I'm 19 years old, and plan on attending college in California next year. Right now I live in a town of 60,000 people , very safe and helpful people. I'm good in big cities and can find my away pretty much anywhere, but I want mountains, palm trees, beaches, and good night life. I have thought about Seaside, CA since it is quite small, but close to San Fran. I also like 70-80 degree weather. My main concern is that living too far up North would be boring, while too far down South I might get killed.. so give me some unbiased input!
2007-03-29 07:25:04 · 9 answers · asked by D L 1 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ San Francisco
Since you want palm trees and beaches I would suggest Southern CA since the coast is very cold in Northern CA. It's just as safe in Southern CA as it is in Northern Ca. San Diego is one of the safest big cities in America and is safer than San Francisco; SD has nearly 2x the population as SF but about 1/2 the number of murders. I was born and raised in the Bay Area and moved to SD for college six years ago and stayed after graduating; both places are great but SD might be more of what you are looking for. The nightlife in SD is great, especially in Pacific Beach, which is the best beach community in Ca in my opinion. Everyone in PB is 20-30 and people are very friendly and chill there. Tijuana is cool for under the 21 crowd and is plenty safe to visit. The mountains are about an hour away and ski resorts about 2-2.5 hours away.
You aren't going to find 70-80 degree weather anywhere along the coast in Northern CA except for maybe 5 days out of the year. Santa Cruz tends to be warmer though b/c it faces south, so that might be a community that's worth checking out. SD is pretty much between 70-80 year round and it barely rains there too; weather in SD is amazing.
There are tons of community colleges in the region and 4 major university's including UC San Diego, San Diego State, University of San Diego, and Cal State University at San Marcos.
Housing in SD is expensive compared to other parts of the country but not as high as the SF Bay Area or LA/Orange County. You can get places near the beach for not too much compared to what you would pay in SF or LA. Northern SD County is a little more suburban/rural if you don't want to be right in San Diego and has great beach communities too.
2007-03-29 09:09:53 · answer #1 · answered by Sav 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Check out Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo... very cool little college town very close to Pismo Beach. Located on the Central Coast so you are only about 3 hours south of San Jose/San Fran and 3 hours north of LA. I've lived in Southern, Northern, and Central Cali and this is by far my favorite place in California!!
2007-03-31 14:13:53 · answer #2 · answered by belle2413 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having lived in Southern Cal..YOU WOULD NOT get killed...I lived there for over 15 years..
Orange County, Riverside County, Inland Empire and San Bernardino are decent places to live...
every place is going to have its risks...if you are concerned about the crime index...research the city as if you were going to buy a home..
as far as the Bay Area is concerned...bring your wallet...there is NOTHING cheap up here...gas STARTS at 3.19 and goes up from there...
going to school in California is smart...AS A RESIDENT...spend a year working BEFORE you start school...
YOU will save hundreds or thousands by working for a year and gaining your in state residency...
consider schools like Cal Berkely, CS East Bay (Hayward),
San Fran State, among others...worse case scenario...there is UC Davis just outside of Sacramento.
yeah further north than bay Area...will not be all that exciting...but the Bay area itself has plenty to offer..the majority is covered by Mas Transit BART system..you may have a car...but in San Fran, BART and MUNI are good ways to get around..
2007-03-30 16:40:02 · answer #3 · answered by juanes addicion 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want to live near San Francisco you should probably live in daly city because everyone there is very nice and there is no gang, so you are always safe. The best thing you will find lot of houses there that are good for your budget. And if you want to go to San Francisco it take about 5 Min's to get there, 10Min's top.
2007-03-30 15:01:47 · answer #4 · answered by Kevin23 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Santa Barbara. UCSB. Meets all of your requirments. Either the towns of Goleta, or Isla Vista are perfect college towns.
The weather is perfect year round. And you are only an hour away from LA, and 7 hours away from SF.
2007-03-29 16:43:51 · answer #5 · answered by PARKERD 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Oceanside, CA
Colleges
Beaches
Close to moutain views
Your an hour from L.A and an Hour from San Diego
2007-03-29 14:32:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok, i live in Huntington Beach, CA. and it's quite fun! there are movie theatres, malls, the beach is right there, and theres clubs, theres a few gyms and its sooooo fun!
2007-03-29 14:34:22 · answer #7 · answered by feather 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
San Diego County, it is all you want
2007-03-30 00:16:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Don't move to the Bay Area. We are nasty mofo's!
2007-03-29 17:41:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋