Visalia for the past 16 years. The reason why it's low-cost California is because it's in the San Joaquin Valley, aka central California. Norcal and Socal are roughly 175 miles in either direction, and central coast being a smidge over a 2 hour drive. Things are a bit of a drive, but that's what makes it affordable.
I've only heard of Visalia from the movie Moneyball where they mention their farm team the Visalia Oaks a few times.
Wasn’t expecting to see a video about my hometown on my recommendations😂
there’s a lot to say about this city but i honestly wouldn’t recommend anyone moving here
Visalia suckkkks. I agree with you 100 percent
I used to think the same thing. Then I traveled around the country and realized it's pretty nice. If you think Visalia sucks you should see similarly sized cities in other parts of the country.
Visalia is nice. It’s better than Bakersfield.
All Y'all haters stay the hell out,we don't want you here ruining our city,there's enough bullshitters around here as it is,stay in SMELL LA. and the liberal nittwitts bay area!
@@willywayne5299 dude the valley is a dump lol. Relax. Bay Area and LA will always be better.
You can drive from Visalia for 3 hours north south east west and be in some of the most beautiful places in California... amazing low-cost location as compared to the rest of the state ! Amazing fruit and vegetables at Side Road stands and farmers markets... the best in the country... snow skiing 2 hours away China Peak
True, but that small town like many other small towns have a Meth problem and property crime burglary/thefts are high.
@@Eros13adios small town? You seem to be the meth smoker.
Your my favorite CZcamsr and your from my hometown I just think that's really amazing
Thanks for telling me stuff about my own state I didn't even know.
Guess that's why you're the Geography King!
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Visalia Rawhide, the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, who play at Recreation Park. I haven't been there in years, but it's my understanding that the O'Malley family has improved the park.
I live in Kings county so Visalia is only about a 30 minute drive. Do prefer to go there over Fresno for things like shopping and food. Closer and just less people so less annoyances.
Man! Kyle I literally went right through there last month. Live in Ga but went from San Diego all the way to Fortuna making rounds. Love your part of the state
Visalia was talked about a lot prior to the 2008 mortgage recession. I remember being a kid and listening to my uncles talk about moving to either Visalia or Bakersfield. Most of the people I know moved to Bakersfield, and so did around 100,000 folks based on city-data statistics 😂.
Stayed in Visalia for 2 nights in July 2010. Don't recall it being blistering hot, but must have been pretty warm, being July. Visited Kings Canyon National Park and loved it (visited Sequoia National Park 2 years earlier-didn't go to Kings Canyon also despite them being right next to each other because the day I went to Sequoia I had car troubles and just relaxed by the pool of my hotel in Porterville the next day, but I digress). I recall eating out at a Sizzler in Visalia (don't chastise me for not eating at a local joint Kyle!) and noticed that a large majority of the other patrons were latinos (I'm white). Very family oriented and civil group of patrons. No complaints here. Being in town only briefly, I didn't go out and about since I spent the entire 1 full day I had at KC NP. I've taken a number of cross country road trips (not as many as you though, Kyle), mainly to go to as many national parks and national monuments that can be accessed easily by car and are also a reasonable distance from hotels. Sorry, but the air quality, heat and fog make Visalia a nice place to visit but not to live in, for me. Great channel.
Visalia is my hometown I love to go downtown and eat at restaurants if you want somewhere expensive I would recumbent the vintage press I also love the darling I always drive past it wherever I go downtown they have great food great people also there are a lot of other restaurants to go no matter what you like wether it’s Mexican food Italian food and nothing is to expensive and out of budget and a bunch of sites to see and I still live here today and still think the same also if you like sports go to a Visalia rawhide baseball game
Remember seeing Frank Black(of Pixies) play in Visalia at the Cellar Door.
Really enjoyable vlog style video, cool to mix it up!
Coming from Pittsburgh, I can't imagine living somewhere that small yet relatively expensive (except the property taxes). I sometimes don't realize how good we have it here. Thanks for showing us your hometown!
I’m also from Pittsburgh and I lived in a small town on the central coast of California for 3 years and I couldn’t agree more lol really puts things into perspective
Because California is huge. We have a lot more towns and cities then Pittsburg.
@@californiamade5608 understood, but we’re comparing two cities against one another. Pittsburgh is a city and California is a state, but in the case of Visalia vs Pittsburgh I would definitely say Pittsburgh gives you more bang for your buck. However, California has way more to offer than Pennsylvania in my opinion lol
@@miraxoxo423 0
@@miraxoxo423 there ain't shit to do in Pittsburgh. Even a small California town has more life
My sister and brother n law live there. They had a store, watsons nutrition, on main st. They just sold it not long ago.
I remember when that store was new in the 90s. People were like, "who's bringing that hippie stuff to the Valley?". It was very forward thinking and very "unVisalia". I seem to remember it being originally called Watson's Veggie Garden or something like that.
@@GeographyKing Watson's was there in the 1960s. I remember thinking how cool it was that Visalia had a health foods store.
Not even 30 seconds into the video I swear and I ain’t going to lie tears came out I moved away from Visalia in 2015 born there as well and haven’t been back since seeing this is on some other lvl nostalgia type shit
Grew up in Reedley in the ‘80s. Spent my summers packing fruit and floating the Kings River. Used to cruise Mooney on Saturday nights. Left to go to college and get a career.
They banned cruising on Mooney many, many MANY moons ago. Shamelessly, I also spent countless hours weekend evenings in the 80's driving up and down, back and forth from Caldwell to Tulare Ave wasting $1.09@ gallon gas in an effort to see and be seen. Damn that was so fun! 🤦 🤣😁 Lol! Blessings! 🙏
This is also my home town, I haven't been back in years but miss it
I liked living there except for the smelly fog, which is just about every day. Not to mention Valley Fever, Wearing a mask there is almost a must, even without the Pandemic
I moved from the Bay Area (Oakland) back in 2008, I was able to Buy a Property for only 100K My Nephew just bought a House in Oakland for 800k, Love Visalia, Miss my Family but the cost of living is Outrageous!
Houses are over 300k now.
Interesting to hear about lesser-known parts of the state.
Well if I ever find myself wanting to live in California but I want a cheaper version of it, I'll live in Visalia.
Bro, I live in Dinuba and have been going to Visalia pretty regularly all my life. I had no idea how much of an oasis it is for the Valley.
It is a cow and farm town. Make sure to mention that. Lots of cows around the area. Visalia born and raised. And if you have asthma beware the air quality of anywhere in the valley. It’s a beautiful town though. We love it.
So it smells like cow poop?
@@yessicaaramirez you don’t really notice it when in town. Lol but when entering the city limits on the freeway you start to smell manure. Yes. 😂😂
Dang that’s crazy I’m in Reedley! Even smaller but chill lol. Definitely staying inside when it gets super hot
Very nice video, but please quit telling our secrets! I live in the orange groves between Lindsay & Porterville, about 3 miles from the original 'Orange Works Cafe' at the stop light on 65 in Strathmore( there are 2 stoplights in town). Wife and I did shopping and appts. in the Big City - Visalia - today, about 1/2 hr north, Had a good morning and came home to beat the heat. 106 to 110 this last week, cooled down today to 96, heat is promised to be back next mid-week. And yes, 'tis true. Orange Works makes the most marvelous daily homemade ice cream, and a 2nd daily flavor (always as good usually a bit exotic), along w/ a few deli sandwiches. A great place to impress our out-of-town guests visiting the boonies, they can't believe such a marvelous hole in the wall in the middle of orange groves, packing houses, small town Strathmore High. I moved here for the job in '82, expecting to promote and move within a few years. this is such a fine place to raise my family, wife and I stayed on. Kids went to school and careers have scattered them a 1/2 day drive north and south, and I do hate So. Cal. and Bay area traffic, but that,s how it goes
Part of me Still Misses the Small Town Atmosphere of Visalia,
Like some other commenters, I am retirement shopping and this helps. Think I've lived on the plains long enough and I'm ready to hit the right coast or the left coast.
The way he shouted out orange works ice cream and sandwiches is crazy I go there all the time
Shouts out to Visalia and the central valley! I am from Oakland but I've lived and worked in Visalia and Tracy and Lodi and Stockton.
I like Visalia. I have also lived in San Francisco and am back in Oakland. I wont live in Visalia over Oakland but I'd rather live in Visalia then San Francisco.
The guy who owns the record shop is weird, is very normal.
I love the downtown i live very close so i could recomended for a hang out
You going to come up north and do a video for Fresno?
I think Bakersfield is a great place to live. Yes it’s a farmer and oil area.
I've only heard of Visalia because I was part of an architectural marketing group and one of the three partners lives there. Really interesting video, thanks!
I'm not sure why they've come up in my feed but I've also seen some fascinating and scary videos about Salton Sea. I'm willing to bet that makes Barstow look like paradise!
And that orange ice cream in the last scene looks really awesome.
Being away from the coast and agrarian is the weather is more like the Midwest? Hot summers and colder winters?
The Darling is a hotel, not an apartment. There hasn’t been a Farmer’s market in downtown Visalia for several years. And Visalia was voted one of the best mid sized city for food by Rand McNally, so yeah he’s way wrong about Visalia not being a foodie town.
Give the guy a break he probably hasn’t been in this city for years
Actually I go to Visalia a lot. I'm in Visalia right now. I just didn't bother responding to the previous comment, but I will now. The Rand McNally ranking was completely ridiculous. I have no idea how they chose Visalia. I like Visalia. This is an entire video on it. But don't kid yourself- it's not a foodie town. There's a difference between a town that has good restaurants and one having an eclectic mix of international, fusion, and high end fare. I like Rosa's, Crawdaddy's, and a bunch of the small Mexican joints around town. But it definitely lacks the types of restaurants that would lead to it being called a foodie town.
Pretty nice place, and thx for sharing. But I think I'll retire to Hamtramck, MI - it's absolutely amazing.
Details, please?🙂 Looking to relocate when I retire soon, and North, East, West, South 👍, no plans yet.
I like the Modesto area into the Mother Lode.
Tulare County is decent. Same with some parts of Fresno.
Central Valley gets it from everyone.
Sonora is very cool.
@@wintonhudelson2252
Because of the elevation change it gets more rainfall than the Central Valley. What they call mountain humidity in Colorado is felt there a lot of times in the summer
Twice the amount. Crazy thing it is only 30 miles away.
One of the more unique parts of California. Not the Central Valley and not the Sierras. Little bit of both
Interesting. Isn’t it very hot in the summer? What is the water situation? Thank you.
It does get pretty hot in the summer (low 110s at times) but not nearly as much as places like Phoenix. Like the majority of the state, water is an increasingly scarce resource. I really hope CA has a better water year next time around because here in Sac, we are still far below 50% of normal.
🤦 The water is fine-unless you plan on farming and need to irrigate acres of crops. California is still in a drought, so of course there are some restrictions-like designated lawn watering hours/days, nozzles required on garden hoses, etc. (Nothing outrageous or too extreme.) And if I may say so, it tastes great straight from the tap! 😉
@@lisalee6496 love to hear the actual reality! Not just the alarmist propaganda!
My hubby is from Visalia. I am from Boston and it is a boring town. I met nice people.
I live in visalia but rarely go downtown. And yes it's hot here.
I'ma move their just to see you
How hot does it get? I’m in north LA area and in summer it gets to low 100s..
@@Goldhead88 the highest this year was I believe 112-115 I think. Instant fry the moment the sun light touches your skin.
@@nismoaltima1326 good luck lol
if the air quality wasn't so bad I would move back. we are 7 generation Visalians when mooney was orchards. our family had the saloon house on church street for gold rush travellers.
This particular part of California is cheap to live in due to the summer always making it scorching hot
Visalia is okay..
OK NO A FEW MONTHS AGO SOMEONE DIED BECAUSE THEY PLAYED MUSIC LOUD