Quote:
Originally Posted by tablemtn
a general issue with the coast is a simple lack of flat land. Even San Francisco has to deal with this issue, though the value of the harbor made it worth the effort.
But up and down the northwest coast, there tends to be a small quantity of actual flat land pinned between the ocean and coastal hills. At many points, the hills continue all the way TO the ocean (hence, spectacular viewpoints like Cape Perpetua or Cascade Head in Oregon). Area roads are basically situated on slow-moving landslides as those hills slope toward the sea, requiring constant repairs. This inhibited roads and railroad lines. There are old roads in certain areas near the coast which are no longer maintained (like those around the abandoned Oregon logging town of Valsetz), and the environment simply reclaims them within a few years.
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A lot of people consider hillside/hilltop living an advantage rather than something to be dealt with.
As for Mendocino and other towns like Ferndale on the northern CA coast being caught in time, an awful lot of effort--zoning, building restrictions etc--is made to keep them that way. Like I said before, at least from Ft. Bragg south (Eureka is north of Ft. Bragg), getting any sort of room without long-standing reservations on a holiday weekend can be near impossible. This coastline is very popular as a weekend getaway among city folk and the number of B&Bs and unexpectedly fancy dining spots shows it.
Also, nobody has so far mentioned the popular and toney getaway community of
Sea Ranch
A good example of a home in Sea Ranch
https://sf.curbed.com/2017/2/27/1475...h-sonoma-house