Ask HN: Where to live within California

I moved from NYC about 6 years ago. I first moved to San Mateo and it was a great location. About a 20 minute express train ride into the city and the rest of the Valley is commutable also.

When we had to consider school for our daughter we moved out to the far east bay in San Ramon where its the only place with good school districts that we could afford a house. If i time the BART right my commute door to door is a bit over an hour. The office was like a minute walk from a BART stop in the city.

I don't take any jobs where I have to drive since the commute to San Jose might be 90 minutes (usually 30 minutes with no traffic)

We are in the process of moving out of the area. We love it here but can't afford it on a single salary. We got lucky with owning a house in the area but making almost 200k and living pay check to pay check sucks.

Subjectively I find areas surrounding Monterey Bay very pleasant, which includes places like Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Pebble Beach; but also on the other side Santa Cruz and its suburbs. It's expensive, but you're close to the coast, surrounded by greenery and potentially redwoods, and are reasonably close to SV/SF without having to contend with it daily. Though traffic is a challenge, it's within plausible commuting distance of SV.

If you're looking for somewhere a little more removed from major activity centers, the extended San Luis Obispo area including Morro Bay and Pismo Beach is decent, and you're nearly equidistant from both LA and SF, about 3-4 hours away. It's outside of commuting distance, but well-within daytrip distance.

I happen to be enamored with San Diego too, but it's all the way down at one end of the state, and it's two hours closer to Phoenix than to San Francisco. If you're looking for centrality, you won't find that there, but the city is lovely, and it's a functional metro with good jobs and a large military presence.

Edit: Bay Area peripheries like Santa Rosa (in the north) and Gilroy/Morgan Hill/Hollister in the south, maybe Tracy/Stockton in the east, are probably a good compromise, but other than striking a balance between affordable and not-too-far from SF/SV, are not too compelling in their own right.

Edit: Coastward LA periphery cities like Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Oxnard, are quiet, shaded, suburban, but also pricey. LA traffic is a nightmare; you're 'on paper' within reach of LA, but don't bet on it.

Other than possibly Sacramento, I don't find the Central Valley particularly appealing. The cost of living is lower, but with the exception of Sacramento and Bakersfield, none of the valley cities project a strong sense of place; this applies to the desert exurbs like Palmdale and Victorville too, except for maybe Palm Springs.

Every other area of the state is on the periphery and you're too far away from major employment centers to be a useful place to make a living in the general case.

The South Bay (Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, parts of Torrance) is a great place to live. It's relatively close to Downtown LA (8-12 miles). Driving from South Bay to west LA is only 30 mins so the drive isn't horrible. Driving from the valley to West LA is horrible. South Bay and Valley are great for families. Having lived in NY for a few decades, then to NC, LA traffic is not that bad considering. It's more about how to navigate and that's where Waze is really helpful.

Ive lived here most of my life, in both southern and (currently) northern California. Sure, the weather is nice, but my advice would be to stay away unless you are already wealthy or forced to move here for work etc.

If you live in any sort of population center expect traffic to be a nightmare from 6-11am and 3-7pm. Taxes are also some of the highest in the country and poorly implemented social policies continue to increase these on an annual basis.

If you are looking for something in particular that California has to offer, there is almost always better alternatives (see: Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, etc...)

I moved from SF to Midtown in Sacramento. I personally really like it. Its probably the most affordable urban area in California. Its not as dense as SF and has nowhere near the tech jobs but its a very interesting enjoyable place in its own right. Great people, food, beer scene and vibe. Might be a place worth looking into.

I live in Santa Cruz and really like it here. Fantastic mountain biking, beach-going, and all around outdoors stuff. With the bay just over the hill, there's a pretty reasonable tech scene and some jobs. Housing is pretty out of control, though.