Your favourite N.Cali place to live...

[Honey Pie]

I used to live in Gridley, about 1 hour north of Sacramento on Hywy 99.
population is about 5 or 6K It does get really hot in the summer-110 or so

It is the Kiwi capital of the United States. Lots of fruit orchards and walnut and almond trees. The cost of living is going up but it is still a lot cheaper than So. Cal. ( My sister is selling her remodeled house, 4 bed. 2 bath, den, covered patio, large beautiful landscaped yard, large shop/garage, mandarin orange tree and walnut tree for $450,000. )
You are about 3 hours from the beach but there are tons of cool places to go close to the many rivers, lots of back roads by the river to explore, free blackberries and fig trees to pick juicy fresh fruit and the fish hatchery, where you can see the salmon run. Gridley is right on the edge of Butte County, bordered by Yuba County and Sutter County. It is about 15-20 miles to several larger cities Oroville, also Yuba City and Marysville. Lots of jobs with the County offices.
Meanwhile I am stuck in Utah...oh well....

[bbbmarilyn]

Okay, okay. I'm convinced. It may be a year or two, but I am definitely moving to McKinleyville (or Fieldbrook). The more I thought about it, the more I liked the sound of "unincorporated."
I'm a San Diego gardener, and weather is my primary concern. After that, it's price of real estate (I'll need more than 0.5 acre), amenities of civilization, and attitude(s).
Chamber of Commerce website is uncooperative.
Who flies into Arcata/Eureka airport?

[rosarugosa]

I miss SF terribly, but towards the end when I was there it got pretty depressing because I couldn't afford all the stuff that I loved the city for!