California... where to move?

[Soaptopia]

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I hate living in AZ, and I miss being a kid and living in Cali. I'm pretty much open to living any part, Southern, Central, and Northern. I want to live in a somewhat smaller type of town that is near the beach. Maybe a suburb of LA or San Fran or something. Price wise I'm thinking $1200 or less for rent, and IDK how to price out a house at ALL I want to try something new and every time I go to Cali I always wish I lived there. I know the traffic is bad and there's lots of people but I can deal with it if I have a beach to go relax at that's not too far away. Thanks for any help! I am trying to find a site to help but I'm not really finding anything but people convincing other people NOT to move to Cali, but my fiance and I have our minds made up already. TIA!

 

[mamacatnv]

will u be working? that will play into the where

 

[DisneylandForever]

In the Bay Area, you might want to consider Pacifica. It is right on the water, and you'll be able to find a place for 1200/month, even a little less. There's also Half Moon Bay, but that's slightly more isolated. About an hour or so south of SF is Santa Cruz. It's a very eclectic little town, with lots of colorful characters. It gets great weather and has its own Boardwalk. It's famous for being the location for the film The Lost Boys. Pacifica is famous for its fog, and a few years ago having houses fall into the ocean as the cliffs eroded. It's not a bad little town though, and only a 10 minute drive to downtown SF.

This map shows just how close it is. Follow Hwy 1 south to see more coastal towns.

 

[Huff]

Sorry to hear you hate AZ, I love it! Maybe not Phoenix but love all the small towns all over the mountains. Beautiful forests that are hard to beat!

I grew up in California, lots of family in S.F. Bay area and San Diego. While I love the beaches I can't handle the crowds and high living costs of the larger cities where the jobs are. But my favorate smaller areas are Avalon, Buellton, Santa Maria or Morro Bay. All are scenic and uncrowded.

 

[esmetutu]

Ventura!

Right on the beach, 1 hour from LA, 30 min from Santa Barbara, and you could easily rent a cute house for under $1200. We've got colleges, some jobs left, and the cost of living isn't bad. Plus, there are quite a few artsy-cultural things to do; and hiking, surfing, amazing weather...

I love California, as a native I've got a lot of pride for our state, but there are things I definitely don't care for... With that said I couldn't imagine living anywhere else aside from Portland, OR or Prescott, AZ.

 

[Soaptopia]

Ventura!

Right on the beach, 1 hour from LA, 30 min from Santa Barbara, and you could easily rent a cute house for under $1200. We've got colleges, some jobs left, and the cost of living isn't bad. Plus, there are quite a few artsy-cultural things to do; and hiking, surfing, amazing weather...

I love California, as a native I've got a lot of pride for our state, but there are things I definitely don't care for... With that said I couldn't imagine living anywhere else aside from Portland, OR or Prescott, AZ.

Wow, great advice! I knew I'd get good advice from here, I'll definitely look those up. I wasn't expecting it to be cheap, that's for sure. But I figured if I want to do this so bad I owe it to myself to try it out! If it gets too tough and it's not what I thought, I'll move back or try somewhere else. Prescott is nice, I like to visit up there and the snow doesn't stay for very long. I would move up there, but I want to try Cali first! It seems like we have the same tastes, because I'd move to Portland too!

Sorry to hear you hate AZ, I love it! Maybe not Phoenix but love all the small towns all over the mountains. Beautiful forests that are hard to beat!

I grew up in California, lots of family in S.F. Bay area and San Diego. While I love the beaches I can't handle the crowds and high living costs of the larger cities where the jobs are. But my favorate smaller areas are Avalon, Buellton, Santa Maria or Morro Bay. All are scenic and uncrowded.

Thanks! the more city names I have the better. Yeah AZ is just sooo old for me now. I've lived here since I was in 2nd grade and have always wanted to live ANYWHERE but here. There is a pic of me pouting in front of my house next to a U-Haul truck in WA before we moved. I know it is going to be very high cost of living but I think the benefits outweigh that at this point!

In the Bay Area, you might want to consider Pacifica. It is right on the water, and you'll be able to find a place for 1200/month, even a little less. There's also Half Moon Bay, but that's slightly more isolated. About an hour or so south of SF is Santa Cruz. It's a very eclectic little town, with lots of colorful characters. It gets great weather and has its own Boardwalk. It's famous for being the location for the film The Lost Boys. Pacifica is famous for its fog, and a few years ago having houses fall into the ocean as the cliffs eroded. It's not a bad little town though, and only a 10 minute drive to downtown SF.

This map shows just how close it is. Follow Hwy 1 south to see more coastal towns.

That sounds great! Thank you for the links! Kinda scary, houses falling into the ocean. That is close, I am definitely going to check that out too.

will u be working? that will play into the where

Yes, I will be applying for every single job I can think of, including my field which is dentistry. There are tons of dental offices anywhere but since I really want to move out there I'll apply for anything! My fiance is thinking the same thing, but his field is diesel.

 

[mamacatnv]

If I could live anywhere in the state, it would have to be north of San Francisco. I love the area of Eureka area all the way up to Crescent City. It's so many different things in that area; its the rugged ocean, the beautiful redwoods, the coastal hills along with a lot of uninhabited areas.

Inland; Redding, Weed & Shasta areas - further from the coast but small towns with the forests etc. Change of seasons is a bonus for me and yet close enough to access bigger cities when needed.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Well my family are 4th generation Ventura county natives.......so I have to go with Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme or Camarillo.

 

[Minuet888]

Capitola, technically still Santa Cruz but not as expensive

 

[DSNY4ever]

Eek, I hope you have lost of money because the coastal cities are so expensive! But many are beautiful if you can afford it.

I would love to live somewhere in the Monterey area like Pacific Grove, Point Reyes is nice (but not near a lot of employment possibilities), in southern california Cardiff and La Jolla are beautiful.

You could live somewhere like Petaluma or in the Bay area that is only a short drive to the beach. Santa cruz is lovely too.

Good luck!

 

[RangerPooh]

I grew up in Gilroy which is about a half hour drive inland from Santa Cruz, Id still be there today if it wasn't so pricey. I loved it. Close to everything! Monterey and Santa Cruz are my recommendations. But you haev lots of smaller communities that you can look into here (ie: Scotts Valley, Capitola, Soquel, Ben Lomand, Rio del Mar, etc)

DH grew up in Moro Bay and misses it. The whole area Moro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach is nice too.

Although I like the mountains and would say Sonora/Twain Hart which is near Yosemite. Not the coast but my desired place to live.

 

[eduk8r26]

Another vote for Ventura. I've lived here for 20 years and much prefer it to Oxnard or Port Hueneme. Weather's nicer, shopping's better and the beaches are nicer.

 

[GrandBob]

Capitola, technically still Santa Cruz but not as expensive

I love Capitola, but I suspect you haven't been around here in a while. Capitola is very $$$$, more so than most areas of Santa Cruz. Of course, of late I'd guess you could pick up some places pretty cheap, with only a few feet of mud in their ground floor

-Bob