Where to live / retire in CA?

[Tenzo]

Originally Posted by Las Vegas Mommy

Theres a cozy place called Monterey,

It's 54 degrees there in it's just after 4:00!

It's warmer in Chicago

[Tenzo]

Guess I should have included this list of trauma centers. Narrows it down a little.
Has to be near one of these
(my bad)

CALIFORNIA
Mercy San Juan Medical Center Carmichael Level II Trauma Center 9/22/10
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Colton Level II Trauma Center 7/31/12
Palomar Medical Center Escondido Level II Trauma Center 5/6/10
Marin General Hospital Greenbrae Level III Trauma Center 7/14/12
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla Level II Trauma Center 2/3/12
California Hospital Medical center Los Angeles Level II Trauma Center 5/16/11
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles Level I Trauma Center 7/2/12
LAC + USC Medical Center Los Angeles Level I Trauma Center 7/1/10
UCLA Medical Center Los Angeles Level I Trauma Center 6/12/10
St. Mary Medical Center Long Beach Level II Trauma Center 11/8/10
St. Francis Medical Center Lynwood Level II 11/10/09 *
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center Mission Hills Level II Trauma Center 5/15/11
Mission Regional Medical Center Mission Viejo Level II Trauma Center 6/24/11
Doctors Medical Center Modesto Level II Trauma Center 7/9/11
Memorial Medical Center Modesto Level II Trauma Center 7/10/11
Northridge Hospital Medical Center Northridge Level II Trauma Center 6/24/12
University of California, Irvine Medical Center Orange Level I Trauma Center 6/11/12
Sutter Roseville Medical Center Roseville Level II Trauma Center 6/1/10
Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego Level I Trauma Center 5/5/12
University of California San Diego Medical Center San Diego Level I Trauma Center 3/10/12
San Francisco General Hospital and Medical Center San Francisco Level I Trauma Center 8/7/10
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center San Jose Level I Adult & Pediatric 4/18/10
Western Medical Center Santa Ana Level II Trauma Center 6/25/11
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Santa Barbara Level II Trauma Center 7/8/11
Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Santa Rosa Level II Trauma Center 4/17/12
Stanford University Medical Center Stanford Level I Adult & Pediatric 5/14/10
LAC/Harbor/UCLA Medical Center Torrance Level I Trauma Center 11/9/10
John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek Level II Trauma Center 11/7/10
Henry Mayo NewHall Memorial Hospital Valencia Level II Trauma Center 6/23/12

[MtnSurfer]

Well Yeah,

That does narrow things down quite a bit. Based on this and previous criteria you are talking about SoCal beach communities from Santa Barbara-SD. Central and NorCal are out unless you want to live further inland away from the beach in/around SF. Traffic in SF is not great. Although the Stanford area is nice.

Santa Barbara isn't bad. But you have to visit it to see if it is your cup of tea. It is a bit more isolated than the other options, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Much of this depends on your preferences as they all have there own vibe.

Some ppl simply do not want to live in LA County. But there are some really nice beach communities on the outskirts like Torrance, Palos Verdes, Hermosa and Manhattan Beaches. PV and Torrance are my favorites.

Then further south Mission Viejo is nice and you have Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano within close driving distance.

Of course there is San Diego which you have already visited with some nice options including La Jolla.

You'll need to add more criteria to filter further. But since these all are pretty nice it will really boil down to likes/dislikes and family fit. How close do you want to be to a large city? How about traffic? What other things are important?

After living in SoCal for 40 years we are enjoying living in Monterey now along the central coast. We like this part of the state much more because of the close proximity to nautral beauty like the Big Sur coastline, Yosemite and the High Sierras. We grew tired of the crouds of the southland and drier climate. Although the central and northern part of the state is a little cooler it is also more green and beautiful - definately worth the trade off! And it is still much warmer than life in the MidWest. And you can go to the beach in the Winter with shorts on. It can be in the 50s on cooler days, but then it warms right up to the 60s & 70s. Here are a couple shots from last weekend:


http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/photos/708872659_7RYFu-L.jpg (broken link)


http://landandseaphoto.smugmug.com/photos/708876181_HiGdX-L.jpg (broken link)


BTW, I work in IT and there are many DoD jobs throughout CA with a higher concentration in LA & SD - not so much in places like Santa Barbara.

Derek