phx AZ area to Sac area (Sacramento, Roseville: co-op, home, buy)

[need4Trees]

Hi there,

I am glad I found this place as I am hopeful for great advice from all of you! I have been here reading for the past while, obtained valuable information and just now registered!

Here is a bit about me and what I am looking for.

I am in my early 30's, single, no kids. I am not tied down with a job, property, family or anything here in Mesa AZ.

I am looking for a great or at least much better place to live than my current resident. I have family in the Sacramento area and am looking for some where closer to them. I would like to be no more than 3 hours drive time from their residence in Woodland, CA.

I love the mountains, trees, warm to hot weather is fine, (good as long as heat is not over 95 for 4 months of the year), would not mind having cold to mild snowy winters. I love the rain although I would not like constant foggy and/or overcast area, but if it rains for days that's great!

I enjoy being outdoors- hiking, biking, motorcycling, gardening, etc.

The heat here is so annoying because it limits your activities.
Rain doesn't bother me. I could do many things in the rain; I just through on my rain gear and out I go. When I lived on the North Coast I did much walking, biking, sitting in the rain as part of transportation, outdoor research, etc for school/class related purposes.

I am very open to any suggestions/comments anyone might have.

Thanks!

[wburg]

3 hours' drive time is pretty much every bit of northern California, other than the way-out woods of the Northcoast or maybe the Modoc Plateau.

Sacramento is pretty warm but not Arizona kinds of warm. It has been over 90 all week but it gets comfortable at night (temps around 70) and we just got some clouds in. It will feel humid compared to Arizona but dry compared to the Midwest.

The Bay Area might have the weather you want, but it's kinda pricey and hectic.

Are you an HSU grad? (you mentioned the Northcoast and going to school.) If you like that neck of the woods you might consider Willits/Ukiah, that's about 3 hours from Woodland albeit via some wiggly roads on Hwy 20.

[need4Trees]

Yup, I graduated from HSU a while back. I loved it there, great for while I was in school, don't think I would want to live there full time and settle there though.

I would like to be in an area that is close enough to the city but not be "in" the middle of the city.

I may be confusing here and I am sorry.

I am surely tired of the heat here and no mountains or trees here. temps at night don't drop down below 88 most of the summer. Temps in Sac area are high but they do go down at night and high temps don't last as long as here.

So I only know a bit about the town of Woodland because my family is there. Davis is too expensive.

Don't want to be in the bay area, done that, it is too hectic you're right.

Twisty roads are no problem. Just don't no what direction to go is all.
guess there is traffic everywhere!

[wburg]

Cool beans, I'm an HSU alumnus too. I love it up there but yeah, I don't think I could live there full-time now either.

Take a look at Sacramento. Cheaper than Davis, lots of trees, it's a city but it's not THE CITY. No mountains, or even hills, but they're just over thataway (points east) an hour or so. 20 minutes from Woodland. Woodland itself is a nice little town, it has a great downtown (as in the charming old town kind, not the hoppin' action kind) and it's not too expensive either.

[zen_klown]

You might want to look at Grass Valley/Nevada City. Its got a community radio station and community theater, a local food co-op and a strong sense of local community. Its where Ricky Waters joined a Yoga Ashram when he quit playing for the Dolphins. You're above the fog and below the snow, but not too far below the snow. There are a lot of good hiking trails in the area.

It feels more like Mayberry than urban, but you really aren't that far from Roseville if you had special skills where you needed to work in a bigger city.

Nevada City Chamber of Commerce

Welcome to Nevada City, California

Nevada City, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce Home Page

[need4Trees]

Thanks to both of you!

I will be checking out Grass Valley and Nevada City too.

Is it easy to bike around these 2 towns?

[wburg]

Grass Valley is the more affordable of the two, by far. Nevada City is long on charm but it's kind of a boutique city: the classic line about Nevada City is that the only place in town where you can buy nails is a tourist shop that sells those antique square nails to tourists. Both are not very big so biking around isn't much problem.