leaving the midwest for the west coast (San Jose, Oakland: rental, house)

[likethetool]

Hi guys, this is my first post.
I'm graduating college (finally!) in the spring and I am ready to leave winter weather behind for good. However, my fiance runs very hot, and refuses to move to the south... We're thinking about the west coast hoping for a milder climate at least.
We probobly won't have a ton of money for a few years so we need somewhere affordable. I've been looking at northern Cali and a few cities in OR such as Salem and Corvallis. Any advice / experiences?
Thanks!

[jaijai]

What do you mean when you say, "Northern" California?
What do you mean by "affordable"? (what will be your monthly housing / rental budget?)
What kind of "scene" are you looking for in terms of nature, culture ... city? rural? small town? coast? mountains? desert?, etc., etc.
California is a huge and diverse state ecologically and culturally.
You need to be more specific.

[mayorhaggar]

Wherever you can get a job is best, seriously.

Weather is generally fairly mild in the Bay Area but there are a lot of microclimates. On a typical day in August, SF can be 65, Oakland can be 70, San Jose can be 85, and Walnut Creek can be 95. It very rarely rains from around May to September. Winters are chilly and rainy but don't get super cold. SF rarely gets below 40 and is usually around 45-55 during the day. Areas further inland get colder, I remember a few winters ago it got down to like 18 degrees in parts of Napa County. Also it rains a lot in winter and it's cold rain so it's pretty miserable. I'd take it over Midwestern winters though where you can't even leave the house easily because it's around -5 and snowing heavily for days on end.