Moving, need advice (Sacramento, Riverside, Redding: budget, apartment, income)

[karmagarden]

Finally getting my life back after 20yrs in a very bad relationship. My girls and I want to move to the opposite coast, as far away from our nightmares as possible. We are looking for a medium sized town, don't care about the beach (we live on the coast in a resort town in the East now and NEVER go), would like to live in a town where it doesn't get too hot or too cold. Is that possible in Northern California? I am a paralegal and my oldest daughter is a massage therapist/personal trainer, so we can make a decent living between us but don't want to spend the entire income on rent. We are not really outside people so we don't care about trails and such. A nice community, friendly, affordable, burwith decent weather. We don't mind if it gets cold in the winter just don't want to get buried in snow. College nearby a plus. Nothing too rural, nothing to "city". We perfer an apartment or townhouse. If you could give us advice as to towns that would be good for us to look into or a website that offers this information we would be forever greatful.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by karmagarden

Finally getting my life back after 20yrs in a very bad relationship. My girls and I want to move to the opposite coast, as far away from our nightmares as possible. We are looking for a medium sized town, don't care about the beach (we live on the coast in a resort town in the East now and NEVER go), would like to live in a town where it doesn't get too hot or too cold. Is that possible in Northern California? I am a paralegal and my oldest daughter is a massage therapist/personal trainer, so we can make a decent living between us but don't want to spend the entire income on rent. We are not really outside people so we don't care about trails and such. A nice community, friendly, affordable, burwith decent weather. We don't mind if it gets cold in the winter just don't want to get buried in snow. College nearby a plus. Nothing too rural, nothing to "city". We perfer an apartment or townhouse. If you could give us advice as to towns that would be good for us to look into or a website that offers this information we would be forever greatful.

What does dad think of you taking the girls away?

Renting or buying? Budget or price range?

What happens when oldest meets Dr. Right and moves out? Will you still be able to make the payments?

I visited Chico once and thought it was nice. Paradise, CA is a nearby town.

[radraja]

Try these relatively affordable college towns:

-Santa Cruz (home of UCSC; crunchy seaside town just south of the Bay Area)

-Davis (home of UC Davis; close to Sacramento)

-Redlands/Mira Loma/Loma Linda (somewhat smaller communities close to UC Riverside - but it does get sort of hot in the summer)

[radraja]

Also - are you set on CA? If your goal is just to get far away, a city like Reno could work...it has a similar climate to many NorCal towns, but it's more populous and a really affordable place to live.

[Humanoid]

Just to note although you may not care about the beach itself the ocean moderates the weather. So the areas that are inland tend to be pretty hot, in fact most of is desert until you start getting to northern California where its still hot but not desert.

Anyhow, Redding, CA is fairly nice and affordable:

Redding, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It gets a bit hot in the summer (but a dry heat), and it does snow a bit in the winter but nothing dramatic.

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by radraja

Try these relatively affordable college towns:

-Santa Cruz (home of UCSC; crunchy seaside town just south of the Bay Area)

-Davis (home of UC Davis; close to Sacramento)

-Redlands/Mira Loma/Loma Linda (somewhat smaller communities close to UC Riverside - but it does get sort of hot in the summer)

Sorry but Santa Cruz (which i'd actually recommend for this poster) is absolutely NOT "affordable". The average price of a home is around 800K and rentals are extremely expensive and what you get for what you pay can be truly discouraging.
I've lived in some very expensive places in my adult life ... Santa Fe, NM, Boston, Sun Valley, Idaho ... so i know what it's like to pay high rents but Santa Cruz takes the cake for high rents without getting what you pay for.
I'm a bit upset at the moment because as a single person and with a dog i'm having real difficulty finding a suitable place. I've lived in a number of places in S.C. county over the years that were barely o.k. but my luck may be running out.
However, with more than one income it's much easier to find a place that's o.k.. But as a single person that doesn't want a roommate situation and wants to settle down and "nest" in enough space it's not easy so again, Santa Cruz is absolutely not inexpensive!

[radraja]

Santa Cruz can be expensive, true, but areas around the college campus offer some affordable housing options (and I'm assuming that's the area they'd want, if the D were to attend).

It's typically a rule of thumb that all college towns will have at least some affordable housing....they have to put the broke students somewhere!