Does the West Coast have anything equivalent to Cape Cod ?? (Los Angeles: fit in, sale)

[Mattie Jo]

Carmel

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Californiaescape

Im a huge beach lover. I love the salt air. I love messy beach hair. I love when I leave the beach smelling of someone's beach bonfire. But Im a SoCal resident. So Im used to southern california beaches. I did go to the beach in Carmel and it was heaven. No bad smell. Pure white sand. Lovely breeze. Big trees. I have no idea why it smelled so bad at the inn at I stayed at in Monterey. Maybe it was just a bad time of year to visit or a bad part of the city. Since Im a not a local there I cant compare it to other parts of the city or other times of year. The fish smell aside, the city was charming. I visited cannery row, art galleries, got lots of great pics. I dont dislike the city overall. What about Catalina? I know there are the downsides of being landlocked and limited shopping/jobs since its mainly tourist. While you are also limited on having a wide variety of people to meet since most are just vacationing, maybe that makes the locals all the more friendly with each other. I actually visited catalina and befriended a local. She was an older woman, very tan and wrinkled, out on the beach worshiping the sun. She was happy to tell me about living there. Said she works at the local little grocery store and thats all it takes for her to support herself. Said she spends her free time enjoying the sun and the water. Im wondering if this is just a good place to retire or if there are any locals my age (30s). Some people are saying I can never be happy, which I disagree with. Most people live the "american dream" by living well beyond their means and living on credit in a mountain of debt. Im just being realistic by looking for a $300,000 house instead of a $900,000 one and driving a honda instead of some fancy ass car. I could say... find me a million dollar house and I will live in dept till I die. Im just the not so average american actually looking for something safe, somewhat suburban, with outdoor recreation. Preferably the beach, but I would also settle for lakes and hiking and horseback riding. Colorado is another place Im considering, granted I can find a cute little 2 bedroom with a yard for a garden. Cape Code/ Cape May just seems to have so much charm to its homes and city. I was just looking for that charm. I dont want a big place. Just a safe charming place with a little bit of rural. Has anyone visited Rancho Mission Viejo? Its a new developing city in OC thats so charming. They are building modern farmhouses with a community area called the "campout" for people to sit together around firepits and make smores and watch the sunset and their are tons of hiking trails, wildflowers, and a nature preserve. All this is just a 20 min drive from the beach. But the cheapest home is 500,000 and the cheapest apartment (its actually the only apartment since the city is still being built) is in the $1700s. I would love it there. But Im not going to live a life of debt and credit cards. So Im searching for what exist in my range.

Yes I have visited Rancho Mission Viejo which, by the way, is not going to be a city but rather will join a neighboring town. It is among the last places being developed in eastern South OC, and yes, it is beautiful. I don't know which house you saw for 500K, a condo perhaps? In any case, the area has Melo Roos. There are low income units and I assume you are referring to those.

[RosieSD]

If you're looking for a single family home in California by the beach for $1100 a month in rent or to buy for $300K, then you will have to make some compromises.

So, what are you willing to compromise on?

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by Californiaescape

I'm in love with places like Cape Cod and Cape May. The adorable pastel colored little houses and beach cottages, The style, even the town has such character. Does the West Coast have anything like that ?? I've lived in Los Angeles and Orange county and Temecula (wine country) but i've never seen anything that comes close. San Clemente is a lovely beach city with nice outlet stores but it doesn't have the pastel little beach cottages. I've been to Carmel in Northern California and the city has that wonderful charm. But It's Victorian cottages are millions and millions of dollars. It's not a realistic place to live unless you are a wealthy retired person IMO. Does anyone know of anything on the West Coast that's a cape cod equivalent or at least similar ??

Im turning 32, just finalizing my divorce. And I have no kids so Im in the position that I can move anywhere. As far as my professional background, I worked for 15 years in customer service management (office and retail). And Im hoping you can help me find the right place to relocate.

Obviously there has to be some job opportunities. It can be retail or office work as I have experience in both, but I want to be making decent enough money to support myself as a single woman. With my good resumse I previously made $58,000/year in Orange County. In a more affordable area I would be willing to make less. I love the outdoors. (Beaches, lakes, parks, sunshine, hiking). My dream is to just have a small two bedroom two bath little cottage style home. And a backyard big enough to have a little garden.

Im not worried about school districts, public transportation, big city life (I hate traffic and smog), or having a big house or a lot of land for cheap. A simple 1 or 2 bedroom is all I need, with most of my time outdoors. Im not a city girl. Im used to a safe area with resturants and shopping within a 20 min drive to a beach.

Orange county has lots of over priced beach cities but it lacks the character and cute small homes of Cape Cod or Cape May. So... Does such a place exist on the West Coast?? I would totally move to the east coast if I could survive humidity and snowy winters !

Drive up highway 1 (the 'Pacific Coast Highway'). You will get a chance to look at everything between Mexico and Oregon.

[Snort]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

Drive up highway 1 (the 'Pacific Coast Highway'). You will get a chance to look at everything between Mexico and Oregon.

...and as long as you're headed towards Oregon, you might as well keep on going.
I've never been to Cape Cod, but there are some nice towns on the Oregon coast that might be more than sufficient.
Check out Florence, OR and Newport, OR. Both are nice coastal towns.

[legal_eagle]

This is a funny thread.

[blueskywalker]

Originally Posted by Mattie Jo

Carmel

not on her budget.

[Californiaescape]

Someone mentioned Carmel and yes it's an amazing place. Homes average over 1 million however.. usually several million. I have driven all the way up the coast as someone else mentioned. I think I even may have said this already earlier in my posts. I made the 17 Hour Dr. all the way up through California and Oregon and Washington all the way to Seattle, stopping to visit several cities, and did the drive all the way back. Driving through a place or even stopping for a visit is quite different then actually have experience in living there which is why I have reached out to locals in California with this post. I am quite traveled so when I put a question to the forum it is not for lack of a traveling experience, but to get the opinion of locals who have lived in such places. I have visited / lived in quite a few states. I will reiterate that I don't have to be living on the beach or even in view of the beach. But having the beach or a nice lake within a 20 to 30 minute drive would be ideal. Has anyone been to Lake Harveston? It's in the inland Empire and it's a very charming community with Homes called Cape May ( named after the Cape in New Jersey ) I live very close to there now and I walk the lake almost nightly. The beach is an hour or so away but the lake is lovely. The housing is decently priced considering the lovely suburban Feel. Wide streets with well-kept up pavement and all Arrow lights ( no suicide lights). The only issue is the job market, and it's about 15° hotter than I can stand. Right now in the fall it averages in the 90s most days, although it cools down at night to the 60s which I love. But the big issue is the jobs. Most people have a commute of about two hours at least ( in rush-hour traffic ) either toward San Diego or Orange county. I had to turn down it $20 an hour job because the commute was horrid.. specially with the constant construction on the 91 freeway. So to anyone who has seen harveston lake community, which is lovely and affordable for the most part but just has a lack of jobs, there must be some options that is similar but with employment.

[blueskywalker]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

That's sort of true. They aren't anything like Cape Cod. There aren't any towns in California like Cape Cod. I was offering the closest thing the OP could get to small, sunny, outdoor recreation proximal, AFFORDABLE (always relative but I looked at least expensive based on her stated income limits), beach / or water connected, with, hopefully, some charm - where she could actually hope to find decent employment within a sane commute.

Of the locations I listed, the ones you are most familiar with: Seaside, Marina, Moss Landing, Prunedale, Salinas, Castroville - are, indeed, the least characterful, charming.

That said, the others I listed: in the Delta (think Walnut Grove), the Russian River (think Guerneville), and the southern Central Coast (think especially Morro Bay) are all characterful, from funky to charming, in varying degrees of "affordable".

If they won't do, then the closest she can get to the beach might be less character as in Marina, Seaside, or *gasp* Prunedale.

But really, after reading more of her dreamy wishful thinking, I don't see her finding anything at all affordable in California.

But all really great info you provided about so many communities / areas in your previous post.
It's just that, despite some places here and there that have a certain quaintness that only kinda / sorta resembles the quaintness of various New England coastal towns, there is nothing on the west coast that is anything like the cape in terms of culture, ecology / eco-systems, weather, human temperament, etc..

[Californiaescape]

Well I wanted to post some pics from my walk tonight at Lake Harveston (because I swear its just like Cape May NJ, and they actually named the housing community here Cape May at Harveston) but I cant seem to upload photos to this forum from my phone. It wont allow me to copy and past. It says I need a URL link. And it says my photos exceed the size. But if you look this place up you will see the cape like charm. Only problem is no jobs... so I obviously cant stay here. Some people do the 2+ hour commute everyday but I just cant. The 91 freeway goes about 3 mph during morning rush hour. No thanks. My search continues!