Help me find a California town that is a good match!! (San Diego: apartment, condo)

[Protagonista]

Easy Peasy...

Petaluma CA
Welcome to Downtown Petaluma!

OR
San Luis Obispo CA
Visit SLO | San Luis Obispo CA - the Happiest Place in America

Also check out Ventura CA

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Are you suggesting this makes Spokane a good airport option? Or just filling in detail? Yes, it has an airport. 71st busiest doesn't say busiest to and from where. It's a city of over 200,000 people. It sucks. But yes, they have air travel there. To real airports (like Seattle) with connections to other places.

Seems the OP likes the Spokane /Coeur d'Alene idea. I lived there 24 yrs. and found it joyously under rated.
Info from Link in post...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokan...tional_Airport
Airlines and destinations[edit]
Spokane International Airport is served by 5 carriers. These carriers serve 12 markets through non-stop service to 13 airports.
Current domestic passenger routes from GEG.
Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma
Seasonal: Anchorage
Alaska Airlines
operated by Horizon Air Boise, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma
American Airlines Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Delta Air Lines Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City
Seasonal: Seattle/Tacoma
Delta Connection Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma
Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City
Southwest Airlines Boise, Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Seasonal: Chicago–Midway
United Airlines Denver
United Express Denver
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare


Spokane is #37 on the list linked below
San Diego where you live... #83
Coeur d'Alene #61
Boulder #62
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

[LiaLia]

Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Ben Lomond, Felton...that area. They pretty much have what you require, just sort through by price range. You could also try Gilroy or Morgan Hill. And like others have said, consider Claremont.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by KillingTime1102

I have searched and searched and have not found an exact answer so firstly, I apologize if I missed the answer somewhere in the forums! Secondly, thank you for any help you can offer!

My husband and I currently live in Colorado. We are looking for the right town to settle in and buy a house. We have been hunting (visiting) various towns for the past two years and have yet to find a good match.

Here is what we are looking for:
-If you are familiar with Boulder, CO that city has the vibe we love! It is bikeable, there are so many restaurants, it is clean, it has fabulous access to the outdoors... BUT it is WAY out of our price range. We would need over $750,000 to get a decent house there (i.e. one with a two car garage and maybe granite counters in the kitchen).
-A place where we can get a decent house (two car garage and *fingers crossed* granite counters in the kitchen for under $600K.
-We are extremely active outdoors so we need a town that is close to hiking, camping, and fly fishing spots.
-We love to travel so a town that is within 2 hours to an airport would be great.
-I am a teacher so I can work anywhere and my husband works remotely as a computer engineer so the job market is not an issue.
-We want a town that has unique, locally owned restaurants. If chain restaurants are the main source of dining, then we are most likely not interested in the area. We really do not want to live in Suburbia.
-A neutral religious/political scene. We are not active in either of those areas and would rather everyone go about doing their own thing without pressure from one end or the other.
-A walkable downtwon is an added bonus!

Again, thank you for any help you can give me in our hunt!!

So let me get this straight, you want to go from Colorado to California to escape the high cost of living? That's like running out of a burning building and then running into a burning building full of tigers.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

As I laugh hysterically at all the photos of clear, sunny days. My mother finally came to visit me in Sumas one summer for two weeks. She never saw Mt. Baker because the skies never cleared up.

Even when I lived in Seattle, we'd forget to bother to look up to try to see Mt. Rainier because odds are you wouldn't be able to see it. One day, you'd happen to look up and see the mountain, and realize you forgot to even try.

So, good for you that you actually got to see the mountain when you were in WA in-between your travels to San Diego, etc. Obviously, if the weather was great year-round, you'd stay there.

Yes, if the weather was great I would stay year round up north. But, it sucks half the year for my tastes, as I have said several times.

Too bad about your mother's visit! Really. Perhaps that was around 1980, give or take a couple years? Because I've been sailing Puget Sound for at least a month almost every year for over 40 summers and only once - about 1980 - did I experience extended clouds and rain. Other than that one summer, I don't believe I've had more than a half dozen summer rains of even a couple days. Mostly I sail in mid-August to mid-September and it is San Diego blue skies and warm.

There is a meteorologist at the University of Washington in Seattle by name of Cliff Mass. He's got a deep booming voice and a real knack for informing the locals on the weather in the NW. Radio stations use him regularly and he is widely known, enjoyed, quoted, and respected. Here's what he has to say:

Secret Revealed: The Northwest Has the Best Summer in the Nation. But Why?


The secret is out.

A few days ago,Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
found Seattle to be the NUMBER ONE city in the U.S. for pleasant summer weather, while Portland followed in second place. Even major newspapers like the Los Angeles Times seemto agree. A table from the authoritative Sperling report says it all (see below). With comfortable average highs in the mid-70s, sleep-friendly lows in the lower fifties, and low dew points and relative humidities, Seattle is meteorological heaven during the summer months.

He goes on at length in his blog:
Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Secret Revealed: The Northwest Has the Best Summer in the Nation. But Why?

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

OP, I had a thought - what about Ashland OR? There are affordable areas outside of the main town, and you'd be about 2 hours from the coast, and have great shopping in Medford, OR, and lots of recreation around that area. It's probably the closest thing around northern CA, southern OR you can come to Boulder (I was there many years ago).

At least Ashland has a vibrant arts scene and a famous Shakespeare festival.

And the weather is pretty mild in winter and not horrendously hot in summer.

Anyway, check out Ashland, OR.

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Ashland and Boise, ID are pretty nice.

Yes, I agree with you both on Ashland. But the OP wrote earlier that she'd been there and ruled it out.

[Tulemutt]

[quote=sourdough;45447523]Seems the OP likes the Spokane /Coeur d'Alene idea. I lived there 24 yrs. and found it joyously under rated.
Info from Link in post...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokan...tional_Airport
Airlines and destinations[edit]
Spokane International Airport is served by 5 carriers. These carriers serve 12 markets through non-stop service to 13 airports.
Current domestic passenger routes from GEG.
Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma
Seasonal: Anchorage
Alaska Airlines
operated by Horizon Air Boise, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma
American Airlines Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Delta Air Lines Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City
Seasonal: Seattle/Tacoma
Delta Connection Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma
Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City
Southwest Airlines Boise, Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Seasonal: Chicago–Midway
United Airlines Denver
United Express Denver
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare


Spokane is #37 on the list linked below
San Diego where you live... #83
Coeur d'Alene #61
Boulder #62
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Color me impressed! Great detail.

I have been to Spokane a number of times. I wouldn't give you $0.02 for anything about the place whatsoever. Coeur d'Alene, however, is delightful.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Yes, if the weather was great I would stay year round up north. But, it sucks half the year for my tastes, as I have said several times.

Too bad about your mother's visit! Really. Perhaps that was around 1980, give or take a couple years? Because I've been sailing Puget Sound for at least a month almost every year for over 40 summers and only once - about 1980 - did I experience extended clouds and rain. Other than that one summer, I don't believe I've had more than a half dozen summer rains of even a couple days. Mostly I sail in mid-August to mid-September and it is San Diego blue skies and warm.

There is a meteorologist at the University of Washington in Seattle by name of Cliff Mass. He's got a deep booming voice and a real knack for informing the locals on the weather in the NW. Radio stations use him regularly and he is widely known, enjoyed, quoted, and respected. Here's what he has to say:


He goes on at length in his blog:
Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Secret Revealed: The Northwest Has the Best Summer in the Nation. But Why?

Well, you probably would have noticed that 6 out of the first 10 days of September (yes, this month) have had rain in Seattle, according to Wunderground.com. It even rained in August this year.

So, I guess your definition of "extended" clouds and rain, during the one month time frame you sail from mid-August to mid-September, would mean that not every day during that 4 weeks had rain?

I think you didn't mean to, but you made my point. Even during the "best" weather in Seattle in the summer, you're going to have rain.

Sure, it's glorious when you get those good days. But, you can never depend on it. You can't make plans to have a picnic or a barbecue without backup plans for something to do in case it rains.

I can remember learning that when the sun comes out in western WA, that you drop everything and you run outside to enjoy it. That means, don't finish washing the dishes first. Drop everything and go outside, because by the time you finish washing the dishes, the nice sunny window could be gone.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Well, you probably would have noticed that 6 out of the first 10 days of September (yes, this month) have had rain in Seattle, according to Wunderground.com. It even rained in August this year.

So, I guess your definition of "extended" clouds and rain, during the one month time frame you sail from mid-August to mid-September, would mean that not every day during that 4 weeks had rain?

I think you didn't mean to, but you made my point. Even during the "best" weather in Seattle in the summer, you're going to have rain.

Sure, it's glorious when you get those good days. But, you can never depend on it. You can't make plans to have a picnic or a barbecue without backup plans for something to do in case it rains.

I can remember learning that when the sun comes out in western WA, that you drop everything and you run outside to enjoy it. That means, don't finish washing the dishes first. Drop everything and go outside, because by the time you finish washing the dishes, the nice sunny window could be gone.

Well, tell you what. Let's take this out of the realm of your subjective or my subjective memories, shall we? We're on CityData so why not turn to the CD weather average charts for historical perspective? If we all go here: //www.city-data.com/city/Seattle-Washington.html
what do we find?

Rainfall averages in Seattle for July's and August's are less than 1". Rainfall averages from May through September are less than 2" each for the other months.

Simple, eh?

Now, I am up "there" as I type this. I am at the Pt Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and yep, it rained a little on and off several days before I sailed over here from Bellingham. There was also sun on 3 out of 4 of those days where it rained. And only one day did the rain amount to anything you'd put a hat on for. A few hours anyway. And Mt. Baker was gorgeous on and off through the overcast!

By the way. Port Townsend? One of the two places I was discussing for the OP? The rainfall totals for those months - and all year long - are even 25% less than the little shown for Seattle.

[Dmitri95]

You're not gonna get 4 season in CA (even up north) unless you're in the mountains. You'd be better off looking in Oregon or Washington for this. I would, however, recommend Encinitas, in San Diego County. It's near the beach and near the city (so by an airport), but has a small town feel. Lots of active people there--everyone's either hiking, going to the gym, jogging, or doing yoga on the beach. When it's warm enough, people are in the ocean. It's a beautiful and very walkable/bikeable town. There's also lots of locally-owned and locally-sourced (usually healthy) restaurants.