Hello!

I found this board and I am excited and hoping to get your advice.

We (no kids) are planning to relocate to California. The problem is we are not sure where. We had been thinking Southern California but we are open to other areas.

My husband and I are both medical professionals (2 pharmacists) so I would think we can get jobs easily.

We are looking for warm winters with no snow, no killer traffic and we love the ocean but will be OK with driving 45 min to get there. We also would rather not live in the blazing heat and want a low crime area.
We are nature loving kinds of people.

Our plan is to rent for the first year and that will give us time to make sure we are in the right area before we buy. The only draw back to that is that we have 2 big dogs (labs) that are older and I don't know if no one will want to rent to us.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your ideas on where we should move to. Thanks for your time. It's a big help!

PS. Almost forgot, I'd like to avoid areas that are famous for Spring Break. Thanks!

No contest...Santa Barbara, hands down.

As pharmacists, you'll be "squeezed" by every "payer" in the state as there is no indemnity insurance and no one left there who pays his own pharmacy charges.
If you think the current MC/MC fiasco is bad, just wait 'til you experience CA reimbursement.
I remember visiting "Pete" Stark in the late '80s and being told that until the MC benes were lined up for miles outside his office that hospitals and docs would see reimbursement fall well below "cost".
Fortunately, I retired before my 59th birthday.
M

Laguna Beach.Natural beauty,culture,dining.Busy in the summer.

I would suggest Sonoma...about 45 mintes from ocean depending on where you settle...there are several state hospitals, private drug/ETOH facilities and other options.
You can drive to ocean, people are kinda nature loving and like critters, lifestyle is healthy...only bad thing is property is high cost and it might be hard to find a rental, you would occasionally have to deal with kiler traffic if you went to "town" IE OAkland or San Fran....but if I had a choice that is here I would go...

I've lived in the OC for almost 20 years, and am still getting used to it. The best things about it are the weather and the shopping.
There's little culture, housing is expensive, people (on the whole) very conservative.
I'm stuck here, but would never choose to move here again, though the weather's spoiled me for colder climates. I do like the feel of Northern Cal.
Laguna Beach is about as good as it gets in the OC.

I would suggest the Monterey Peninsula.
The is no killer traffic and the ocean is right there. There is no blazing heat on the Peninsula.
For nature lovers there is Big Sur just 26 miles away for hiking and camping and Yosemite just 3-4 hour drive.

Santa Barbara .Paul

I'd choose the central coast - Monterey, Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz, etc. It has pretty much all the things you are looking for. The area gets crowded in the summertime because it is a tourist area, but it isn't bad. And the tourism is more family or couples oriented than the spring break-type partiers you are looking to avoid.

Hi o2,

If you are nature lovers and don't want killer traffic - southern CA is NOT the place! Consider other places, like maybe the Motherload country or north of San Francisco. Perhaps San Luis Obispo a bit more central and nearer the beach.

Another vote for Central Coast. San Luis Obispo is one of my favorite towns in the area, and there's all sorts of fun nearby. It's getting pricey, but....

With two big dogs, you should try to rent a house with a yard. It will be very difficult to get an apartment that will allow two big dogs. Discrimination against animals is still allowed.

I agree with anything away from big cities and the South and Central parts of California. Anywhere along the central coast on upward, inland nearer Lake Tahoe or anything north of San Francisco/Sacramento would be OK.

I kind of like pharmacists. Never a pharmacist I didn't like! So I'm not certain what mikemo's objections are - perhaps if you worked for a hospital or an HMO like Kaiser you will be insured. I can't imagine the pharmacists working in these hospitals not being insured!

Good luck and welcome to California!

Please don't post in capital letters. It is the internet equivalent of shouting and difficult to read.

We looked all over California for a place to live and decided on San Luis Obispo. We've been here 3 years and totally love it! The weather is great (almost all of the time-today is an execption), we have an independent movie theatre showing lots of good "indie" films, there's a nice amount of culture, we have some of the best wineries anywhere and the people are the nicest I've ever met.

Unfortunately you aren't the first pharmacists who have thought of moving to the very places lauded above. I would certainly do more than just "think" you could get jobs...I'd kinda check out the professikonal literature to see what kind of openings there might be before I set my heart on a location.

Thanks you to all of you for your kind comments and ideas. I am taking notes on all the suggestions.

I have to say that I think that the people from California that I have meet have been such kind people. It's very refreshing to see all of you take the time to post your ideas for me.

There are a few people that I would like to respond to...
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Author: Ag3046
Date: 03/14/2006, 05:00 pm
Please don't post in capital letters. It is the internet equivalent of shouting and difficult to read.

Response: Thank you for your kind "welcome" you extended. YIKES! I am perfectly aware of this computer etiquette. But I am also aware that it is perfectly acceptable in titles or subject lines and does not indicate "shouting" when used in this application. I wasn't aware that Fodor employed people to police the boards looking for violations. While I am at it,please note that Internet is spelled with a capital I.

Next : Mikemo: Thanks for your warning. We don't own our own Pharmacy and so the company we work for will deal with the billing and payment issues. Currently we are employed by a major hospital and we never even see any billing issues. It is all handled by the accounting dept. We all are controlled by the insurance companies. I am just glad we don't have to deal with it.

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Easy Traveler: Thanks to all your comments I think Mikemo wasn't asking if we were insured as in malpractice, I think he was saying that is is hard to get payments from the insurance companies I think tha tis what he meant
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Intrepid1;
Thanks for your concern. I realize we are not the first RPh's to want to move to California and we aren't just aimlessly moving there. We had to take both the NAPLEX (federal) as well as the California exams in order to obtain a license there. Keep in mind the NAPLEX is the test we take when we are right out of college. Imagine taking that test again 20 yrs later? So we have done plently of homework looking into the placement opportunities, home buy out programs, sign on bonuses,etc. So when I said "I think we can easily get jobs there" I should have said " I know we can easily get jobs there." The minute we passed the tests, the recruiters came out of the woodwork. One recruiter had 170 positions available alone!

We are just trying to look for good locations that best suits our life style. Thanks again for your concerns

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Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. I'm thrilled to have so much information from all of you.

I have found so much valuable information from this board. It's great to have such an awesome resource.

Just wanted to say to you please don't take offense by AG3046. You should know there are some people who have ego issues and it makes them feel better about themselves by scolding people and showing their "authority".

There is a really great group of people on this site and I sure hope that one person won't ruin your opinion of this great site.

We are looking at moving to Santa Barbara area. I'm going to be going there in about 1 month to visit again.

Enjoy your quest and ignore the trolls along the way!

Jenny

I love Orange County, but then I have two kids. The schools are great. It's crawling with restaurants where they make strong drinks and kids are welcome even on Friday nights. I am not sure I'd want to be here if it weren't for the family lifestyle. You might want to stay far away. I would look into Northern California along the coast. It's beautiful there. But again, I might look for jobs first, or plan a long driving trip where you go from San Diego to Eureka and check out the different vibes.

I liked the advice about seeing what jobs are available first. I think of pharmacies like Longs and Walgreens. Or Kaiser Permanente. I live in San Jose, however am close to the central coast area mentioned (Santa Cruz, Aptos, Monterey, etc.). Based on your criteria, I think the central coast is best.