A woman who moved to a quaint Northern California town was desperate to get away after living among white supremacists and hippies and having to travel an hour to get most anywhere.
Jaime Alexis Stathis moved to Grass Valley, California – roughly 60 miles outside of Sacramento – in 2017 with her husband, Martin.
It had been a dream of hers – one that shattered nearly immediately after she realized the quaint, picture-perfect town was a nightmare to actually live in.
‘We both loved the architecture, the artsy, progressive community, the great restaurants, and the access to cities, the ocean, and the mountains,’ Stathis, who moved from Missoula, Montana, wrote for Business Insider.
‘But once we finally lived in the Northern California town, we realized we may have been better off just visiting.’
Jaime Alexis Stathis moved to Grass Valley, California – roughly 60 miles outside of Sacramento – in 2017 with her husband Martin
They moved to the town after her husband got a job that required him to live within 60 miles of Sacramento and Stathis excitedly discovered the place of her dreams was 56 miles outside of the big city.
After a scouting trip, Martin agreed, and they excited began their new life in a town of less than of 20,000.
However, Stathis found the town was made up of drastically different demographics, from white supremacists to hippies to wealthy conservatives to Bay Area liberals.
‘Big cities can contain such differences, but they sit on the surface in small towns, and the discord felt palpable,’ she said, especially during the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 pandemic.
The massage therapist found herself surrounded by hate crimes and violence, as well as, protests – interrupting the small town’s picturesque feel.
Stathis found the town was made up of drastically different demographics, from white supremacists to hippies to wealthy conservatives to Bay Area liberals
It was also expensive to there, with cost of living in Grass Valley is about 38.2 percent higher than the national average
Not to mention that it was already expensive to live there, let alone have your peace interrupted.
The cost of living in Grass Valley is about 38.2 percent higher than the national average, according to Stathis.
Grass Valley also isn’t situated off a major highway, making it an ‘inconvenience’ to live there.
‘There’s only one major road out in any direction — and it’s a 45-minute drive toward Sacramento to reach the suburban sprawl and the amenities that come with it,’ she said.
To get to a doctor, it would take them an hour’s drive. And Grass Valley doesn’t offer stores like Walmart and Target, meaning residents had to travel to buy necessities.
‘Forget about buying basics like bras and underwear in Grass Valley,’ she wrote.
After two and a half years, Stathis called it quits and left the town she once spent all her time trying to figure out how to live in
She now lives in New England, closer to where she’s from, and says it ‘feels much more like home’
Food – which has already been pulling at most American’s pockets – is even more expensive in the quaint town, especially compared to Missoula.
‘I also found our local grocery stores to be small, expensive, and poorly stocked,’ she wrote.
The pair also had to buy a home because renting was too expensive, stripping away Stathis’ dreams of exploring Berkeley and Lake Tahoe and the wine country as her money would now go toward a fixer-upper.
Rent in Grass Valley would be double what they were paying in Missoula, she told Business Insider.
In addition, the Montanans weren’t used to California’s wildfires, and when the Camp Fire came close to them, it unsettled Stathis, who began keeping to-go bags by her front door and in her cars for easy access.
Add in the hot summer temperatures, it and it just boiled her blood.
After two and a half years, Stathis called it quits and left the town she once spent all her time trying to figure out how to live in.
She now lives in New England, closer to where she’s from, and says it ‘feels much more like home.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Stathis for comment.
