For those who have lived in CA and OR (Wilsonville: apartment, lease)

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by Nwwoodsywriter

Sorry everyone. I think my post must be unclear. I would like to move to California. I want to move from Oregon.

How are you with high heat? If you get away from the expensive coastal areas the heat goes way up in a short amount of time because S Cal is a desert. There is an area N of LA you might check into where some forest gets near the coast but as you already know green means rain.

Also for Sacramento

On average, there are 73 days where the high exceeds 90 °F (32 °C), and 14 days where the high exceeds 100 °F (38 °C) wiki

[Nwwoodsywriter]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

How are you with high heat? If you get away from the expensive coastal areas the heat goes way up in a short amount of time because S Cal is a desert. There is an area N of LA you might check into where some forest gets near the coast but as you already know green means rain.

I think I could live in higher heat as long as we were less than 2 hours to the coast. Or even on a river/near a lake since we have to drive 2 hours to the coast now.

And I don't mind Hawaii rain or California rain. I can usually handle 2-3 months of the rain here, it's just the spring where I start to be effected and I feel like I don't want to go outside anymore and really struggle mentally.

Mid 80's year round is probably my ideal.

[Terryj]

Lots of tech jobs are relocating out of California to Arizona and Texas, both of those place you can find the climate you want.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Nwwoodsywriter

I'm not at all interested in living on the Oregon Coast. There is twice as much rain in Astoria as Portland.

You did say this in your OP, so I'm not sure what else I was supposed to think. Best of luck on your move.

Astoria: Coastal, blue collar, historic Victorian homes. Surrounded by trees. If my husband had job options there we might have moved already.

[Hawk J]

Perhaps, see if your husband can find a job in Monterey, California area. Live a few miles inland, it gets sunny & warm/hot. Usually there isn't a lot of rain anymore. There was more rain years ago. It's a beautiful area.
Best of luck to y'all...

[Jessie Mitchell]

I was born in north San Diego county, lived as a young adult in San Francisco for a long time, also spent a couple years in Sacramento, moved to Santa Monica for about 10 years... I've been all over CA. I was born and raised there, lived most of my adult life there and it is a great state. I get why you like it.

I moved to Oregon (Ashland) in 2000 and lived there until recently. It's the only place I've actually lived in Oregon, but I have visited broad parts of it many times. My kids were raised there, my daughter went to college in Eugene. It's a great state too.

As PNWgal pointed out, Ashland is very California like, especially with regard to the warmer, dryer weather... but I understand you are not looking to stay in Oregon.

So given that, what about the mountain towns in the Sierras if you want small, walkable, beautiful, historic-feeling places? They are not that commutable to SF but for tech workers they might work if some work can be done remotely. There are still affordable places to live in quite a few of those towns. If you've got the money, there are lots of small communities too (very commutable to SF) in Marin county. It is spendy, spendy, spendy if you want some space and/or nice aesthetics but there are a few bargains to be found it you're willing to live small in multi-family buildings. I know some people who live comfortably that way in San Rafael and San Anselmo.

I grew up in San Diego county and in my opinion it has evolved into a pretty awful place, but I may be a minority opinion in that regard. I know you're tired of rain, but the heat, the over development, the un-walkability of just about anywhere, the dryness... it's just an over-priced, desiccated sort of place.

[leastprime]

The grass may be greener in Redmond WA but is so because the summers are cooler and winters damper and only slightly warmer than Valley Oregon.

Your husband is fortunate to have a short commute. At one time I that the commute from my home in WSalem (40years) to Washington Sq area was a long commute (50m). Then I discovered the commute to USBank tower(45m) was shorter but longer in time. Then I had a job out PDX (65) . And finally the commute from W Salem Hills to 185th on Sunset26 (75m) was the ultimate. Some of those commutes were 2-4am, 5-7am. 4-6pm.

You need to see the other parts of USA to appreciate what you have or don't have.
Good Luck.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Nwwoodsywriter

I think I could live in higher heat as long as we were less than 2 hours to the coast. Or even on a river/near a lake since we have to drive 2 hours to the coast now.

And I don't mind Hawaii rain or California rain. I can usually handle 2-3 months of the rain here, it's just the spring where I start to be effected and I feel like I don't want to go outside anymore and really struggle mentally.

Mid 80's year round is probably my ideal.

Honolulu is your only option. California and Florida can't even offer you that.

[Nwwoodsywriter]

Originally Posted by Jessie Mitchell

I was born in north San Diego county, lived as a young adult in San Francisco for a long time, also spent a couple years in Sacramento, moved to Santa Monica for about 10 years... I've been all over CA. I was born and raised there, lived most of my adult life there and it is a great state. I get why you like it.

I moved to Oregon (Ashland) in 2000 and lived there until recently. It's the only place I've actually lived in Oregon, but I have visited broad parts of it many times. My kids were raised there, my daughter went to college in Eugene. It's a great state too.

As PNWgal pointed out, Ashland is very California like, especially with regard to the warmer, dryer weather... but I understand you are not looking to stay in Oregon.

So given that, what about the mountain towns in the Sierras if you want small, walkable, beautiful, historic-feeling places? They are not that commutable to SF but for tech workers they might work if some work can be done remotely. There are still affordable places to live in quite a few of those towns. If you've got the money, there are lots of small communities too (very commutable to SF) in Marin county. It is spendy, spendy, spendy if you want some space and/or nice aesthetics but there are a few bargains to be found it you're willing to live small in multi-family buildings. I know some people who live comfortably that way in San Rafael and San Anselmo.

I grew up in San Diego county and in my opinion it has evolved into a pretty awful place, but I may be a minority opinion in that regard. I know you're tired of rain, but the heat, the over development, the un-walkability of just about anywhere, the dryness... it's just an over-priced, desiccated sort of place.

Thank you, I will check out the mountain towns. I would love to live in Marin county, and we looked up San Rafael as a possible transfer from Autodesk. I want to be realistic though with COL. My husband makes good money, but I stay at home. We like to see a lot extra each month to throw at savings.

I love Ashland! I've been going since I was a kid, and way back in the day I was set to go to SOU, but last minute changed my mind to downtown Portland. Still wonder if I would have been happier down south.

The problem is we're both so laid back that me feeling pretty miserable for half a year is just normal, but as I've gotten older I really want to be in place where I'm going to thrive. It's a lot of time feeling depressed. We also spend a lot of money to find things to do in the winter and take trips to warmer climates to help with my depression. I don't want to complain, because I really do think Oregon is an incredible state, and I feel so lucky to be here. When we travel and I'm super active and up early, and feel that much energy, coming back to the darkness is a rough transition. I feel like it's not fair to my family.

My husband's entire extended family and my aunt lived in San Diego and it has changed a lot. I don't feel super picky, I just want to be warm and be close to the ocean/water. Thank you for the tip on those mountain towns. I would love a historic feeling city.

[Nwwoodsywriter]

Originally Posted by leastprime

The grass may be greener in Redmond WA but is so because the summers are cooler and winters damper and only slightly warmer than Valley Oregon.

Your husband is fortunate to have a short commute. At one time I that the commute from my home in WSalem (40years) to Washington Sq area was a long commute (50m). Then I discovered the commute to USBank tower(45m) was shorter but longer in time. Then I had a job out PDX (65) . And finally the commute from W Salem Hills to 185th on Sunset26 (75m) was the ultimate. Some of those commutes were 2-4am, 5-7am. 4-6pm.

You need to see the other parts of USA to appreciate what you have or don't have.
Good Luck.

He is very lucky. He had a 3 hour commute about 4 years ago, and 2 years ago it was 2 hours. We know friends who drive up past Salem to Wilsonville or have moved out to Longview. He was offered two jobs this last year and took the 20k pay cut to not work in Vancouver. That's what makes him happy!

I agree about traveling around to know what you need. I feel very lucky to have traveled around the world and to have seen so much of the U.S.