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Old 10-25-2011, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,190 posts, read 6,835,918 times
Reputation: 2076

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Quote:
Originally Posted by CMgyms View Post
Thanks for the honest replies. If you read my first post I also said it is the most beautiful place I have been to. Does it rain from December to March in Danville also? Like I said I am researching to see if my family would have a better quality of live in California vs MD. It seems that most of you are not crazy about Sacramento, so I am ruling that out. I would still love to hear from some east coast transplants that have made the move. Thanks again so much for the advice.
CMgyms ... yes.
Of course it rains in Danville in the winter.
Why wouldn't it?
And it's not just from December - March.
Patterns are changing but basically November - April is the rainy season ... and it rains more or less depending on the winter and depending on the time of winter.
There are beautiful days in the winter too but unless you're in the desert or higher elevations where it snows, winter in California = rain and, again, more or less depending on where you are in the state.

If you want a better quality of life for your family, i don't think you'll find anything superior in the suburban areas that you are considering.
Why would you think it would be better?
It's all over populate and congested, it's polluted, frenetic, the schools aren't better, the people are not more intelligent (actually, generally speaking, they're a bit more dim, duh and superficial than east coast folks) nor are they more heart-ful / considerate, kind, etc. and the prices of homes are ridiculous and inflated and no matter how wealthy one is, imo, it's just foolish to buy into this housing market at this time (although i have to admit, if i had the money, i'd buy property ).
Someday (who knows when?) the bubble will burst.

I'm from CA but lived in the east for many years.
California is less conventional and less weighed down by history.
The east coast is extremely settled and "set", the west coast is not.
There is an quickness and sharpness of speech and mind in the east.
There is a cynicism too and that is less prevalent in California but there's also a kind of dullness and glibness and sameness. (i'm speaking very generally and not speaking, for example, of the future wave innovators of Silicon Valley / Bay area or of the dwindling counter / alternative cultured).
There is a rooted-ness and a solid sensibility in New England and other parts of the northeast and east coast that you may find lacking here.
The east coast is conventional, the west coast, ideally is not but it has become more and more so over time.

If you're conventional and not comfortable with chaos, California can be a bit threatening which is why, i imagine, you are drawn to these suburban areas that seem just familiar enough and where you can imagine that it's possible to replicate the life that you have known back east.
And you can do that.
But why?
To me (as someone who is not conventional and who found the east coast to be quite oppressive) this is antithetical to the spirit of California as, imo, one of the best thing about the west coast (and particularly the coast of CA) is that it can push you out of your comfort zone.
It asks you to change which you will if you're open to it.
To me, that's a good thing.

You say that you appreciate the beauty of California.
Did you see evidence of that beauty in the communities that you visited?

You mentioned Los Gatos.
That would be the one community that i'd recommend but that's only because it's close to the very abnormal Santa Cruz and you probably wouldn't want to settle there because as soon as your kids became teenagers they might be tempted to throw off the shackles of "normal", head on over the hill to Santa Cruz and find out who they truly are. (they may get weird but that can happen anywhere).
But actually and seriously, it is a nice, upscale, rather conventional town and it's close to the ocean, ie; Monterey Bay (from Los Gatos center, under a half hour to get to the coast when not during commuter time of the p.m.)
Also, since commuting is not an issue for you (does that mean you don't need to commute at all to anywhere ever?), why not go a bit south? .... to Monterey County ... specifically the inland areas of Carmel?
Now that would be an area that you who has some bucks could afford (although barely probably), that is conventional and relatively stayed and yet where the spirit of California and the beauty and power of its nature can still be felt / experienced! despite the fact that it too is over populated.
Carmel Valley in Monterey County California

Last edited by jaijai; 10-25-2011 at 12:07 PM..
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Old 10-25-2011, 01:01 PM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,043,351 times
Reputation: 2957
Don't need to hit enter after every period...
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Old 10-25-2011, 02:27 PM
 
457 posts, read 754,671 times
Reputation: 498
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayorhaggar View Post
Don't need to hit enter after every period...
LOL..I thought it was a poem. I actually like what (s)he is saying, but maybe not the right platform.
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Old 10-25-2011, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,190 posts, read 6,835,918 times
Reputation: 2076
periods and poems and not the right platform?
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Old 10-25-2011, 03:43 PM
 
Location: A bit further north than before
1,651 posts, read 3,688,164 times
Reputation: 1465
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayorhaggar View Post
Don't need to hit enter after every period...
I figured it was a rap.
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Old 10-25-2011, 04:07 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
13,520 posts, read 22,042,530 times
Reputation: 20234
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaijai View Post
periods and poems and not the right platform?
I think I know what they are saying.
I'll try to explain it to you here.
It seems like you are hitting 'Enter' after each and every sentence.
And that makes it annoying to read.
Even though it looks like a poem.
Or a rap.
N'est pas?
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Old 10-25-2011, 04:59 PM
 
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
2,190 posts, read 6,835,918 times
Reputation: 2076
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaypee View Post
I think I know what they are saying.
I'll try to explain it to you here.
It seems like you are hitting 'Enter' after each and every sentence.
And that makes it annoying to read.
Even though it looks like a poem.
Or a rap.
N'est pas?
huh, weird.
i dunno.
create new neural pathways by moving your eyes in an unfamiliar fashion.
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Old 10-25-2011, 09:18 PM
 
51 posts, read 95,059 times
Reputation: 47
I love the advice and I really appreciate it. It helps so much. I actually visited Monterey and it seemed like mostly old people with no kids from what I could see. I could be wrong and it is amazing, but it also felt out of the way for anything one might want to do.
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Old 10-26-2011, 12:22 AM
 
Location: SW King County, WA
6,404 posts, read 8,241,347 times
Reputation: 6575
no, you're right.

I took my parents there a few weeks ago when they were visiting from DC and they were pretty bored, so take that FWIW
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