San Luis Obispo??? (San Diego, San Francisco, Bakersfield: affordable house, transfer, good schools)

[mdiethelm]

How is it to live / work in San Luis Obispo? We lived in LA for a while, got transferred out of state, looking to get back West... Don't care to be in LA or Orange County, ideally looking at SLO or possibly even San Diego... I will be working from home, so not really an issue there to start. Wanting to stay in the 500k range if possible... Need good schools (have a 4 year old), safe, want to be near hiking, etc... Any suggestions?

[Snort]

Hiking in SLO County is great, and much better than San Diego County (unless you like exposed trails and desert hiking). SLO is a town, and although it's an active place, it's not a city like San Diego. I think you'll appreciate the lack of congestion relative to SoCal below Santa Barbara.
I also think SLO is ideally located between Santa Barbara and Monterey. San Francisco is also within reach for a nice weekend getaway.

[sms1967]

$500k is on the low end for a home in SLO... depending on your needs. Schools are excellent and it's very safe. Not sure about hiking, etc. but they downtown area is really nice and Cal Poly gives you some atmosphere. However, they call it SLO for a reason. Some people like that pace.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Half of California's residents...hold on, make that half the residents of the U.S...would like to live and work in SLO. It's consistently rated one of the most livable cities in the country. Yet despite millions of aspiring SLO-folks, the population of the town doggedly manages to stay below 50,000. There has to be a reason for that (having one of the worst COL-to-salary ratios in the nation comes to mind).

If you win the lottery or have a commute-by-wire job and transferable equity that's close to seven figures, there's little in your way. If you're a work-a-day drone like the rest of us and somehow manage to break the curse...finding a decent paying job and an affordable house on a nice lot with a bit of elbow room...please post your success story so that the rest of us can dream along with you.

[CA central coast]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

Half of California's residents...hold on, make that half the residents of the U.S...would like to live and work in SLO. It's consistently rated one of the most livable cities in the country. Yet despite millions of aspiring SLO-folks, the population of the town doggedly manages to stay below 50,000. There has to be a reason for that (having one of the worst COL-to-salary ratios in the nation comes to mind).

If you win the lottery or have a commute-by-wire job and transferable equity that's close to seven figures, there's little in your way. If you're a work-a-day drone like the rest of us and somehow manage to break the curse...finding a decent paying job and an affordable house on a nice lot with a bit of elbow room...please post your success story so that the rest of us can dream along with you.

Whoop!! There it is!!

[cdgoldilocks]

If you have the money to live in SLO county, Arroyo Grande is nice. Great weather, close to the beach, to shopping, a little more affordable that SLO itself. The Arroyo Grande/5 Cities Area (there are 5 little towns within a mile of each other that make up the 5 cities) has some great schools.

I guess you need to decide if you want a big city with a lot happening, or a slower paced small town community. I moved to SLO from Bakersfield 12 years ago and I LOVE it here.