The issue of addiction - especially meth and heroin - happens in rural / backwater areas as well as in urban / expensive. Santa Cruz and other parts of the Bay

The issue of addiction - especially meth and heroin - happens in rural / backwater areas as well as in urban / expensive. Santa Cruz and other parts of the Bay Area have huge meth and heroin problems. I've recently started spending a lot of time in a more rural part of California. I drive through areas that have "trashy houses" and "trailers", but as you mention there is also some very beautiful landscapes. I've also found the people to be generally much nicer / kind to those they may not know than all my years in the Bay Area. But, the area does have it's warts as well.