Scouting Trip - Where should we visit? (Los Angeles, San Diego: for sale, real estate)

[Pequeño_Bonsai]

My boyfriend and I will be heading to California for 2 weeks in May. We are planning to relocate to California from DC in January 2012 and want to scout the state to determine where to live in addition to checking out a few tourist areas. We've both been to parts of CA but never all of the major cities and hope the trip will help us decide whether to live in either San Fran or San Diego - our top two choices.

We plan on driving the entire state, probably spending a lot of the drive on the coastal highway, and stopping in Sacramento, San Fran, San Jose, LA, and San Diego in addition to the nearby towns. My question for the locals is where must we absolutely stop and what should we see?

A little about us... We're in our mid-twenties, working as a technology consultant and an architectural engineer, so we live a fairly comfortable life. We do not plan on buying a house for a few years nor having children, period. (Maybe a dog once we move in and get settled though!) One of us will be relocating with our current employer while another will be getting a new job once we've moved. Debt is very minimal. We're both very active people who love the outdoors, beaches, and sunshine.

Thanks for all of your help! Hope I wasn't too vague!

[.highnlite]

focus on an area you are interested in. It would be really tough to

We plan on driving the entire state

The state is a thousand miles long and three hundred miles wide.

[Pequeño_Bonsai]

We're only looking at places near/somewhat near the water - not interested in the inland areas. We want to focus mainly on the major cities but are looking to the locals (you guys!) to see what smaller cities/towns we should look into.

[.highnlite]

Okay, by "near the water" I imagine you mean the ocean. That narrows it down. California has 1,200 miles of coastline, from Hawaii like beaches, to frigid rockbound coast abutting true rain forests.
It has wide sweeping beaches that run for miles, and mountains that rise 6,000 feet right off the ocean.

It has sprawling cities of millions of people and tiny fishing villages, it has harbors full of boats and bays destructive of boats.

It has fog, and it has fog.

There are two things consistent about the coast of California, fog and incredibly high priced real estate. Are you up for paying $400,000 for a trailer in a trailer park?

[Pequeño_Bonsai]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

Are you up for paying $400,000 for a trailer in a trailer park?

I'm from DC, there's no sticker shock when looking at ANY of your real estate as it's comparable. Here's a 1.6 million dollar townhome in the middle of the city, for example, Home for Sale at 1642 21st St Nw Washington DC - Real Estate Listings and Details - MLS #DC7446499 - Realtor.com® .

Can anyone offer up some helpful information in regards to the trip? What are some local places we should check out in Sacramento, San Fran, San Jose, LA, and San Diego?

[humboldtrat]

One of my favorite areas is San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area including Morro Bay, Cayucos and Pismo Beach.

www.sanluisobispocounty.com

[gone down south]

Originally Posted by Pequeño_Bonsai

I'm from DC, there's no sticker shock when looking at ANY of your real estate as it's comparable. Here's a 1.6 million dollar townhome in the middle of the city, for example, Home for Sale at 1642 21st St Nw Washington DC - Real Estate Listings and Details - MLS #DC7446499 - Realtor.com® .
?

That's a $1.6 mil 2600 square foot completely renovated house right off Dupont Circle! You may not get sticker shock, but just wait until you see the neighbourhood/house condition/sq footage you get for your money in California

[Pequeño_Bonsai]

Originally Posted by gone down south

That's a $1.6 mil 2600 square foot completely renovated house right off Dupont Circle! You may not get sticker shock, but just wait until you see the neighbourhood/house condition/sq footage you get for your money in California

Totally understand this. We've been to CA before I know the Bay area is outrageously expensive, for example. I just see a lot of posters on various CA forums highlight the high cost of living... This is an example to show that we have very similar COLs (even though the details of the living arrangements vary) so I'm not really concerned with that information. I'd like to focus on where to visit for the trip...

[Pequeño_Bonsai]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

One of my favorite areas is San Luis Obispo and the surrounding area including Morro Bay, Cayucos and Pismo Beach.

www.sanluisobispocounty.com

Thank you for the information, humboldtrat!

[drunk on kool aid]

There have been many, many threads about must-see sights in California. Do an advanced search for keywords such as as "itinerary" or "sights" or "road trip." You'll want to restrict the search to the California forum and maybe select "Search Titles Only" to yield a manageable list. This will give you way more things to check out than you could possibly get from this single thread.

Is your employer relocating to only San Francisco or San Diego (i.e. excluding Los Angeles)? Is access to outdoor activities your primary criterion? Is ocean temperature important (California's water might be a lot colder than you are imagining and Bay Area is frostier than SD)? What about proximity to restaurants, music, museums, bars, etc.? Is public transportation important to you?

Good luck.