Relocation advice: Bay Area or SoCal? Also, culture shock... :-/

[N CA]

I vote for Oakland. I work in downtown Oakland and many of my friends and coworkers live in Oakland. I'd live there if I could afford to. The Silicon Valley area has a large Asian Indian population, I believe. San Ramon has a large Asian and Asian Indian population. Actually, this is probably true of many of the communities along the 680 corridor.

Northern CA is more liberal and Southern CA more conservative. There are only two Republican communities in Contra Costa County. Clayton and Danville, I believe.

[N CA]

Oh, and Chevron is headquartered in Richmond, but it has offices all over the Bay Area. There are refineries in Rodeo, Martinez and in the Vallejo area (I can't remember exactly where).

[Rhymes with Orange]

Well the North Bay has its share of Petroleum jobs so don't let that deter you. As far as the weather goes, once you get out of SF it heats up a lot. In San Jose, which is in the South Bay and a great international buisness city, we've been cozy in the 90's and high 80's for the past couple of weeks. The bay area is where you'll find the intelectualism and cultural diversity, but it's going to come a bit moe pricey. SoCal is also much more spread out, so you can forget about walking anywhere.

I lived in Corona for 3 years, which is Inland Empire, and I didn't care for it much at all but who knows maybe other parts of SoCal are bettr. Overall though, If you're willing to pay a little more, NoCal is more the place you described.

[Taboo2]

I thought the global headquarters for Chevron was in San Ramon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation

[kirstenk]

I have lived in Sherman Oaks for the last 8 years and am relocating to a small town outside of Morgan Hill next year. I have grown tired of the traffic, crime and fake people in Los Angeles. Theres no real culture and its hard to fit in with the 16 million other people. Theres no real sense of community. I am stuck here for the next year. Does anyone know what its like to live in and near Gilroy/Hollister/San Juan Bautista? Does anyone else feel the same way?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by kirstenk

Does anyone know what its like to live in and near Gilroy/Hollister/San Juan Bautista? Does anyone else feel the same way?

From other threads:

Originally Posted by SicilianPolka

Morgan Hill is ok, but is not the nice rural town it once was and the farmers there are multi millionaires ! Gilroy sucks, period.

Originally Posted by hahaha

Everyone That Says This Town Has Nothing To Do Is Sooo Right...but Have Any Of You Seen The Crime Rate? I Think The Last Time There Was A Murder Or Anything Has Been Over 10yrs. Do Any Of You People Have Kids? Why The Hell Would You Want Them Growing Up In Ghetto Towns Like San Jose?? Gilroy Too, Is Full Of Crime...maybe Morgan Hill Is Not Too Bad But Who Can Afford It? Why Would You Pay 700k For A 1800sqft Old House?

Originally Posted by NRaleigh Mom

Hollister is a beautiful scenic area however there is definitely a strong gang presence (nortenos/surenos). It is also very isolated and the drive on highway 25 to Hollister has always been a nightmare! The housing values have tanked dramatically there (as have many California areas) and there are a lot of foreclosed homes that are sitting empty (and unkept).

Originally Posted by sheri257

Gilroy is what, another 30 miles? Just not practical when we have other things to do. And we haven't been shot at the mall (at least not yet).

[uptown_urbanist]

Go wherever you can find a job. Both areas are nice and would fit your needs (although cost-wise you'd be better off in the LA area). I disagree with the poster who suggested that LA wasn't very diverse; LA County is among the most diverse counties in the country, with many people from around the world. There is also plenty of culture. I've lived in both San Francisco and Los Angeles (working in a nonprofit "culture" field) and can tell you that there is plenty of culture and "intellectualism" in both places.

And, for what it's worth, you can also easily find a community in southern CA where you can have a walkable, urban life - I lived in both South Pasadena and Hollywood without a car, and had no trouble in either place.