Housing in Willits reflects its railroad-era roots and its rural setting. The walkable town center holds historic bungalows, Victorian-era houses, and mixed residential-commercial buildings, many dating from the early twentieth century when the city grew around the depot. Beyond the compact core, the Little Lake Valley opens into larger residential lots, ranch properties, and forested acreage, offering a mix of in-town convenience and rural space. The stock leans older and individually built rather than tract-style, giving the city a varied, established streetscape. As a lower-density inland alternative to coastal towns, Willits offers everything from modest older homes near downtown to working acreage on the surrounding hillsides.

Willits is organized around a compact, walkable downtown where shops, restaurants, galleries, and public buildings cluster within a few blocks. The historic residential streets immediately around downtown hold many of the city's older homes, while newer and larger-lot residential areas spread south and east across the Little Lake Valley. Beyond the city limits, rural neighborhoods and ranchette-style parcels line the valley floor and foothills, giving much of the area a semi-rural character. The presence of U.S. 101 and State Route 20 keeps the downtown corridor the commercial anchor, while the residential areas remain quieter and more spread out.

Willits offers a distinctly small-town, outdoors-oriented way of life. The Skunk Train, the Mendocino County Museum, and the Roots of Motive Power museum keep the city's railroad and logging heritage visible in daily life. Frontier Days, held each year around the Fourth of July, brings a professional rodeo, carnival, street dance, and community gatherings to town — a tradition that has run continuously since 1927. Recreation Grove Park and the community ball fields host events and youth sports, while the skate park and the Frank Grasse Dog Park serve everyday recreation. The surrounding redwood forests and the nearby Mendocino coast make outdoor living central to the community's identity.

Public education in Willits is provided by the Willits Unified School District, which serves the city and the surrounding inland valleys with elementary, middle, and high school programs. The district operates from the city and is the primary public school system for families across northern Mendocino County. A compact, walkable downtown places the schools within easy reach of many central neighborhoods, and the county seat of Ukiah lies about twenty miles to the south.

Willits is one of northern California's notable crossroads. U.S. Route 101, the Redwood Highway, carries traffic north toward Eureka and south toward Ukiah and the Bay Area, while State Route 20 departs westward for the roughly twenty-mile climb to the coast at Fort Bragg — the route marked by the city's "Gateway to the Redwoods" arch. The Skunk Train traces the same corridor to the coast by rail, a legacy of the line that once gave Willits through passenger service to San Francisco. This combination of highway and rail routes has kept Willits the natural stopping point between the inland valley and the Mendocino shore.

Recreation in Willits leans on the outdoors. Within the city, Babcock Park, Bud Snider City Park, and Recreation Grove Park provide picnic areas, play space, and the setting for community events, while the community ball fields host soccer and baseball and the Willits Skate Park and Frank Grasse Dog Park round out day-to-day facilities. Hiking trails and open space extend from the valley into the surrounding hills. The Skunk Train offers scenic excursions through redwood forests to the coast, and the Mendocino County Museum and Roots of Motive Power preserve the region's logging heritage. Frontier Days, California's oldest continuously running rodeo, anchors the summer calendar each July.