Help us find a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move ? (Long Beach: houses, neighborhoods)

[Gentle_patience]

Help us find a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move ?

Please help us find a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move on the west coast.

Hello everyone,

We are facing a sizable dilemma and would appreciate any assistance that could be offered.
We are interested in finding a new place to live on the West Coast, ideally in or near a metropolitan area.
(We are moving out of conservative Orange County Ca)

We would like the place to be generally liberal and not exclusionary or restrictive in the way that people live and act. We would like a town and/or neighborhood which is GLBT friendly and minority friendly as well.
(It is really okay if someone wants to have purple hair ! file:///C:/Eudora%20Mail/Emoticons24/!3a-)%20Happy.png (broken link) )

We do not want pretentiousness. We don't care if our neighbor drives a BMW or a VW and we prefer it to be a non-issue. We would love to live in a place where a starving artist and an affluent CEO can be friends, sit down and have coffee, and this would be a normal occurrence.

It would be nice if you could find shops close by like Coffee houses, Bakeries, restaurants, pubs, bookstores, small Ma&Pa shops, etc as apposed to new - large shopping malls.

Preferably, the town/area would not be specifically one age group, i.e, we don't want only young professionals, or only families, or only elderly retirees.

We would like it to possibly be near to some body of water such as the ocean, lakes, or rivers.
Nearby Parks would be nice too.

Ideally , but not a "must have" would be an older more historic town which has Victorian, Edwardian or Craftsman style homes, colorful if possible.

We do not need the entire region we live in to be like this, as that simply isn't possible, but just a town or part of a town somewhere would be wonderful. Cost is not the primary issue either.

So basically a Bohemian - Eclectic neighborhood where all sorts of people are welcome.

Thank you all very much !!!

[bhcompy]

look 20 minutes away in coastal Long Beach for a start. Fits most your needs, including historic housing. Probably wouldn't need to leave your job either

[Den Mathias]

Berkeley, Berkeley, Berkeley!
Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi!

Also, maybe Santa Cruzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Davis is probably another one to look into.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by Gentle_patience

Help us find a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move ?

Please help us find a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move on the west coast.

Hello everyone,

We are facing a sizable dilemma and would appreciate any assistance that could be offered.
We are interested in finding a new place to live on the West Coast, ideally in or near a metropolitan area.
(We are moving out of conservative Orange County Ca)

We would like the place to be generally liberal and not exclusionary or restrictive in the way that people live and act. We would like a town and/or neighborhood which is GLBT friendly and minority friendly as well.
(It is really okay if someone wants to have purple hair ! )

We do not want pretentiousness. We don't care if our neighbor drives a BMW or a VW and we prefer it to be a non-issue. We would love to live in a place where a starving artist and an affluent CEO can be friends, sit down and have coffee, and this would be a normal occurrence.

It would be nice if you could find shops close by like Coffee houses, Bakeries, restaurants, pubs, bookstores, small Ma&Pa shops, etc as apposed to new - large shopping malls.

Preferably, the town/area would not be specifically one age group, i.e, we don't want only young professionals, or only families, or only elderly retirees.

We would like it to possibly be near to some body of water such as the ocean, lakes, or rivers.
Nearby Parks would be nice too.

Ideally , but not a "must have" would be an older more historic town which has Victorian, Edwardian or Craftsman style homes, colorful if possible.

We do not need the entire region we live in to be like this, as that simply isn't possible, but just a town or part of a town somewhere would be wonderful. Cost is not the primary issue either.

So basically a Bohemian - Eclectic neighborhood where all sorts of people are welcome.

Thank you all very much !!!

been to santa cruz?
you may like.
(entire county = good, 'cept for parts of watsonville)
open, tolerant, diverse, glbt, all ages, all income levels (expensive rents though), purple hair won't faze anyone.
nothing much will.
semi urban, sub urban, rural, good public transportation, all county easily accessible, ocean (we're on the monterey bay), redwoods, lush, great for gardening.
san francisco just up the road (about 1 1/2 hrs - when not rush hour, easy drive).
bmw', vw's - no-one cares.
wealthy tend to be quiet about it here.
central coast and points north = more sane than so. california ... imo.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Gentle_patience

a Eclectic - Bohemian place to move on the west coast.

a new place to live on the West Coast,
near a metropolitan area.


generally liberal and n
ot exclusionary or restrictive
GLBT friendly
minority friendly
do not want pretentiousness.
where a starving artist and an affluent CEO can be friends, sit down and have coffee,
shops close by like Coffee houses, Bakeries, restaurants, pubs, bookstores, small Ma&Pa shops,
not be specifically one age group, i.e, we don't want only young professionals, or only families, or only elderly retirees.


near to some body of water such as the ocean, lakes, or rivers.
Nearby Parks would be nice too.

older more historic town which has Victorian, Edwardian or Craftsman style homes, colorful if possible.

How about Venice or El Segundo? You could enjoy the lifestyle and get a job at Raytheon Missile Systems, or Boeing Integrated Defense Systems or drive a little and work at the Naval Air Warfare Center.

[clongirl]

Coastal Marin Co. would suit you...Bolinas, Inverness, Lagunitas etc. sounds like a good match. Or on the other side of the Bay..Berkeley and surrounds (ie parts of Oakland, Albany).

[ferretkona]

Catalina Island, Clear Lake, old town Pasadena

[Gentle_patience]

Any specific areas OF LONG BEACH THAT YOU WOULD RECOMEND ?

[bhcompy]

Belmont Shore, East Arts District, Bluff Park/Bluff Heights, Alamitos Beach, Downtown, Naples.. pretty much the entire shoreline area. Each area will offer different things, but you'll find msot of what you've asked for in the first post in those areas.

If you're looking to buy, there are local realtors that know all the historic districts and housing and can help you find what you want, since you requested historic homes. Take a look at LBDS - Historic Districts for a description of some of the neighborhoods that have been deemed historic and the homestyles that reside in them.

[MotleyCrew]

Mendocino!!!