Considering Retirement in either Mariposa or Oakhusr Ca (San Francisco, Fresno: real estate, hotel)

[Teddy1954]

Originally from the SF Bay Area, have been gone for 30+ years, getting close to retirement and looking for a place in California..(have family there)..Requirements would be :
within 30-50 minute drive to veteran hospital or one that accepts Tricare
average summer temp does not excede 92 degrees (spent 25+years in AZ .tired of heat)
4 seasons a must. tired of staring at cactus and dirt
Fishing, ATV trails, camping,all would be great
Close to but not in large city within the same 30-50 minute drive
some other areas considered are Wonder Valley, ca ...little on the hot side i n the summer and not many redwoods or pines..
any suggestions will be appreciated..

retirement could be as soon as this year or within but not longer than 7 years...

[DMenscha]

Mariposa and Oakhurst both get summer temperatures above 100 at times during the summer as do almost all of the Sierra foothills from Grass Valley to Lake Isabella. While the Sierra foothills do enjoy 4 seasons, spring and fall are fairly short in my opinion.

Life is a series of compromises, you'll probably have to make a couple to get to your ideal retirement location.

Good Luck!

[FresnoFacts]

Do you need a VA hospital or just access to VA outpatient medical clinics?

If you want near mountains/pines and prefer within 30 to 50 minutes of a Northern California VA hospital then you are looking at that distance from the VA hospitals in Fresno (115 beds) or Sacramento (about 50 beds).

You already listed Oakhurst and Mariposa north of Fresno. Close to the Fresno VA I'd also suggest looking at higher elevations east of Fresno. Try up highway 168 toward Auberry and Shaver Lake or up highway 180 like around Dunlap and Pinehurst. Those would all be about 30 to 60 minutes to Fresno.

I'll leave it to some of the Sacramento locals to suggest areas with 50 minutes of the Sac VA med center, but off the top of my head I start thinking of places like Pollock Pines.

If your care need is only for clinics, there are also VA oupatient clinics in Northern California in Modesto, Merced/Atwater, French Camp (near Stockton), Chico, Redding, and Eureka. So that opens up other parts of the state at that care level.

[Helena58]

I like the Oakhurst area - there are times when it gets above 100, but not as often as Fresno. Mariposa is nice too, just a little more remote and they do get some snow. Oakhurst is a quick drive to Yosemite.

[Teddy1954]

Thanks for the info !!

[KC6ZLV]

You really aren't going to see much cooler weather until you get above 3000 feet. It is a little cooler, but not by much, and both Oakhurst and Mariposa have a few days that are hotter than Fresno. This usually occurs during severe heatwaves.

Mariposa has limited options for housing above the town, so finding a place at an elevation cooler than the town is difficult. Oakhurst has a lot of housing above the town up to around 3500 feet It still reaches 100 up during heat waves. Especially on the southern and western facing slopes. North facing slopes are cooler, but the drawback is some places are consistently chilly in the winter. If you go up there to take a look I would suggest going east on 41 up to Rd 222. That area is about 3000 feet. There are a lot of houses in that area. You will start to notice a little cooler temperatures at this point and eastward. I would also suggest asking people about the microclimates. Some places are situated in the path of cold air drainage. This may seem pleasant in the summer, but the effect is magnified by longer shadows and shorter days in the winter, and may have a little too much of a cold breeze in the winter.

[nissantwa]

Price wise, they're among the best choices in CA. 3 br. Home with an acre or two can be had for $150k up. Oakhurst is not a 'cute' town that folks stop to walk around in but it has good infrastructure, friendly folks and is only about 50 minutes from the Fresno VA hospital and even has a shuttle to drive you there. 4 seasons, hot Summers with several days over 100 degrees and moderate Winters with some snow and temps. seldom dropping to single digits. *usually in the 40's. Beautiful Bass Lake is up the road about 9 miles and worth the trip just for a look see. Mail for a real estate brochure or go online at realtor.com and you'll see some amazing bargains in Oakhurst. Mariposa is the next town north on 49 and that's the 'cute' town that folks stop and walk around in. However it has limited amenities, no movie theater, bowling alley, only 1 grocery store, a new CVS pharmacy helps and it's fairly quiet. Just as close to Yosemite Natl. Park as Oakhurst but via hwy 120 instead of highway 41. Same sort of real estate prices, I would venture to say older houses on average. Not as close as you need to be to the VA hospital. Both towns have had big price drops on homes. You've discovered two good towns in the Beautiful Sierras, both historically connected to San Francisco, hope you'll visit. We'll leave the light on for ya.

[MaestroLM]

Having gone through the experience of relocating from New York City/London-UK a decade ago, I was in the enviable position of (literally) retiring young to virtually anywhere on the planet. My wife and I had grown up in Fresno and knew the Yosemite/mountain area well and were delighted to find that Mariposa (unlike Oakhurst and many other areas) had not changed much at all but had remained charming, small - and friendly. As a resident of Mariposa County, I do have to correct some of the erroneous data listed in other suggestions above: first, Mariposa has never attained temperatures above those in Fresno on any given day! In general, Oakhurst is a tad cooler than Fresno, and invariably Mariposa is a tad cooler than Oakhurst, day in and out during the summer. Being on the western slope, Mariposa (town) can get a little warm, but NEVER as warm as Fresno! And unlike Fresno, the summer evenings can be wonderfully cool even after the hottest days. As for other data: Yosemite is reached via highway 140 (not 120) from Mariposa. Mariposa DOES have a remarkable film theatre, right downtown: the Sixth Street Cinema. Art films, contemporaneous releases of cinema - it's a great asset located in the historic (original) Masonic Lodge. Other corrections: Mariposa has two full-service grocery stores (and a great health food store featuring organic produce, etc) and we don't have a CVS - but a recently-opened RiteAid.

All that said: there's far more to Mariposa County than the town of Mariposa. My wife, son and I live about 25 minutes above town at an elevation of 4,000 feet in a beautiful area called Jerseydale. And YES, there are many affordable, beautiful properties up here, and as well: at other higher-elevation locales in Mariposa (including in Ponderosa Basin, etc.) As I write (on August 11, mind you) today's HIGH temperature at our Jerseydale home was (ready?) 74º and last night's overnight low was a terrifically bracing 46º. Glorious.

In addition to the many other great assets of Mariposa, we boast our internationally-recognized and lauded annual Storytelling Festival and Mariposa EVEN has its own Mariposa Symphony Orchestra, just entering its Ninth Season. It performs in town, travels/performs in other areas (including Oakhurst, Merced) including an annual concert in the Great Lounge of the famed 1927 Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. Which incidentally, is ALSO in Mariposa County. Here's a picture:

I hope you have a somewhat more detailed (and precise) picture of Mariposa, and as well: a better understanding of why it's been the dream home of my family for the past decade.

[chefsheart]

What kind of business or services are needed in Mariposa?

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by MaestroLM

. As a resident of Mariposa County, I do have to correct some of the erroneous data listed in other suggestions above: first, Mariposa has never attained temperatures above those in Fresno on any given day!

Any given day?

Much of the lower elevations of Mariposa County is warmer than Fresno very frequently in the late fall through the winter.

Under the right meteorological conditions, the town of Mariposa is gets hotter than Fresno. Lower temperatures at a higher elevation is not an absolute. Mariposa gets hotter than Fresno when there is a westward flow, which results in downslope winds that heats up as it blows down the mountains. It is only an occasional thing, and usually limited to late summer and fall, similar to the Santa Ana winds in Southern California (the local term for Mariposa is the Mono Winds). This is a common phenomenon for locations along a mountain range.