Dustin Pedroia in Boston Magazine regarding Woodland, CA:

Everyone wants to get out of there. You don’t want to stay in Woodland. What do you want to stay in Woodland for? The place sucks. The newspaper there, I don’t really get along with. I come from your town. You should embrace me. I play for the Boston Red Sox. You haven’t had a lot of major-leaguers come out of your city.

Obviously, Woodland residents are a little bummed that one of their biggest hometown heros would spew such negativity about their city. This attitude is typical of young people who leave small towns for bigger and better things, though. I had the same attitude when I left town as a young man. Many of my friends shared the same sentiments when they left. 

I moved back, though. Mostly because of low housing prices, and it’s proximity to all the things I love in California—The Sierras, San Francisco, and the Redwoods. My extended family all lives here, too. I really enjoy the older part of Woodland that I live in. I like that my family and I can walk to breakfast, lunch or dinner on Main Street. I like how our neighbors lookout for each other. And I really like hanging out in the back yard with my family in the evenings and weekends. These are the primary things I would look for in any town in which I would consider living, and I found them in Woodland.

Woodland, like any American city, has its shitty aspects. My personal dislikes are the hot, dry weather, the tendency for new businesses to sprawl rather than move down town, and the lack of a casual place to get a burger and a pint of good beer. These things don’t seem all that unique to Woodland, though. And despite them, there are some really cool things happening here that I think are worth mentioning in light of this recent press.

Gearhead Records is an independent record label (and store!) with a roster of punk, rockabilly, and honky tonk bands from all over the world. Their world headquarters is located at 39 5th Street in Woodland, CA.. Michelle Haunold, the owner, is one of the sweetest people I know. She puts on frequent charity events at the store, featuring her bands and local acts. If such a thing could have only existed when I was in Jr. High ...

Gearhead also brought with it the re-emergence of The Stag as a regular stop for touring indie bands passing through the area. Sure, the place is a little too rough around the edges for some, but the owners of The Stag treat artist with more respect than the vast majority of the venues I’ve played in California. It can also bring in a good crowed. If you are a punk rock fan, the Gearhead/Stag double team is more than most towns of our size could hope to achieve.

On a more widely appealing note, Woodland is also home to Nugget Markets, a family owned grocery chain established in Woodland, CA in 1926. Nugget Market is currently Fortune Magazine’s 10th best company to work for in the United States, beating out Starbucks, Adobe Systems, and nipping at the coat tails of Google. Nugget’s high end products and extravagant interior design give the impression that they are a boutique, gourmet food store, but their prices are actually significantly lower than all the conventional grocery stores in the area. A better beer selection than Whole Foods, with better prices than Raley’s and Safeway.

One of the most under appreciated things about Woodland is its high concentration of women who know how to make a fucking tamale. The Mexican immigrant (or some might say native) portion of our population is one of our richest assets. Their resourcefulness at keeping you well fed is unsurpassed, to say nothing of the kick-ass bands they’re able to bring through town. Many of my out-of-town friends have trouble understanding the concept of a door-to-door tamale lady, and I doubt many of my non-Spanish speaking Woodland neighbors are aware of some of the incredible music talent that comes to La Finca and the County Fair on Sundays.

Speaking of the Fair, Woodland also has the only free fair in California—A free fair with a world class rodeo and demolition derby.

Small towns definitely aren’t for everyone, but neither is baseball. Woodland has a great mix of high class, international class, and hillbilly class. In my opinion, Woodland has a big leg up on Boston just for the simple fact that it is closer to California. It’s too bad that Dustin Pedroia’s childhood here was so bad that he’s still bothered by it. I had a great time growing up here, and am having a blast as an adult, too.