Lists! You love ‘em. LoCO loves ‘em. Who can resist clicking a link promising a nice, digestible list?

A: Zero humans.

Especially exciting for us all are those “listicles” in which Humboldt, for better or worse, gets a mention (see a few we remembered below). This is why today is a very special day. Two such clickable distractions popped up in our news feeds this morning. The first sheds one of our fine cities in flattering light (even if it doesn’t seem all that important), the other is kind of a bummer (and is actually worth noting).

Uno: Congratulations, Arcata. You have been ranked #15 on a list of the “Top 15 Small Cities in California” compiled by something called CityDescribed. Woot.

In its summation of what makes Arcata tops, CityDescribed notes “it’s the rare college town that’s also very safe, family-friendly and wholesome.” They also point to the city’s website as a draw since it “lets the whole community decide on eco-friendly initiatives such as a proposed public toilet and a system of bicycle lanes.” Finally, “according to the relocation tool Find Your Spot, the whole town is known to gather together to watch the Humboldt Crabs, Arcata’s very own minor league baseball team.”

You make us blush, CityDescribed. But for those who might question the website’s ability to pick the best hamlets (here is no criteria for how these rankings were compiled given) click on over to their homepage where you will discover that most of their content follows a “Top (insert low double digit number) Small Cities in (insert state)” format. Conclusion: CityDescribed knows top small cities. 

Dos: Too bad, Humboldt! You are not cheap to live in! CNN featured an article earlier this month looking at the “10 Least Affordable Rental Markets,” places where rents are high, while incomes are low. Humboldt County comes in at #9 on the list. According to number crunching performed by RealtyTrac, the average Humboldter can expect to pay almost 42 percent of their income toward rent (Bronx, NY was far and away the least affordable place to exist at 68 percent of income going toward rent). More numbers: 

“The average rent of the top 25 least affordable counties is $1,686 a month, $462 higher than the national average. Counties where rents were least affordable also include Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco, Baltimore and Los Angeles …”

… and us.

Well, thanks for remembering of us, CNN. Conclusion: We still love lists. 

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