Unironically, yes, that does sound quite similar...
Sierra Nevada? The brewing co that produces the beer that tastes like ash (Bigfoot), right? That was the first "legal" beer I drank on my 18th, I think... At my cousin's goading. God it was rank, lol...
But anyway, yes, yes and yes. Byron has a whole bunch of craft breweries, too. Stone & Wood is probably the most famous, though there's The Byron Bay Brewery, as well, amongst others. Also Byron Bay cookies rolls eyes...
Though, the distinction is... Byron is tiny. Less than 10k people. And no university (trade school, yes, but the biggest "tertiary provider" is a private music "college"). How big is Chico?
Byron does have a... Surrounding population of like 35-40K, including Mullumbimby, which is, I think, the "largest town in NSW" (ergo, town vs city. In Aus, pretty much anything over 25/30K is a "city")....
Also Ballina is not that far away, which is bigger again. But yeah...
Other than that, yeah, sounds like you're pretty much on the money, lol.
Bear in mind that a major difference is that you guys have more than ten times our total population (California alone has twice the pop of Aus), and even more than ten times the number of "colleges", so... That's why Byron doesn't have one, yet, I guess.
Instead of the "state university system", we just have a smaller number of massive universities, with multiple campuses across multiple cities and towns, which is, again, a major difference...
I think SCU in Lismore is probably the nearest Uni to Byron, and yes, that is MOST DEFINITELY a party Uni, lol... Also SCU on the Gold Coast, but less so...
Yes Bigfoot is a beer of theirs. I like it though I don't drink it often since I have many other local options where I live (I don't live in CA; closer to Seattle though I don't live there either). Their Pale Ale is their most popular beer, which I think is a very good reference beer for the style.
Chico is 100k-ish, but there's not much population around that area outside of the city. That's not always true of cities and their surrounding areas in the US but happens to be true there. Didn't feel like a 100k city when I visited it though. Either that's because I never tried to go the downtown area or because the way the city is constructed.
Beyond that NorCal's big. Probably other cities that fit the bill. I don't really have a city I consider "canonical" for NorCal because the coast is different from inland is different from mountains.
Oh, I also forgot to mention the dairy industry...
Byron shire is home to Norco, which is the most successful dairy "co op" in Australian history (though dubious as to whether it's much of a "co op", anymore...).
That's where Nimbin got its origin. As a massive dairy town.
Now, of course, the irony is that these places are full of fucking Vegans and Freegans, who refuse to consume said dairy. Dairy is a "no no", at least among Nimbin's druggie-hippies, and Byron's faux hippie trendites...
Which means that the irony cycle is now complete, and the fucking industries that actually built these towns which the hippies came to occupy (dairy, logging, fishing. and whaling which is of course more controversial), have now been run out of town, leaving... High end tourism, real estate and drugs... And music festivals/big events. And of course the beer...
The Northern Rivers (the region we've been talking about) is weird, man... Like NoCal, but with like 1% of the population... Oh also the Christchurch shooter came from (and worked in) like, an hour south, within the same region...
Fair nuff. Yeah, Byron isn't really a "city"... More a beach town where rich faux-hippies now live (it was originally a whaling settlement, then a timber town, then a holiday shack destination. Then it became "trendy" AF), but it is also surrounded by like 50 other towns of varying size (Mullum - bigger. Bangalow - smaller. Federal - much, much smaller), including Nimbin, some 50+km away, which used to be bigger, but is now little more than a large "village" full of hippies and druggies...
It's pretty much a "no go zone", for polite society. Like Skid Row, but in the rural hinterland, and heavily touristed by internationals who think it sounds cool/go there to buy weed and harder drugs...
All of which could collectively be considered "Byron", if one doesn't know better rolls eyes.
The airport, which was renamed "Byron Bay", to appeal to international tourists, is actually in Ballina, which I mentioned earlier, and which is the largest actual... "City", of sorts. That's where you go, if you live in Byron, but you need to go to, say, a big box store, or a decent mechanic, or whatever... Or Mullum, I suppose.
Byron itself doesn't have any of that.
I don't know how I didn't say this before, but Byron and Nimbin take their original calling literally from Woodstock. That is literally how they came to be what they are today, by hosting "gatherings" aping Woodstock. Literally. Especially Nimbin.
See also Newport, and Fairport. Byron is what you get if you take Newport or Woodstock, and plonk it in Australia, then leave it to, eh, ferment for 50-odd years...
Chico? Home of Chico State University, which is known as the "party school" of the California State University system.
Also home of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, which is one of the largest breweries in the US.
Unironically, yes, that does sound quite similar...
Sierra Nevada? The brewing co that produces the beer that tastes like ash (Bigfoot), right? That was the first "legal" beer I drank on my 18th, I think... At my cousin's goading. God it was rank, lol...
But anyway, yes, yes and yes. Byron has a whole bunch of craft breweries, too. Stone & Wood is probably the most famous, though there's The Byron Bay Brewery, as well, amongst others. Also Byron Bay cookies rolls eyes...
Though, the distinction is... Byron is tiny. Less than 10k people. And no university (trade school, yes, but the biggest "tertiary provider" is a private music "college"). How big is Chico?
Byron does have a... Surrounding population of like 35-40K, including Mullumbimby, which is, I think, the "largest town in NSW" (ergo, town vs city. In Aus, pretty much anything over 25/30K is a "city")....
Also Ballina is not that far away, which is bigger again. But yeah...
Other than that, yeah, sounds like you're pretty much on the money, lol.
Bear in mind that a major difference is that you guys have more than ten times our total population (California alone has twice the pop of Aus), and even more than ten times the number of "colleges", so... That's why Byron doesn't have one, yet, I guess.
Instead of the "state university system", we just have a smaller number of massive universities, with multiple campuses across multiple cities and towns, which is, again, a major difference...
I think SCU in Lismore is probably the nearest Uni to Byron, and yes, that is MOST DEFINITELY a party Uni, lol... Also SCU on the Gold Coast, but less so...
Yes Bigfoot is a beer of theirs. I like it though I don't drink it often since I have many other local options where I live (I don't live in CA; closer to Seattle though I don't live there either). Their Pale Ale is their most popular beer, which I think is a very good reference beer for the style.
Chico is 100k-ish, but there's not much population around that area outside of the city. That's not always true of cities and their surrounding areas in the US but happens to be true there. Didn't feel like a 100k city when I visited it though. Either that's because I never tried to go the downtown area or because the way the city is constructed.
Beyond that NorCal's big. Probably other cities that fit the bill. I don't really have a city I consider "canonical" for NorCal because the coast is different from inland is different from mountains.
Oh, I also forgot to mention the dairy industry...
Byron shire is home to Norco, which is the most successful dairy "co op" in Australian history (though dubious as to whether it's much of a "co op", anymore...).
That's where Nimbin got its origin. As a massive dairy town.
Now, of course, the irony is that these places are full of fucking Vegans and Freegans, who refuse to consume said dairy. Dairy is a "no no", at least among Nimbin's druggie-hippies, and Byron's faux hippie trendites...
Which means that the irony cycle is now complete, and the fucking industries that actually built these towns which the hippies came to occupy (dairy, logging, fishing. and whaling which is of course more controversial), have now been run out of town, leaving... High end tourism, real estate and drugs... And music festivals/big events. And of course the beer...
The Northern Rivers (the region we've been talking about) is weird, man... Like NoCal, but with like 1% of the population... Oh also the Christchurch shooter came from (and worked in) like, an hour south, within the same region...
Weird, weird place...
Fair nuff. Yeah, Byron isn't really a "city"... More a beach town where rich faux-hippies now live (it was originally a whaling settlement, then a timber town, then a holiday shack destination. Then it became "trendy" AF), but it is also surrounded by like 50 other towns of varying size (Mullum - bigger. Bangalow - smaller. Federal - much, much smaller), including Nimbin, some 50+km away, which used to be bigger, but is now little more than a large "village" full of hippies and druggies... It's pretty much a "no go zone", for polite society. Like Skid Row, but in the rural hinterland, and heavily touristed by internationals who think it sounds cool/go there to buy weed and harder drugs...
All of which could collectively be considered "Byron", if one doesn't know better rolls eyes.
The airport, which was renamed "Byron Bay", to appeal to international tourists, is actually in Ballina, which I mentioned earlier, and which is the largest actual... "City", of sorts. That's where you go, if you live in Byron, but you need to go to, say, a big box store, or a decent mechanic, or whatever... Or Mullum, I suppose.
Byron itself doesn't have any of that.
I don't know how I didn't say this before, but Byron and Nimbin take their original calling literally from Woodstock. That is literally how they came to be what they are today, by hosting "gatherings" aping Woodstock. Literally. Especially Nimbin.
See also Newport, and Fairport. Byron is what you get if you take Newport or Woodstock, and plonk it in Australia, then leave it to, eh, ferment for 50-odd years...