on the cover / By HSU Investigative Reporting students

Two Cities

Fear of the future unites working-class Fortuna, Arcata

(May 17, 2007) In January of this year, journalism students in a class in investigative reporting at HSU taught by Marcy Burstiner explored the concerns of people in two different Humboldt County towns: Fortuna and Arcata. What drew them was a troubling statistic from the 2000 US Census; despite the obvious differences of these two cities — one whose economy is based on farming and timber, the other centered around a university — both have pockets of the highest level of family poverty in Humboldt County. They set off in pairs to 10 different spots — five in each city, and knocked on doors. They interviewed more than a dozen residents about their community, but let each set the direction of the conversation. Each said they loved where they lived but were concerned about the diminishing quality of life. The students then set out to interview people who could help explain why residents felt that way — employers, policy makers, city planners and academics. Over the course of three months, the students interviewed about 75 people about the two towns and the people who live in them. This story came out of that exploration.

The students involved in the project were: Briana Alfaro, Ashley Bailey, Zachary Cinek, Chad Harris, Allie Hostler, Torrin Hults, Nicholas Jackson, Heather Jones, Isaura Linares, Jocelyn Orr, John Osborn, Garrett Purchio, Renee Rivas, Mike Sano, Brett Shiells, Joseph Shreve, Terria Smith, Sarah Warnock, Blake Weaver, Emily Wilson and Alan Workman.

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Drive into Fortuna and this is what you’ll find: against a backdrop of redwood-covered hills, a main street that seems frozen in time, where shops offer things people need. A pharmacy, a mattress shop, a hardware store, a barber. People eat lunch at Bob’s Footlongs.

Thirty miles north, around the Arcata Plaza, stores sell things people buy when they’ve got extra cash: sofas for $3,000, kayaks and top-of-the-line bicycles, fudge and artisan jewelry, wine and fancy gardening tools. For lunch, Brio offers a Niman Ranch pastrami sandwich, or you can get crepes at Renata’s.

In some ways Arcata and Fortuna couldn’t be more different. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 63 percent of housing in Arcata is rented. In Fortuna, 66 percent is owned. Fortuna encourages expansion. Arcata resists.

But within both towns you’ll find working-class people with remarkably similar concerns. They see new people moving in around them — retirees who push up the price of housing and impoverished people looking for jobs or social services. They see costs rise while wages stagnate. They see plans for development everywhere that seem tailored to the needs of only a portion of the population, or to future residents.

It could be that people have unrealistic expectations. They want what they love about their communities to stay unchanged, yet they want improvements that can only come with change. Meeting the needs of all residents means that at least some will have to compromise. And people who live in towns often have a hard time understanding that their governments can’t solve all problems.

But talk to people in both towns in their homes and then talk to leaders in the community and what you find is a disconnect between the concerns of many of the people who live there and the plans being made for the future of each town.

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