Good City in Cali near beach/mountain (San Diego, San Francisco: ski resorts, rent)

[PTROW]

I am looking to move to california but am unfamiliar with the state. I want to be near a ski resort, either Heavenly or Big Bear, and close to the beach. By close I mean no further than an hour and a half from either. I am not sure if this is possible . Other requirements would be dry weather, evening life, average to large city, and rent around $1,ooo/ mo for a 1 bedroom in a safe neighborhood. Can anyone suggest a place to move that is close to these requirements. Thank you for any suggestions.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by PTROW

I am looking to move to california but am unfamiliar with the state. I want to be near a ski resort, either Heavenly or Big Bear, and close to the beach. By close I mean no further than an hour and a half from either. I am not sure if this is possible . Other requirements would be dry weather, evening life, average to large city, and rent around $1,ooo/ mo for a 1 bedroom in a safe neighborhood. Can anyone suggest a place to move that is close to these requirements. Thank you for any suggestions.

Why would you move somewhere that you were unfamiliar with?

What line of work are you in?

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why would you move somewhere that you were unfamiliar with?

What line of work are you in?

I'm sorry but your post gets the award for most absurd.
What on earth do you mean?

[missionhome]

Close to a ski resort and close to the beach only are possible in one area of California, So Cal. Sacramento might be a mid point in Nor Cal, two hours to the ski resorts, 1.5 hours to the beaches off San Francisco (which are freezing cold). San Diego is too far from ski resorts. Southern California sort of gives you both and that is the only place I can think of in the state that can give you both. Your rent is sort of low for a nice area though. Maybe some communities in the Inland Empire which will be about half way to the beach and half way to the local ski resorts.

[bhcompy]

what you're asking for is sort of difficult.. i guess you could look in western riverside(corona, norco, riverside) and northeastern OC(yorba linda, anaheim hills).. i guess that would be a decent middlepoint between bigbear and OC beaches

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by PTROW

I am looking to move to california but am unfamiliar with the state. I want to be near a ski resort, either Heavenly or Big Bear, and close to the beach. By close I mean no further than an hour and a half from either. I am not sure if this is possible . Other requirements would be dry weather, evening life, average to large city, and rent around $1,ooo/ mo for a 1 bedroom in a safe neighborhood. Can anyone suggest a place to move that is close to these requirements. Thank you for any suggestions.

Well, the "width" of California is pretty similar north to south. The distance from ocean to the Sierra varies because of roadways generally as opposed to actual miles.
I'm in Santa Cruz (right on the coast) which is roughly 2 hours south of San Francisco.
Without traffic (gotta time it right!) i can get to Truckee (Tahoe area) in 41/2 hours and actually, sometimes less than that if i'm pushing it and not stopping. Sometimes it'll take 5 hours if i'm feeling mellow about the drive.
Sacramento is very roughly half way between the two.
Odd traffic conditions make it hard to nail down times exactly.
So that's the story.
I can get from Santa Cruz to Yosemite valley (west side of the Sierra) in about 5 - 6 hours. The roads are different on this trip.
Much of the trip from S.C. to Truckee for example is on HW80 and before 80 from S.C. to Truckee, i'm driving on highways equally as fast.
I'm just trying to give you a rough idea about the distance from Coast to Sierra.
I don't know about southern California ... except the crazy, crazy traffic down there which i'd never want to deal with.
So, up here, 1 - 1&1/2 hours to either coast or mountain (Sierra range) is impossible.
But living in either Truckee area or this area is another option because the trip is pretty fast and easy. Although it's relative. If you're not used to driving in the west, 4-5 hours may seem like a long drive. For me, it's nothing.

[mmouwse]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Close to a ski resort and close to the beach only are possible in one area of California, So Cal. Sacramento might be a mid point in Nor Cal, two hours to the ski resorts, 1.5 hours to the beaches off San Francisco (which are freezing cold). San Diego is too far from ski resorts. Southern California sort of gives you both and that is the only place I can think of in the state that can give you both. Your rent is sort of low for a nice area though. Maybe some communities in the Inland Empire which will be about half way to the beach and half way to the local ski resorts.

Well said.

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by mmouwse

Well said.

I don't understand. I'm curious.
Where in Southern CA can you live that is 1&1/2 hours from both ocean and ski resort?

[CalGal953]

My hometown Rancho Cucamonga is roughly an hour and a half from ski resorts including Big Bear and the ocean off Orange County.

[CA central coast]

You might want to consider Paso Robles. Nice town, night life, nice weather. 30 minutes to the beach (Morro Bay) or less than an hour to Avila and Pismo beaches. And probably 2 1/2 to < 3 hrs. to Sierra Summit. I can think of one town off hand which is an hour and half from beach and ski (Sierra Summit), Avenal. I don't think you would want to live there, though.