THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA town of Eureka lies between ocean and redwoods. It wears signs of the many industries that shaped it: abandoned lots on a waterfront that once housed a thriving fishing industry, sawdust piles at a vacant pulp mill, dozens of cannabis businesses. In Eureka’s Old Town, Victorian-style buildings host cafes, bars, smoke shops, local art and vintage clothing.
Between the development of off-shore wind farms and the world’s longest fiber-optic cable, a newly branded polytechnic university and year-round temperate weather, Eureka and nearby Arcata, combined population 45,000, are in a position to grow. So, in 2019, to meet state housing laws, Eureka updated its housing plan, which calls for 330 units of affordable housing — mostly for low and very low-income households — on city-owned lots, including a number of parking lots in Old Town. Local environmental advocates were pleased, saying that investigation revealed that he provided free luxury accommodations to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on an Alaska fishing trip — a gift Alito never disclosed.
