But this is Chico, too

Eaton Road marked the approximate northern boundary of Rancho Arroyo del Chico. If that was good enough for John Bidwell, it's good enough for me.

Modern-day Chico, alas, has a mind of its own. Or maybe it would even be more accurate to call it mindless. Its northern boundaries are especially sloppy.

In the northwest corner, housing developments have jumped Eaton and are creeping toward Mud Creek. Along Highway 99, businesses of every size and description crowd out the countryside for a good mile or two north of Eaton.

The biggest breach of the boundary is the Chico Municipal Airport and the ring of businesses that surrounds it. This isn't even an extension of the sprawl that spills past Eaton. It's a separate entity. Drive north on Cohasset Road and you go through a patch of open space before you get there. But when you arrive, if you look at it closely, you see that it's a world unto itself.

It's a world where lots of people work and nobody lives, although there are other things besides businesses there. I was surprised to come across a Little League field. Not far from it is a place called Sky Creek Dharma Center, where beliefs and practices, rather than goods and services, are the focus. There is an aviation museum out near the airport, which I still haven't visited.

It's a land of immense buildings, some of them vacant, and tiny sheds and Quonset huts, most of them containing thriving enterprises.

It's a place that has no sense of place in the traditional or new urbanism sense. Its scale makes Chico's big-boxland look like a village. It has long blocks and wide streets, but you do see people out on the sidewalks, power-walking and jogging. It's geared to cars, but the roads are pretty much empty. Except during commute time, all the cars are in parking lots.

It's a realm full of businesses I've heard of, but didn't realize they were at the airport until I went out there. Six Degrees is one example. Another is Fifth Sun.

There are probably more car repair and parts places out at the airport than in the rest of Chico combined. But it's also the home of some cutting-edge businesses. Chico Technology Center is the home of Travidia, Inc., an online marketing company, (the final photo in this post) and PathoLase, a medical laser technology company.

Mooney Farms, which makes sun-dried tomato products, is also out there. It has just completed a handsome addition to its facility, as the photo the leads off this post shows.

When you drive through this other world and really look around, you realize Chico's economy is more diverse than you've imagined it to be. The city is based on other things besides agriculture, Chico State University and health care, government and retail services.

The vacant buildings are evidence that this is a land of great expectations, but the number and variety of businesses that fill most of the buildings show that it's possible for employers to find success in an area outsiders may dismiss as a backwoods part of Northern California.

I suspect that most Chicoans are unaware of what's out at the airport. We don't go there much. When we decide to fly, we usually drive to the Sacramento International Airport. Chico isn't yet part of the friendly skies network.

The part of me that is a student of urban design principles looks upon this area as a perfect example of leapfrog development. But the economic realist sees it as a ray of hope for Chico's most important quality of life issue -- good-paying jobs.