Northern CA vs. Central CA to live
 

Could someone give us insight into lifestyle, weather, pros and cons of living in Northern CA vs. living in Central CA?

Alot will be dictated by price, but most likely we will end up with a small townhouse condo when we retire, and have looked at these town/cities as possibilities:

Napa, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Benicia, Marina/Seaside, San Luis Obispo, and PismoBeach/Avila Beach/Grover Beach/Oceano/Arroyo Grande.

We've read alot on the weather, crime rates, housing prices, etc. but would be interested to hear from insiders. We want a place with things to do, relatively safe, with a nice ambience rather than urban sprawl.

We had Paso Robles and Atascadero on our list, but some have told us would be hot, hot, hot in the summer.

We plan on visiting all these areas, but sometimes only people who live there can provide accurate insight that you can't get elsewhere regarding pros and cons. That's what we are looking for.

We are not set on a specific size town/city, but would like a place with a choice of recreational opportunities (parks, golf, etc.), shops, restaurants, nice (moderate)housing and sense of neighborhoods, not too hot in summer (@80) with close proximity to the ocean (30 min or less). If the town is small, proximity to a larger town or city would be desirable, and we want a place with a real "downtown" and sense of community. We would also want a town with or close access to a major hospital. We will be retired, so schools are not important, but a town with vitality and things going on - festivals, farmers markets, volunteer opportunities, perhpas access to a university etc. would appeal to us.

Right now we live East Coast and are seeking to escape the cold and snow. Though we do love to ski, so access to a ski area that we could drive to would be a bonus. We live in a town of 20K on the ocean, but it is very vital, and has alot going on - upscale restaurants and shops, strong sense of community, theatre, parks, boating, fishing, festivals, etc. Again, size is not important as long as the town is vital.

Our budget is 300K-350K, and again we are looking only for a modest (but nice) townhouse condo (no one above or below us) that has some small yard or courtyard, a private entrance and dry storage (attic or basement). Right now we are living in a similar situation, @ 1,100 sq. ft. so that is all we would need.

It's hard to tell if anything like that exists in the places we have picked, if we are way off base, or have missed other possibilites. Our goal is to narrow this list down to a manageable number of towns to visit. Any help/comments much appreciated.

Hi wanderer: I live in Arroyo Grande and I just love it. I grew up in Orange County and moved up to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1988, met my husband here, started our family and our business. It is a great place to live for people of all ages with everything you are looking for (according to your post). There are many, many microclimates here within a small area and you get downright cold to extreme heat. Anything over "The Grade" (Cuesta Grade just north on hwy. 101 from San Luis Obispo) gets serious summer heat, and dips into freezing in the winter, but nothing like midwest/eastcoast winters. San Luis Obispo is near perfect (if you like moderate) sunny weather, but also the most expensive. The coast is mild in the winter with little frost if any and cool summers (warmest in fall and spring). You might have a tougher time finding something in your price range in SLO. Out of SLO your options expand, but the market is rapidly changing as communities develop outside SLO. I can't stress how all these little communities in San Luis Obispo differ quite a bit in character/weather/housing. Might I suggest that you come and stay as long as possible (in a hotel or vacation rental) in order to scope out the scene? That's the best way for you to know which community suits you best. SLO County has staggering natural beauty and communities that are concerned about growth issues (Cal Poly is the largest school-or #2 depending on the year- of environmental design in the country). If you have any more specific questions about SLO COunty and living the SLO life feel free to ask me! A few things I like about it: we can live a very relaxed, country lifestyle, yet be just 1/2 day drive from LA and SF (1 hr.15 min. north of Santa Barbara and 2-1/2 hrs. south of Monterey). We also have an airport served by American Eagle, United Express and America West. I wouldn't live in the best place in the world if I couldn't easily get out of town!!!

I like the SLO area a lot too. The only thing I would be concerned about is the university and housing. I have heard from several students and a couple faculty members that the on-campus housing is inadaquate, so there are a large number of parents who buy homes in the surrounding area for their children to live in and rent the extra rooms out to other students. I know this is common in many univeristy towns, but it seems to be much more common in SLO. I don't know if this has caused any problems in the neighborhoods, but it is something to consider.

Hello,

I've been a resident of Benicia for 25 years and love it here but after visiting the San Luis Obispo area (my daughter goes to Cal Poly) I would have to say is a better location for retirement. The housing issue at Cal Poly should take care of itself over the next few years with the school building several new dorms to house continuing students however I did hear that this wonderful State school would like to become part of the UC system which would mean a larger student population in the future. Even with this possibility, the town and surrounding area is ideal with pleasant weather, great beaches, a wonderful downtown and central location to San Francisco, Monterey and LA area. I agree that you should first spend several months in the area before purchasing. Good luck

SLO's a typical "College Town" with associated problems, but it's NOT horrible! It's just so nice in SLO Town, that that's practically the only thing the locals can complain about (I'm not exaggerating)! If you are considering the surrounding towns in SLO County, the University issues are not even of any concern. It's really only a problem if you live right next to the University or near frat/sorority houses.

Can anyone comment on Paso Robles or Atascadero?

We love the sound of SLO (especially the weather coming from the NE!!), and the vibrancy of the town, but Atascadero and Paso Robles are alot more reasonable as far as housing prices.

We hate the heat, so someone told us to avoid these two towns. Is there really that much difference in climate?

We are also looking at Northern CA - Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and possibly Napa - would be curious is anyone has comparisons - lifestyle, climate, etc. between Northern CA and Central CA (SLO area).

Thanks.
p.s. The poster that said SLO is better than Benicia for retirement, would love to hear why. Less congestion, cheaper, more vibrant city with more senior services???

One other question... I know this is asking for Paradise, but my husband and I are both avid skiiers and hate to give that up.

Would either Central Ca or Northern CA afford us access - days drive - to a ski area? Would Central CA or Northern CA be better?

Napa housing prices are "out of sight"---Maybe a SMALL condo for the money you stated.. Napa is very "clickish" Hard to work your way into the community unless you are wealthy, involved in wine or your family has live in the
valley for 3 generations.
I really prefer Healdsberg, Ocidental, Rusian River, Windsor all in
Santa Rosa area.SR has nice "community" flavor, lots of shopping and good medical access, cultural activitiesJr.College and 4 yr..State college -I finished my B S there at age of 56...
You can get to the snow--about 4 hr. drive-to the Ocean in30 min. Summers often in 80s(occas 90) but cools down most nights to 60s. Not sure of housing prices ..I know lots of people are moving to area and communting to SF bay area..
In my honest opinion I would not consider Benicia because of its close proximity to oil refineries and episodes of extreme pollution..
Good luck with your decisions..

Both Atascadero & Paso Robles are north over the Cuesta Grade from San Luis Obispo~extremely HOT in the summer (90's-100's are normal)and cold in the winter. It is inland and away from the coastal influence that keeps SLO, the coast, and south SLO County cities mild.

Nearest ski area to SLO is about 3-4 hours away. Sierra Summit I think is the name, though I've never been myself. A lot of locals ski there. Some actually do daytrips there, but most do it for at least an overnight.

If skiing is important to you -- anywhere in northern California is within 2 or 3 hours of some of the best skiing in the entire country,

Squaw Valley,
Alpine Meadows,
Heavenly Valley,
Mount Rose,
Boreal Ridge,
Kirkwood,
and about 20 other terrific ski areas.

We live in Fresno but have vacationed a lot in SLO and bay area. SLO seems to have a lot going on! I have not heard great things about Paso Robles. I like the hot weather (being from Fresno) but I have heard the community is lots of transient farmworkers..."not that there's anything wrong...." anyway, it may not be what you are looking for. We investigated it when we had kids in HS and overruled it! How fun to make this change! Good luck!

Slopugs,
You mentioned that anything North of Highway 101 would have HOT/cold weather. Does this include the areas we are looking at in Sonoma/Napa county?

We really like the sound of Petaluma, but it appears very pricey, Santa Rosa seems more reasonable, but would that be HOT being so far inland?

Pismo/Grover/Avila Beach areas seemed interesting and less expensive than SLO. Are we reading this right?

We realize we will have to come out and spend lots of time, which we will. We just want to narrow that down to 3-4 towns to "live" in.

Hi wanderer: for my comments I'm only speaking for SLO county. Between the northern and southern borders of the county (as I've mentioned) there are many distinct cities/communities, each with their own "Flavor," and microclimate. It took my husband & I 10 years to realize Avila Beach/Valley was the best place for us, but by the time we had a clue it was far out of our price range (astronomical since they rebuilt and cleaned up the town due to years of oil leakage from Unocal-the town won a huge class action law suit). Next, we like "Edna Valley," the area just southeast of SLO past the airport, but again, pricey. More reasonable housing prices MIGHT be found in any towns south of Avila Beach and sometimes Morro Bay. Morro Bay, Los Osos, and Pismo get a lot of fog and overcast weather (especially in the summer), but when the sun's out they're gorgeous. A little sunnier are Arroyo Grande and Nipomo. In any event, all of these towns are pretty close together, and no matter where you live you can enjoy everything that each one has to offer! When it gets too cool where I live I just take a little drive into warmer weather. There are festivals and farmers markets all year around. Daily life is relaxed, the pace is SLO (we call it "The SLO Life"), and the people are friendly. If you like the outdoors and nature, you will not run out of things to do/see. I'm originally from orange county in Southern California, and all my family & friends LOVE to come visit us here!

I noticed that Suisun has some nice, relatively inexpensive (compared to other areas) victorians in a historic district.

Is Suisun an area that we should consider, or is it like Vallejo in that it has some nice older victorian homes, but would not be a great retirement area?

The major interest for us with Suisun was the new Marina. Houses are reasonable, but many of the lower priced ones are home ownwer associations type. f that works for you it might be OK. we decided against it because there seemed to be some rowdier(driving cars fast, loud music, lots of cars)in the area we were looking. What is nice is the Marina though. It is new and beautiful. It seems the Chamber of Commerce is trying to draw people. In all honesty there are not many support services in the area though. Nearby Fairfield seems to be where Suisun residents have to go. It is right at a train connection. You could hop on and go to the Bay Area or Sacramento fairly easy.There are areas that are not near the water, perhaps they are better, quieter? We are not tract home lovers so that was not something we looked into.

I recently moved to San Luis Obispo from the east coast. We were looking for a change and investigated areas up and down the California coast. SLO won hands down! Prices are fairly high, but if you're looking for a townhome rather than a detached house you could probably find something in your price range in the city of SLO.
Paso Robles is becoming quite the wine center and the downtown area is charming with some nice restaurants. However it does get very hot during the day in the summer.
The town of Arroyo Grande is very nice and the surrounding area is beautiful.
Everything in the county is pretty close together and within 10-20 minutes you can be in a different enviroment.
I also like the town of Morro Bay.
You should come spend some time here and I'm pretty sure you'll be won over.

wanderer,
FYI regarding those Victorian houses in Suisun. They are not in the best part of town. I grew up in that area and it was literally the "wrong side of the tracks."
It's better than was years ago, and those homes are beautiful and have such potential. However, I wouldn't feel 100% safe there at night.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

We have narrowed our list down to the following towns based on what we can surmise from real estate sites on line.

The list will probably change when we visit each area, and if we see there are more reasonable prices than we think in the ones we had to cross off.

Right now it is:
Petaluma and Santa Rosa in Northern, CA, Marina and Seaside in Monterey area, and Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach in Central CA.

We crossed off SLO as too expensive, although it seems it might be what we are looking for - Paso Robles and Atascadero and Salinas as too hot, and Napa, Sonoma and Healdsburg as too expensive (and too hot). We also had Benicia on our list, which we crossed off due to above comments. I also feel we want to be a little further away from the Bay area.

So again, would love first hand comments on lifestyle, weather, housing costs, services, etc. in the towns we have chosen.

Just a few comments. First the summer weather in the central valley of California is really not bad at all. I have lived on the east coast in Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia and Pittsburg and the summers here are not close to the weather you have back east. Generally you may get 2 to 3 weeks of 100+ weather in the central valley with rapid cooling in the evening. 24 hour air conditioing is only needed for a few weeks in the summer. The weather is also low in humidity and a 90 day in California is nothing like a 90 or even a 80 day on the east coast.
I should also mention that if you are thinking of living on the coast, ie Marina you should be ready to have lots of sunless, cloudy days.
I do like Santa Rosa and Petaluma alot but I do not think it is much different from a climate perspective than Napa, although it is closer to the coast. If costs prove to be ok, they would be my location of choice for retirement of your choices.

Hi Wanderer,

I grew up in Carmel and Salinas -- depending on the neighborhood, Seaside and Marina might be good choices. However, I wanted to let you know that the weather in Salinas is *not* hot; in fact the fog rolls in every day around 4 or so. One of the complaints the locals had was that it wasn't warm enough! So, if you ruled Salinas out for this reason alone, you may want to rethink it.

I live in Marin county now, and think both Santa Rosa and Petaluma are good options. Both of these cities get pretty warm though, though not like the Central Valley or Sacramento.

Good luck!

I live in Sonoma County in the country just outside Petaluma's city limits. We moved up here from Palo Alto 5 years ago (so it seems cheap to us compared to Silicon Valley prices - the median housing price in PA was over 1 million). I haven't kept up with housing prices the past 5 years, so am not much help there, but here are some random general comments about the area:

Absolutely beautiful countryside - really lovely. Close to all kinds of different things - San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge is 30 minutes away (when traffic isn't bad), Point Reyes National Seashore is 20 minutes, Healdsburg about 30 minutes, Bodega Bay and the beach about 25 minutes, Napa about 30 minutes, Berkeley is 45 minutes, etc. Great skiing about 4 hours away (some people do go up just for the day although I think they're crazy).

Petaluma is a mix of old ranching families, small businesspeople, and people who commute to jobs in SF. Some really lovely old Victorian neighborhoods and some rather dreary cookie cutter tract houses and subdivisions. I find Petaluma a little provincial in attitude at times - surprising to me for a place only 35 miles from San Francisco. It is ethnically less diverse than many towns in the Bay Area. There is essentially NO department store shopping in Petaluma - we do have antique stores and things like that but for the kind of things you need in daily life (excluding food and hardware) I find myself driving north or south 20 or 30 minutes to go shopping. There is a hospital although people have to go to Santa Rosa's hospital for some things. There is a river in town (people can actually sail up here from San Francisco on their own boats).

It gets hot here in the summer but the dry heat is nothing like back East (I used to live in DC and Florida so the heat here never bothers me). It cools down every night - in fact I miss the Eastern balmy nights - here the fog frequently rolls in by evening and most nights are not especially warm. It usually freezes a few times a winter at night, although this winter at our house we did not get a single frost. Usually we get NO (not one drop) of rain from the end of May until the end of October. Then it can be rainy -interspersed with sunny days - from November through March. (Although I also used to live in Oregon so the rain is nothing compared to that.) Hope this gives some idea of the place.

Of the semi-finalists I vote for Petaluma. In addition to all that has been mentioned, there is an art house movie theatre as well as cineplex type movie houses showing the latest main line films, a state university which is growing by leaps and bounds (Sonoma State U) which also does have extension classes,a well established hospice and a hospital(Petaluma Valley) with trauma facilities up the road a piece in Santa Rosa. There is a Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa and Kaiser Clinics in Petaluma. The west side of town is my preferred part of Petaluma. This is where the older homes are. As you head west from there you are moving towards the coast,including Bodega Bay and Point Reyes. You will have a pretty good selection of ethnic foods from which to choose although mostly mexican,chinese and thai. I have worked and lived in Petaluma at various points in my life and I think it's a fine place. It is growing pretty fast and so is bound to lose some of its small town feel but I do think it might be a lovely place to retire if you can find housing.

I'm a Paso Roblan, and although Paso has a reputation for being "hot," it has been on a cooling trend. Last year we never experienced any 115 temps. And the cold isn't that bad .. high 50s/60s in the winter during the day time.

The wine country up north can get just as hot during the summer.

If you have any other questions about Paso and surrounding cities, let me know.

Although SLO has been crossed off the list, Cal Poly problems aren't that bad. I think the biggest issue is that SLO is a no-growth [i.e. building more homes] town right now. I'd have a hard time seeing the city accept a change from CSU to UC with its preference of small town charm.

Genesea
[email protected]

Grover Beach seems very reasonable for a beach community.

Are there any reasons for this - i.e., not that desirable?

I would assume this area - Arroyo Grande/Grover Beach, etc. are not as hot as Petaluma, Santa Rosa in Summer?

Hi Wanderer: I guess from the past few posts it goes to show how temperatures (being "Too hot," or "Too cold") are very relative to the individual. I've lived in Arroyo Grande the past 2 years, 10 previous years in Pismo Beach, and the year before in SLO itself. To me SLO got as warm as I would ever want to live in! My whole life I've lived within 12 or less miles from the coast (SLO being the furthest inland!), so I'm accustomed to very mild coastal temperatures which vary little compared to other non-coastal climates. In the past 13 years, we've rarely seen a frost (I've only had plant damage one year) and I don't think the coast around here has seen 100 degrees (if it did, it would've been only a day or two in my 13 years here). We rarely even get in the nineties. So when people from the inland valley and Salinas Valley say its not "That hot," it may not be for them, but that's WAY hot in my book! 2-3 weeks of 100+ weather?! I can't enjoy walks with my dogs in that weather, nor gardening. Wow, that's hot! But that's just me. I'm used to summer temps. in the 60's-80's. So, I guess you have to just ask yourself what YOUR personal comfort range is, what you want to live with and go with that. Find out the actual statistics of each city, their summer/winter highs/lows, seasonal averages, precipitation, etc.

As for Grover Beach? Well, until a few years back it was "Grover City." They changed the name for marketing purposes because "Beach" sounded classier, and guess what? Property values went up! The problem? Only a small portion of the city borders the beach, and it is in no way what one thinks of as a "Beach Town." No locals think of it as a beach town, adn no one says "Im going to Grover Beach," to spend a day at the beach. Come and see and you will probably agree. The town is focused on Grand Avenue which runs east-west and looks pretty much like "Anytown USA." There aren't even any homes or businesses on the beach part (ok, maybe about 3). Come see for yourself. Don't get me wrong. You may find a very good home here in your price range. I'm just trying to paint a realistic picture for you so you don't come expecting a Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, or Santa Monica which are real "Beach Towns." The pro is that it IS a good location to enjoy all of what SLO County has to offer, and the weather is good if you don't mind things a bit on the cool side and summer fog (which is more overcast than the creeping San Francisco type of fog). One thing to think about if crime/drugs are a concern. Most of the county activity in those areas are in Oceano and the west side of Grover Beach (adjacent to Oceano). There are some better (both old and new) neighborhoods further east in Grover Beach. They are around Oak Park Blvd and east of that to Hwy. 101.

P.S. Arroyo Grande is quite a large sprawling area which includes a country cute charming village east of hwy 101, Husana Valley (more country living on acreage lots) east of the village, the area west of the 101 which is adjacent to Grover Beach and almost the same in character as GB, and what they call "Rural Arroyo Grande" on the north end of the Nipomo Mesa which is actually unincorporated SLO County (where I live). Each of these areas are all called "Arroyo Grande," but they each have their own character/feel/socio-economic/demographic, etc..... You will find varying price ranges in housing in each of the different areas.

Hello Wanderer and SloPugs,

Salinas is not the same as the Salinas Valley -- the city of Salinas has a Mediterranean climate and is protected from most of the heat visited upon other valley cities like Prunedale or King City.

Salinas temperatures rarely hit 80 degrees. The average year-round temperature in Salinas is 68 degrees, and even in July the average maximum temperature is 71 degrees. Soooo, I wouldn't consider my description of Salinas as "not hot" to be relative by any metric.

That said, I'm not pushing Salinas, though it can be a nice place to live. Since you want to be near skiing, you might prefer being further north, i.e. Petaluma or Santa Rosa (the weather *will* be warmer there, but not "2 to 3 weeks of 100+").

Check out your prospective destinations on weather.com -- you can get averages and records for any city you're interested in.

Ah..the great weather debate on Northern CA & the Bay area. One word: MICROCLIMATES. Example: Petaluma MIGHT hit a 100 twice a year, in late summer. Most of the summer months we might hit 75-80 but every aftrnoon at 4:00PM it cools off-sometimes there is fog-sometimes not. You will be wearing a sweatshirt when the fireworks start on the 4th of July. It is rare to sit outside and have dinner in the summer here(except for those 100 degree days)10 miles up the road in Santa Rosa it will be 10 degrees warmer and not so much of a nightly cool off-you will have lovely evenings. Gets even warmer in Windsor/Healsdburg/Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys, as it does in the city of Sonoma and the Napa Valley. There you can wear shorts during the day-here you can until 4:00PM-unless you are my spouse who wears shorts because it is summer and it's the principal of the thing! Happy Hunting

tpl: Wow, what a big difference from my impression of Salinas weather, but hey, you're a local, so you know ! I guess it was just cooincidental that its been very warm the handful of times when I've been there. Your description makes it sound more like Pismo Beach weather.

Our definition of "HOT" is over 80 degrees. Granted, we are on the East Coast, so more humidity here, but we live in a coastal town, so it's cooler than most.

Perfect summers would be 64-80 degree range average. A FEW hot days OK, but not weeks. I will check out the weather sites - good suggestion.

The comment on Grover "Beach" exactly what we are looking for and hard to discern if you haven't lived in a community awhile. As I said, we'd like to narrow down to just a few to actually live in so the more info the better.

Hi--
If you truly don't want temps in the 80s in the summer, I'd focus your search as close to the coast as your money allows. Petaluma and Santa Rosa are going to be at least in the 80s most of the summer and early fall.

According to weather.com, the highs for Santa Rosa and Petaluma are 83/84 for July and August.

That doesn't seem too bad to us, compared to Sonoma at 90 and Healdsburg at 94.

We are thinking also that if we want easier access to skiing, then Northern CA might be a better spot with its proximity to Tahoe, etc.

We still want to see Sonoma, Monterey and SLO counties though before we decide, so will start with Sonoma county in Oct.

Can anyone give us particular areas (neighborhoods) that we should look at while we are there? We love older homes with some style and character, in a "settled" neighborhood rather than tract housing. Smallish, and fixer-uppers are fine, as well as townhouses, as long as there is a little private yard and no one above/below us.

Everyone here has said "West Petaluma" is best for that. How about Santa Rosa? We won't have alot of time, perhaps a day to split between the 2. If anyone can give us streets, etc. to check out, that would be great.

Have you thought of calling a realtor in Petaluma ? Or any other city you think you might want to live in. Since your time is short she/he could set up places to see in your price range for the best use of your time. Just tell them everything you've told us! I know of a couple very good ones if you would like a referral, but only if you're serious.

We are very serious, but where retirement is 5-8 yrs. away, I'd hate to "waste" a realtor's time.

We're trying to use this time to get to know the state, the different areas we might want to live, and the housing market - which will change no doubt, as will the profile of the communities.

We are set that CA is the right choice for us, and just trying to narrow down to 2-3 towns to rent in for "trial-runs" so to speak to see if they fit what we want.

We are coming out in Oct. to check out Sonoma Valley, and will have to book another trip next year or so to see SLO County and Monterey County.

We were hoping folks on this board could provide real insight into the flavor of the towns, which they have, and which has really been helpful to us!

If someone could alert us to the "nice" neighborhoods, or those that suit what we are looking for in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, so that we are not driving all over the place, that would be great. Right now we just want to get a sense of the area, not of the homes themselves. If we like these two places, what neighborhoods we like, etc.

Thanks everyone for your help.

<Our definition of "HOT" is over 80 degrees. Granted, we are on the East Coast, so more humidity here, but we live in a coastal town, so it's cooler than most.>

wanderer:

I recall visiting NYC when it was about 90 deg and 98% humidty. I lived near Fresno, CA at the time (a very hot place by California standards). I remember thinking as I got off the plane in NYC, "You have got to be joking! Put me back on the plane!"

We were there for 11 days in that swealtering heat. I recall flying back to Fresno and the pilot told us when we landed that it was 103 degrees! When I stepped off the plane, I recall how "cool" it felt minus the east coast humidity. My point: It's very hard to compare California temps to east coast temperatures. Some find 80 deg on the CA central coast to be extremely comfortable and 60 deg to be a bit chilly. Our high humidity consists mainly of a marine layer that comes in and later retreats mostly during the summer months. We complain about it under our breath knowing full well how good we really have it here. We have no air conditioning, and for the most part, no swimming pools.

I have brothers and sisters in the Fresno and Oakhurst areas, but you just about have to put a gun to my head to visit there in the summertime now. Paso Robles in the summer is about the same.

Downtown SLO had a freaky temperature spike of 100+ degrees for a couple of days last summer, but was still easy to get around in compared to areas without a coastal breeze.

I agree with the above comments on SLO county, and the poster did a nice job of painting an accurate picture of the area. The Nipomo Mesa also has some of the best temps in the country I heave heard.

Here's a bit of interesting news I just heard on the radio last week: tourism is the number one industry for SLO County and is close to $1 billion dollars/year. That speaks volumes in many ways.

not sweating it,
~ ben

bear, this post is 2 years old.

OK - still relevant. We have visited - twice now - Northern CA and fallen in love with Sonoma, St. Helena and Yountville - and maybe Calistoga.

We have yet to visit Central, CA - that is next on our list.

We've learned that as much as you read, you've got to see a place to decide if it's for you, then others can tell you the "inside story" - alot of crime, etc. that the books won't tell you.

Thanks bear.

So, wanderer, you are still in the process of making the decision? I'm biased myself, living in Marin County, towards northern California.

Mammoth Mountain is about 6 hours from the Central Coast but it is a relatively easy drive. It is a great place to ski. There is a ski resort about 3-4 hours away (used to be called China Peak) but if you are avid skiers you would probably get bored after skiing there a couple of days. Tahoe is about 7 hours.

As for Napa, Tahoe is close - about 2-3 hours depending on which resort.

Another thing to consider is airport access. I lived in SLO and my relatives live there now and it is not easy for some of the family to get there, having to fly into San Jose or LA and then taking an expensive small flight to SLO or being picked up (a 3 1/2 hour drive either direction). As I recall, Napa is about 2 hours from the SF Airport and Oakland is probably even closer.

Yes, we still are deciding, as unfortunately, we have some time to go before retirement. We just thought we'd start the process of seeking out our new home a little early.

Right now, not having seen the Central Coast, we are leaning toward Northern CA for a couple of reasons:

1. We love what we've seen so far
2. We like the sense of seasons and weather changes
3. We are avid skiiers, so Tahoe would be closer
4. We may be wrong, but Northern CA does not seem quite as built up as Central CA
5. Airport access
6. We have found a retirement community in Sonoma that is very reasonable, and in checking prices around SLO, can't seem to find anything similar - probably more expensive to live near the coast.
7. We have friends in Northern CA area.

Appreciate everyone's input.