Can you help me? (San Francisco, Fresno: school, pharmacist, income)

[Joaquina]

Dear friends,

I am applying for a pharmacy internship in California. I am a female foreign pharmacist who has been ofered the following cities to do her internship:
California
Clovis
Fresno
Coalinga
Reedley
Selma
Sanger
Atascadero
Eureka
Marysville
Yuba City
Red Bluff
San Rafael
San Anselmo
Oakland
Ukiah
Clear Lake
Crescent
The problem is that I am going to live there alone because I am single. Please if you were so kind I would want some advice from you. I would want a peaceful place with a nice weather and nice people, not too crowdly because while I am working I need to study hard in order to be a pharmacist there, not too expensive but with a good income.(I do not want to give you a bad image of myself, but I do not know anything about this places and I am going to live there for a long time and I need to be sure of the place I will choose). I would be very grateful for your help. God bless you and your families.

Regards,

Joaquina

[Charles]

You might sort those by population size if for no other reason to identify which towns might have more things to do and more amenities.
Also, check some demographic resources (like city-data itself) to see if there are any demographic components that you'd feel more comfortable with. For example, is there a particular ethnicity or nationality that you align yourself with that might be highly represented in one of those towns.
Which towns are near the bigger cities (LA, SF, Sacramento, SD)?


So, maybe narrow it down to five cities and repost.

[momojojo]

hi - I live in Fresno. If I were going to chose a place to live based on that list.. I'd choose Atascadero (near the coast), or Clovis. Clovis is a small town on the fringe of Fresno, close to the mountains, centrally located (about 4 hours to L.A., 2.5 hours to SF), lots of recreation.. check it out. "It's a way of life"... that's their motto.

[Adriatica]

I would pick Atascadero, Clovis, or Fresno. I would also put San Anselmo and San Rafael on the list, but they are very expensive places to live, so that might be an issue.

[Joaquina]

Dear,
Charles, Momojojo and Adriatica,

Thank you so much for being so kind with me. I am very grateful with your advice. God bless you and your families,

Regads,

Joaquina

[Snort]

Have a look at these places on this website. They give good data for you to review cost of living, population, weather, etc...
Of the places you mentioned, I know most of them. Here are the ones I like:
Atascadero (mainly because it's close to San Luis Obispo and some great wine country). Eureka is a bit decrepit in parts, but the downtown area off the main road is very pretty and somewhat lively. It's much cooler and rainier up there, if that's something you like.
Oakland is not the safest place in the world, but there are parts of Oakland that are much safer than the rest. It's the Bay area and there's plenty to keep you busy.
San Rafael is a good size town near SF. It's expensive though, as is San Anselmo, which is quite a bit smaller.
Another way to get a sense of a place using internet is to go to google images and put the name of the place in your search. If not a lot of downtown images show up, you can usually take this as a sign that the town is not a scenic wonder.

[CA central coast]

Atascadero

[ElliottJM]

I have lived in or near marysville, sacramento, yuba city and atascadero.

I dont know what you like to do or hobbies, but it sounds like school will be very important.

Atascadero will have pretty good weather nice people and fairly small. But there is NOTHING to do there and no big cities to go to within a short to medium drive.

Yuba city and Marysville have very nice people! The weather gets pretty hot in the summer and rainy in the winter and there isnt alot to do, but sacramento is a short drive.

Sacrmento is a pretty big city with alot to do, the people are nice for a big city, and the weather is the same as yuba city. this area is nice because you are 2 hours from San Francisco and 1.5 hours to tahoe.

[Dean Trails]

I have to agree that Atascadero is the best of the list. It is close to the coast. Nice weather abounds and it is only 15 minutes from one of the best small towns in California, San Luis Obispo. And it is central to both LA and San Francisco.