Arcata, CA Homes for Rent

Arcata is an artsy college town nestled between Northern California’s vast redwood forests and Arcata Bay, just a few miles from the chilly Pacific. It’s home to just over 19,000 people, around 6,000 of whom are students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, also known as Cal Poly Humboldt. “Arcata has that amazing small-town vibe. There are so many artists and musicians, and we’ve got tons of events, theaters and concerts. For a small city, it’s rich with culture,” says Realtor Stephany Joy of Forbes & Associates, a longtime resident. Arcata got its start as a logging town, weathering boom and bust cycles throughout the 20th century until logging was curtailed in the 1970s and 80s to protect the area’s redwood trees. Today, it’s a mecca for outdoor recreation, and notable for its public lands — it owns more than 2,100 acres of forestland peppered with parks, trails and other outdoor amenities. Arcata is awash in eclectic residential architecture. From the wood-shingled Craftsman homes of the Sunset neighborhood to the bombastic Victorians in Arcata Heights, homebuyers have plenty of interesting options to pick from. Houses with wrap-around porches, exposed beams,