My H wants to move to CA. He was stationed in San Diego and misses CA. I'm not sure I want to move. However it that means it will put distance between him and OW/xOW (not sure what her ranking is at this time)I will consider it.

What would be some good cities to look at. We are middle to upper middle income (by MN standards, I'm not sure if there is a difference among states). I want a good public school system, and is there hockey in CA? Is there youth Hockey programs in CA. My boys currently play hockey, and they love it. I don't know if they will be happy about giving up hockey.

I need to be in an area that is close to lots of hospitals, (I finish nursing school this spring).

I'm not sure I want to leave this area, all my friends and family is here. His family is here. I don't care if he gives up his friends, most of them have not impressed me.

Sue with hope, San Diego is one of the most beautufl cities here. And great weather year round. Plenty to do there!
You will find Hockey and more than you dreamed of in activities and sports, so much you will be trying to get around to it for years! I lived there years ago. Now we live in High desert of Ca. And I'd love to live back in San Diego.
Beaches are nice. Seaworld, great places.
Hospitals? Some of the best! I had my daughter at Sharp memorial there. The Stork club it's called. LOL
Nurses are in high demand in Ca. with huge sign on bonues, great pay and benefits!
Go to the internet and check it all out!
Medical field is one of the best places to be here.
What you waiting for? I'd love living back in San Diego.
Cities around there are La Jolla, very expensive though, Pacific Beach, Claremont, El Cajon.
You can also check out home prices and rents online.
You will be a couple of hours from the mountains for snow in winter, right at the beaches there, and a couple of hours from Los Angeles. Los Angeles sucks. So don't go there to live!
Schools are great! Get on the internet and start drooling!
God bless and keep in touch. We go there to catch Cruise ships.
LouLou

Come on to CA ..... I am a nurse practitioner ya know .... lots and lots of excellent positions. Many teaching hospitals. Let me know!

Sue, Long Beach, CA is a great place too. Pretty parts. My daughter lives in Ca. heights there. I like it also as I lived there. Lot's of good hospitals.
Los Altos also nice. Newport Beach but have plenty of bucks to live there. LOL

PepperBand, where do you live in Ca? We're up in Apple Valley near Victorville.
LouLou

How about up north around our neighborhood ?. SF Bay area ?. Housing is expensive here but it depends where you live.

-rh-

Does anyone know how the construction business is. H is a electrician. He is thinking that once I finish school, he might go back. I know he would love to go back school in CA.

We discussed him changing careers once I finish school. I think all I have to do is pass NCLEX and then apply to the state of CA to be liscensed to work in CA. I'm going to check that out. Unless it has changed since I last looked into it, I can work in 48 of the 50 states with the education I am receiving. I'm contemplating going for my masters once I finish school and start working. But at this point it is a thought.

You all make it sound so appealling. We have to fix a couple of things on our house before we can sell it. Now that H is laid off, he has the time to do the work. He also keeps looking up houses for sale.

One area he showed me was Bakersfield.

Redhat, I had a friend that lived in Dixon, that is only a couple of hours away, correct? He tried to get me to come out there years ago. Before I met my H. He died of cancer. I found out afterwards that he wanted to marry me, but did not want to pressure me. He would have married me right off the plane if I would have come down. I did not know he felt that way. I had the same feelings, but was not going to move to CA, and only know him and find out that all he wanted was friendship. I had recently ended a bad relationship, so he did not want to push me.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Sue with hope:
<strong>One area he showed me was Bakersfield.

Redhat, I had a friend that lived in Dixon, that is only a couple of hours away, correct? </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Dixon is about one hour away (65 mi north) from San Francisco (during non-rush hour). Bakersfield is about 5 hours away between San Francisco & LA. It depends what are you looking. Around San Francisco, there are a lot of constructions, specially satelite suburb such as Brentwood, Tracy and to Sacramento. If you are handy with your hand you will find work. House will be a bit shocker but it is still affordable around those area. Check this link for housing. Bay Area keeps building houses. Sacramento area is good (booming for new housing), not too far from SF & Napa Valley for quick get away .. plus beautiful Lake Tahoe & Sierra/Yosemite.

Bakersfield used to be a farming city & still is, you might get bored to death.

Hope this help -rh-

Plus higher education are very good and a bargain at UC.

<small>[ February 04, 2003, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: redhat ]</small>

For my money, the prettiest parts of California are the central coast cities. Check out San Luis Obispo. See San Luis Obispo here

Central or southern CA.! WE once lived up in Lemoore due to Husbands job with Gov. and Bakersfield is not for us! We went through there many times. I hated that area!
Purely cow country!
Stay near the coast or down in southern or central coastline. Inland near Bakersfield is the pits! LOl At least for us.
It took two years for H to get a transfer back down south and I was delighted when we did. I saw homes on the market in that area for two years that wouldn't sell.
Southern Ca. is booming! Orange Counties or San Diego cty. Some of Los Angeles cty too, but wouldn't want to live in L.A.
If in the Santa Barbara or San Francisco area, be prepared to pay huge bucks for homes.
You can still buy good homes down south, but will pay more near the coast.
I'd recommend you do your research online. Look at the areas, economy, homes, jobs, growth going on.
I prefer Southern Ca and I've lived out here 40 yrs!
Northern is pretty too. But homes in some areas are going to run you close to half million dollars!
Construction in So.Ca is really good.
Get some input from each one here who lives in Ca.
Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, Lemoore, Visalia, YUCK!
Nice people, but terrible area to live for us.
Redhat is right, Boredom galore!
LouLou

If you really don't want to move, is there anyway that you can move OW to Jupiter or Pluto or someplace where she can't harm anyone (that we know of)?

If you come to CA, there is good reason to do so: In other parts of the country, you have weather. In CA, we don't have weather, we have "climate."

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

-Qfwfq

I know that weather thing - Sunday, snow, snow, snow, shovel, shovel shove, snow ball fight. (that was fun)

Monday mornign - shovel, shovel, shovel. Monday night, freeze my you know what off, Tuesday, same as monday night. So, why am I hesitant to go to Sunny CA?

Now H is showing me websites of Frazier Park, he is trying to convince me that I can have it all in CA. He might be right.

I keep thinking about it. I'm very tempted. I'm thinking we should plan a vacation this summer in the area we are considering, get to know it.

I am checking with CA Board of Nursing to see if there is anything I need to do to be lisenced in teh state when I attended school in another state.

Sue:

Frazier Park is nice, but you'd just be living like in the midwest in the mountains. They get "weather" up there! It gets "cold" up there. Cold enough to snow and close the Grapevine (which is populated mainly with semis).

The other downside is that you'd be living right near the intersection of the San Andreas and Garlock Faults. Big time plate tectonics right at your doorstep! The San Andreas in the "Big Bend" area (the mountains north of the LA basin) is RIPE as all get out for a magnitude 8 or so earthquake. They're supposed to occur every 147 years or so, and I think it's 20 or more years overdue...

But, it is beautiful up there. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />
-Qfwfq
P.S. Reminds me of an old cartoon we used to have on the wall at school: A picture of some gal in an apron trying frantically to catch dinner plates of food as they're falling off the table to the floor. The caption read "That's the last time I try to serve Continental Quisine on Tectonic Plates!"

<small>[ February 04, 2003, 07:19 PM: Message edited by: Qfwfq ]</small>

Sue, well shoot, Just come on to the high desert with me. LOL Plenty of nursing positions with $10,000 sign on bonuses. But if I had my choice, i'd go to San Diego first or Long Beach, Ca. Or Orange cty some place.
Ca. has more to do than any state in the Union! And like Qfwfq said, we have climate!
Parts of Ca. have year round nice weather, One being San Diego.
If you want snow, you can always go to the mountains in winter for a day or two.
Frazier park is like he said. They get snow in winter and close the Frwy. But only for short time. Other central parts get tooley fog! Did I spell that right? LOL
Anyhow, lot's of beautiful places and you'll fall in love and never want to leave.
I was born in TN, lived in Fl and many other states. But Ca. for 40 yrs and I'm staying put!
God bless, LouLou

Well, Frazier Park is out of the question, I have major issues with the ground shaking.

I also have major issues with the sky turning black and this big circling wind comes your way. Fortunately, I have never experienced one. Seen the destruction, that is more than enough for me. I does not seem like CA gets those.

I think H wants San Diego area or similar weather. He is just trying to find something that will apease me.

A vacation is in order this summer. We cannot make any moves until I finish school and we fix the house to sell it. We could us that time to scope things out.

Pepper - that is a beautiful city. One thing we have to consider is what/where can we afford to live. How expensive is kids activities. I don't want my kids to have to quit playing sports. What is crime like in the different areas. I know you guys would not send me to areas that we need bars on the windows.

Sue,
I think that a vacation to Ca. would be a good idea before deciding. I grew up in the S.F. Bay area and it is great but VERY expensive to live there now. Half a million for a smallish house is very common. I don't think activities cost any more for the kids. My sister's son plays hockey in Berkely and it's very popular all over Northern California. I'm sure it is also in Southern Ca.

The whole Modesto, Stockton central valley area of the state is well... let's just say it's not the glamorous part of California. Very hot, flat and a bit boring. Sorry, I hope no one takes offense!

I only lived in Southern California during college and I was in downtown Los Angeles, lots of fun for college but I would not live there for a million $$$! San Diego and the surrounding areas are beautiful. Have you looked up the coast a bit, maybe Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo? I think they are very expensive, but certainly paradise!

I no longer live in California <img border="0" alt="[Teary]" title="" src="graemlins/teary.gif" /> , but wanted to give you a little input.

Sue, I've mentioned some of the better areas to you, but crime is everywhere as you know. Any city will have it's good areas and areas that are more crime active.
You just have to know the area and scout it out for good middle calls sections.Schools, activities, etc.
Sue, the ground shakes all over Ca. Earthquakes are going to happen,and we have small ones every day nobody feels!
I've lived through hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes. Believe me, I'll take the earthquake over the others.
I would choose a home that is not surrounded by tall buildings, LOL which of course residential areas would not have a lot of tall buildings.
I wouldn't want to live in apt complexes at all.
Sue, CA. is supposed to have slid in the ocean ever since I've lived here and it's been 40 yrs so far. I'm still above ground. LOL
I love Ca. and wouldn't want to live elsewhere now.
San Diego would be my preference if we could afford to move now. But H is retired and we own our home in high desert. We couldn't replace what we have for 3 times the money other places.
We live in the High Desert of Apple Valley. Lot of land around our homes so we feel very safe. Homes here sit on at least half acre or more if you want.
You can buy a lot more home here for the money.
Jobs would depend on driving though to other cites though there is a lot of construction here. Also Marine Corp base 40 miles from us where many people work for civil service. As for medical field, you could choose where you want to be. Tons of medical jobs!
I would prefer San Diego or Long Beach, Laguna, or someplace in Orange cty if we moved.
You'll find anything and everything you could want in the way of jobs, social activities, sports, entertainment, etc.
A vacation really would be the way to decide.
God bless, LouLou

Wow, you have all given me so much to think about. It all sounds good.

I know we have crime, can't be avoided, I just want to find an area where I don't have to look behind me when I walk from house to car, or duck bullets. We have some areas around here, where I've heard that when you notice certain things happening, hit the floor.

Where I grew up, something major happens about every 10 years, otherwise, the type of stuff we get is as vandalism, robbery, drunk driving. The last major thing happened last Christmas when a small family owned store was robbed and the clerk shot. Now the major city which is abotu 15 min. away, gets all the crime (they can keep it).

I know, there is not perfect place to live with 0 crime, perfect weather 100% of the time, ground that does not shake, winds that do not swirl or oceans that don't crash into the land with high winds, if there was, everyone would be there.

I sent off a letter to the State of CA board of Nursing to make sure my education will meet their lisencing requirments. I'm hoping that passing the boards will be sufficient.