My Town: David Simmons
My Town: The Best of Everything… David Simmons, owner of Strong City Strength and Conditioning…
I am a Northern California native who grew up around the east side of the San Joaquin Valley and the foothills just outside of Yosemite, where my dad worked on cattle ranches. I first moved to Redding in the winter of 1999, just a few years out of high school, to pursue a relationship with my now-wife, Rachel. Some of the first things I loved about this area are the vast ranchlands, the mountains, the beautiful lakes and streams and the Sacramento River running right through town.
I love that in an hour or less in any direction, depending
on the time of year, you can snow ski, hike some of the most beautiful trails on the west coast, enjoy activities on some of the best recreational lakes and access some amazing fishing.
Rachel and I have two boys, Caleb, 17, and Chace, 14.
In the summer of 2003, just six weeks after Caleb was born, Rachel and I loaded up and moved to Broken Arrow, Okla., then moved to Chino Valley, Ariz., where we worked on cattle ranches and eventually opened our own custom saddle shop. Arizona was a young cowboy’s dream. However, we missed the trees, lakes and mountains. And, ultimately, we missed family.
In 2013, we returned to Redding. I spent the first couple years doing what I had always known to do, which was to shoe horses, and I had a short stint at Shasta Livestock. I then began coaching classes at Jefferson State CrossFit, where I spent several years before this last summer, when we decided
to open our own gym. Strong City Strength and Conditioning is now where I spend most of my time. I have fallen in love with coaching, and mostly with seeing people gain confidence through gaining strength and health.
Now, we spend our summers boating on Whiskeytown and Shasta lakes or paddleboarding down the Sacramento River. We also love hiking and camping in the mountains. From Castle Crags to Lassen Peak, there is so much beautiful country to see and enjoy. In the winters, we love to ski and snowboard at Mt. Shasta and bass fish on Shasta Lake. Northern California truly is an outdoorsman’s dream.
I also love that our town is growing, with locally owned small businesses and restaurants. I love food. And I especially love great coffee. We have some of the best coffee roasters and coffeehouses anywhere, as well as microbreweries and wineries.
It’s amazing how much our small town has to offer, yet we don’t have to put up with all that comes from a big city. It’s really the best of everything.
