Vancouver B.C to Southern California (San Diego, Long Beach: salary, rent , jobs)

[drowningintherain]

I'm considering moving to SoCal in the spring of 09. My wife will finish her BSN here at UBC and after that we'd like to get out of here. We've wanted to
live somewhere in Southern California for a long time. Moving to the U.Swon't be a problem because RN's are needed desperately everywhere and
Canadian RN's get green cards because of NAFTA.
We aren't exactly sure which place would be a good fit for us. We want anarea with an urban vibe, liberal, good schools, living close to the beach
would be nice but I realize how expensive living near the beach is. I have done some research on Orange,L.A, San Diego,Riverside, San Bernardino,and
Ventura Counties. Each area has pro's and con's. San Diego and Ventura County RN's make about $30 an hour. While they make $35-40 in Orange and L.A.County. I'm not too interested in the Inland Empire, it seems pretty far and the only areas I would even consider renting in don't seem that much cheaper than LAI was in L.A last month, stayed in Santa Monica, Long Beach, and SantaClarita. I loved Santa Monica but I think it would be too expensive for us and I'm not sure about the schools. Long Beach had a good vibe but we did go through Compton to get there and it seemed like LB had some really not so nice parts so I would wonder about the schools.
I was intrigued by Orange County, as that was where the higher paying nursing jobs were, but to me it seems like one giant suburbia where everyone
looks the same and they all drive $80,000 cars. To be fair I was staying in Newport Beach so I don't know about the rest of Orange County. I have read
though that it's pretty conservative and "plasticy". I looked into Simi Valley as well but the RN jobs pay less there and I wonder what the commute would be like trying to get into L.A, also it's pretty expensive there.
I have 2 friends from SoCal that came up here to go to school. One from Santa Monica(she hates L.A and said everyone there is phony) and the other from El Cajon(SD), she made San Diego sound pretty grim. The woman from L.A hates L.A but loves Vancouver, which is strange to me as I find Vancouver people pretty chilly and elitist. So I'd like to get a few more opinions about the area other than just those two.
Basically I'm hoping I can find a place that a small family can rent in an area with good schools, little crime on a $80-90,000 salary. We are aware of the house prices down there and have no intention of buying, also coming from Vancouver I don't think we'll be suprised by cost of living. We live on the UBC endowment lands and the prices start at 1.2 million here.
Thanks, I would appreciate any advice you could give!

[stock66]

What are you thinking about paying in rent? $80-90,000 won't go far when you are talking beach living, especially for a family.

[TheRealAngelion]

Here's my list of best places for families in LA with access to good public schools, k-12.

Top 10 Best Places to Live in LA

[drowningintherain]

I was thinking about 2000-2500 max for rent. The beach isn't the most important thing for us, I'd like it to not take over an hour to go but quality of schools are much more important.