Getting there, staying there
Surrounded by almond farms and dramatic rocky buttes at the northeastern border of the Sacramento Valley, this idyllic college town is still dogged by a 1980s-era frat-boys-gone-wild party-school reputation. The truth is that the school — and the town — are lively but no longer raucous. (That is, except when the chaos of graduation at California State University, Chico, descends in May.)
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| John Elk III |
| On campus at Chico State |
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Home to sweet historic bungalows, Spanish-colonial university buildings set on a picturesque campus, and leafy tree-lined streets, Chico today generates more buzz for its arts community than for its keggers. Also noteworthy is the news about downtown’s Hotel Diamond: Boarded up for almost 20 years, it was given a lavish -multimillion-dollar restoration last year by a local businessman; it’s helping to bring back the city’s early-20th-century vitality. The town-and-gown scene isn’t where you’ll find the soul of this place, however. Head into Bidwell Park — the get-lost-in-it large heart of town — with its miles of lush trails, its colorful spring bloom, and Big Chico Creek rushing down from the Sierra Nevada, and you’ll realize Chico’s wild days are actually far from over.
