My wife and I are relocating to CA from East Coast. We will be semi-retired. Anyone know of a town that is friendly with organizations geared to newcommers?

Mike - It might help if you tell us a little more about the type of place you're looking for. Southern California covers a big territory. You mentioned that you're semi-retired. Do you need to find employment out here? If so, what line of work? Do you want a urban feel? Suburban town? Mountains? Desert? Any particular activities that you like to participate in?

Mike

Some things you might want to consider before you make the move: The CA state tax rate and property taxes are very high. Also, you'll need earthquake insurance and the car insurance rates can be astronomical, depending on where you live.

A lot of people from my area in the North East have moved to the San Diego area. They all have quite nice retirement incomes though, so it is hard to recommend not knowing what exactly you are thinking of.I would imagine most large towns in Ca have some kind of organization for newcomers, most towns in the US do and California gets a lot of newcomers.

Thanks for your responses. We are looking for a suburban town around 25 - 50,000 people, with nice little restaurants, coffee bars and bookstores. Probably located within 30 - 40 mins of the coast. I work from home so don't need to find employment. I play golf and hope to find some less expensive courses around.

In southern California I would say try Rancho Bernardo, Poway, Escondido, Temecula or Murrieta in that order.

Mike - What price range are you looking for? What size of home do you want? Would you settle for a condo, or are you looking for a house with a yard?

While not near the coast, many people choose to retire out in the desert area - Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta. It's beautiful out there around 8 months out of the year, and then the summer months are very hot. Plenty of golf courses to choose from, lots of restaurants, shopping, etc.

Southern California is one big suburban sprawl, with most of the cities just blending together. So it's tough to find an area that is going to have a population of only 25-50,000 residents.

In the Orange County area, I'd suggest looking at the San Clemente or Dana Point area. It's along the coast, but it's less crowded and less expensive since it's further from the employment centers.

Or you might want to consider heading further north up to the Ventura County area. While the county has one of the biggest growth rates over the past decade, it's still not as built up as some of the other areas.

Pasadena is a great city in the Los Angeles area, but it's bigger than you're looking for. But there's a lot of cultural choices, restaurants and bookstores. And you're within 30 minutes of the coast (depending on the traffic levels).

With a little more info on your housing preferences and price range, I might be able to provide more help.

I live in Orange County and would have to say that when I retire, San Diego seems to have everything I'd like...small town feel (for S. CA at least!) but you're still close to culture, shopping, and it's not as developed as O.C.

Depends on if you speak Spanish or not!!

Although not really "southern", I would look into the coastal areas from north of Carpenteria up to Santa Barbara county.

Or maybe Santa Ynez valley areas.

I love the Santa Barbara area, but the real estate prices are out of reach. The Santa Ynez Valley is a nice winery area, but kind of remote. Buelleton is the central town in this area and is very touristy and offers no bookstores and the streets pretty much roll up at 5pm.

I don't know all the specifics, but anywhere between Westlake Village and Santa Barbara along the 101 FWY up the coast, Camarillo, and Ventura being the most advantages to retirees.
Close to the coast, cooler weather, and Thousand Oaks, is one of the most seizmically stable places in California.
Prices are lower then in Los Angeles county and they pay less sales tax.
The best thing to do is to fly out, and take a car from LA north via the 101 Ventura County Fwy.

This is the problem with California. People emigrate here, then they become "activists" to try and keep anyone else from doing the same thing. It is getting old.

I live in Rancho Bernardo (technically part of San Diego). It was created to be a retirement community and feels about the safest in SD. Lots of amenities and with 30 minutes of the ocean and desert and mountains. At least check it out.

To Native CA: I'm not sure who was being an activist for not moving to California. Most of the posters seem to have some good suggestions. Nothing negative in my opinion other than the cost factor and that's just reality.

I'm a native Californian and have nothing against people moving here. Just like I would hope to be accepted if I were to choose to relocate elsewhere.