Fall Foliage in California?? (San Francisco, Sacramento: neighborhood, living, cost of living)

[AnthonyJ34]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

Fall color here is best in areas that have warm temperatures that cool rapidly over a month or two. Most of the immediate coast is moderated by the ocean, so you don't see it along the coast, but some areas 15 or so miles inland have some fall color. Especially places located in valleys where cold air collects at night, like Paso Robles. Beyond that you have to go inland, north, or up to higher elevations. Some years you will see good color in the San Joaquin Valley. You have to go north to Sacramento to see any consistency in fall colors from year to year. Additinally, it depends on what trees are in an area. The native oaks at low elevations usually turn brown. The Black Oak in the Sierra foothills and higher turns yellow. In some areas California Sycamores turn yellow with a slight bit of orange. Redbuds often turn reddish in the fall, as does poison oak and the native grape vines. Pin Oaks turn deep maroon here in Sacramento, not so much down in Bakersfield. Cottonwoods turn yellow or slightly reddish orange.

At any rate, some pictures taken in Sacramento:




The yellowish foliage in the above picture are California Sycamores.


The short trees with reddish foliage are Pin Oaks. I think the tall tree is a Liquidamber.


The two trees along the freeway onramp look like Chinese Pistacio (or Chinese Pistache in some parts of California). This tree is colorful almost anywhere it is planted.


An assortment of different deciduous trees amont Coastal Redwoods in Downtown Sacramento.

Wow! Beautiful tree-lined streets in Sacramento. I live in So. Cal where we don't have many areas that look like that. But it would be nice to live in an area with that type of foilage. The lack of more obvious seasonal shifts down south is a bit of a bummer.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJ34

Wow! Beautiful tree-lined streets in Sacramento. I live in So. Cal where we don't have many areas that look like that. But it would be nice to live in an area with that type of foilage. The lack of more obvious seasonal shifts down south is a bit of a bummer.

I remember when that picture was posted but i don't remember anything like that when we lived in Sac. Regardless one thing you will never see in CA are the colors like you will see in the east coast, the mid part of the country or the south. It is just what it is. living in Ca so many years I always thought we did see some fal colors, but when we moved to N. VA I was spell bound. They the last year we were there we ventured up to New England the second week of Oct. OMG it was amazing. here in NWA the colors also are breath taking but only last for about a week or 10 days.

[evening sun]

California has plenty of its own natural beauty. Each state has its own charms. We should not expect replicas, if we move. However, the photos posted are wonderful & I think we will head to Bishop in a few weeks to look at the trees.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by evening sun

California has plenty of its own natural beauty. Each state has its own charms. We should not expect replicas, if we move. However, the photos posted are wonderful & I think we will head to Bishop in a few weeks to look at the trees.

I am so glad you pointed out that all states have beauty. So many people do not see or understand that. If it isn't a lot of trees, a lot of water or beautiful mountains people can not see beauty. Kansas is flat and barren. we all know that but it is a peaceful place with a different beauty. West Texas is miles of nothing, but also peaceful. I could go on and on. Certainly CA has plenty of beauty. No one can deny that.

[Chimérique]

SACRAMENTO FALL COLORS


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SARvCkWvBng

[SFBayBoomer]

I enjoy fall foliage when there is a lot of green mixed in with the yellows, oranges and reds.

Here, close to the coast in San Francisco, is a picture of one of my favorite spots, the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park:

https://img-aws.ehowcdn.com/700x/cdn...448d1b7f_z.jpg

[Weatherdude123]

the Central Valley, especially near Anderson, cottonwood, and Redding, have HUGE deciduous forests near the rivers that show peak color in early to mid November, October at times. the foothills, near Chico, magalia, and paradise, have large oak-pine forests that show beautiful orange fall color. Chico is a nice city with fall colors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2DKegZb2Rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0w4pIn2hsQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIW5Rp73fz0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYBSVIhdo9s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXRHvP5i8Sg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXHdYgV5uO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jND4JcDaWC0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y18RM_oAwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OljEtlilBk

Sacramento is a beautiful large city with very good fall colors. has 4 seasons, just no snow.

[payutenyodagimas]

spent thanksgiving at South Lake Tahoe last year.

driving from OC, once we reached Sacramento, I started to notice the fall colors which are noticeably absent in SoCal. and as you drive to higher elevation, the more dramatic the colors were

[AnthonyJ34]

Originally Posted by Weatherdude123

the Central Valley, especially near Anderson, cottonwood, and Redding, have HUGE deciduous forests near the rivers that show peak color in early to mid November, October at times. the foothills, near Chico, magalia, and paradise, have large oak-pine forests that show beautiful orange fall color. Chico is a nice city with fall colors.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2DKegZb2Rc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0w4pIn2hsQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIW5Rp73fz0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYBSVIhdo9s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXRHvP5i8Sg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXHdYgV5uO4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jND4JcDaWC0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y18RM_oAwc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OljEtlilBk

Sacramento is a beautiful large city with very good fall colors. has 4 seasons, just no snow.

Sacramento does indeed look nice. The only issue for me is the intense summer heat. I complain that Southern California gets too warm and stays too warm for too many months out of the year (and I live in coastal Southern California -- about eight miles north of Seal Beach). In Sacramento, I'd probably never want to leave the house during the day.

I'm ready to move to someplace else though, because mainly our lack of more pronounced seasons and are seemingly never-ending summer-like conditions gets old. I'd like to at least experiment with living someplace that has a bit more weather and climatic variation. Northern California in areas seems nice, but the larger metro areas are in places that are not all that much different from So. Cal in terms of heat and summer conditions. The places that have a bit of snow and cooler temperatures and also less intense summer heat are basically all small towns or tiny hamlets that don't offer much in the way of employment opportunities (much less entertainment and/or cultural amenities). I could live in Pollock Pines or even Placerville but then have to commute to the valley for work (unless I win the lottery or receive some type of inheritance enabling me to no longer have to work -- an occurrence which is highly unlikely).

In So. Cal, I love Idyllwild and would love to have a small cabin there. But again, I'd have to drive off the mountain each day to find work, unless I could find some type of creative niche on the mountain with which to earn a living. This whole having to have a job thing really makes relocating to choice areas problematic to say the least!

But I do love changing seasons and particularly love the changing colors of fall and the cooler temps of winter.

Santa Rosa, California looks interesting as well; it stays cooler than Sacramento in the summer, gets more rain in the winter, and looks fairly green and attractive. In fact, many of the towns north of Santa Rosa (including Windsor and Cloverdale) look very nice as well --but the cost of living there is high, unfortunately. I like those northern cities because they get way more rain than we get down here in coastal So. Cal. And even if the seasons up there are not necessarily pronounced, the extra greenery, cooler temperatures, and more rain make those areas seem appealing. I think we average about 13" of rain annually here, which is not far removed from desert aridity levels.

[Weatherdude123]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJ34

Sacramento does indeed look nice. The only issue for me is the intense summer heat. I complain that Southern California gets too warm and stays too warm for too many months out of the year (and I live in coastal Southern California -- about eight miles north of Seal Beach). In Sacramento, I'd probably never want to leave the house during the day.

I'm ready to move to someplace else though, because mainly our lack of more pronounced seasons and are seemingly never-ending summer-like conditions gets old. I'd like to at least experiment with living someplace that has a bit more weather and climatic variation. Northern California in areas seems nice, but the larger metro areas are in places that are not all that much different from So. Cal in terms of heat and summer conditions. The places that have a bit of snow and cooler temperatures and also less intense summer heat are basically all small towns or tiny hamlets that don't offer much in the way of employment opportunities (much less entertainment and/or cultural amenities). I could live in Pollock Pines or even Placerville but then have to commute to the valley for work (unless I win the lottery or receive some type of inheritance enabling me to no longer have to work -- an occurrence which is highly unlikely).

In So. Cal, I love Idyllwild and would love to have a small cabin there. But again, I'd have to drive off the mountain each day to find work, unless I could find some type of creative niche on the mountain with which to earn a living. This whole having to have a job thing really makes relocating to choice areas problematic to say the least!

But I do love changing seasons and particularly love the changing colors of fall and the cooler temps of winter.

Santa Rosa, California looks interesting as well; it stays cooler than Sacramento in the summer, gets more rain in the winter, and looks fairly green and attractive. In fact, many of the towns north of Santa Rosa (including Windsor and Cloverdale) look very nice as well --but the cost of living there is high, unfortunately. I like those northern cities because they get way more rain than we get down here in coastal So. Cal. And even if the seasons up there are not necessarily pronounced, the extra greenery, cooler temperatures, and more rain make those areas seem appealing. I think we average about 13" of rain annually here, which is not far removed from desert aridity levels.

its so annoying that california dosent build big cities in cooler areas, like oregon, utah, and arizona do.