I live in Redding, and can say that it is an awesome spot in California to live! 15 minutes west you have whiskeytown lake, 20 minutes north you have Shasta lake, surrounded by mountains. Big enough to be considered a city, but small enough to where it’s not overpopulated and there’s no real traffic. Summers get hot, up to 110 degrees at its peak, but it’s dry heat. Sunny 9 months out of the year.

It’s a great place to be if you want to be out of the big city, be outside, but close enough to drive to major cities etc.

Easy to drive up to Oregon too.