Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver Vacaville is exactly what you're looking for. Situated between Sacramento and San Francisco, there are more things to do and see than you could in a lifetime all within about a 3 hours drive. Very mild climate too. It's a nice, smaller family community that's totally affordable and we have TONS of great shopping too!
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Funny, RidgebackLuver, I think Vacaville is HOT!! I miss Sonoma County because it cooled down there at night. Also, we usually end up going to Sonoma County to do things because there isn't a whole lot to do in Vacaville! I miss living near State Parks and the coast, as well as the redwoods up hwy. 101. It was 82 degrees Saturday morning when we left VV at 9:30, but 55 when we got to the coast BUT, Vacaville is less expensive, that's for sure. You can rent a nice 3bedroom 2 bath house here for $1500 to $1600.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes If you can get good jobs in Santa Maria, Orcutt is a good choice. The commute to San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara is a pain. Re: Vacaville's weather: <a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandgarden/garden/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/95688" target="_blank">http://www.weather.com/outlook...ph/95688</a> I recall Vacaville as being very windy with a lot of dust. Maybe I'm wrong. Good luck to you!
Originally Posted By fkurucz My wife is a librarian and she tells me that we get a steady flow of people who move to our town (which frequently makes those "best places to live" lists) and use the library computers to job hunt. They need a library card to do this and what usually happens is that they can't find anything and move on (there are far more defunct accounts at the library than active ones). I guess what I'm trying to say is you will probably have to go where the jobs are, and that might be in a very high cost of living area unfortunately. And when you can find them in the lower cost areas the salaries tend to be much lower as well. We "escaped" from California 15 years ago and haven't looked back. I wouldn't return for a 50% pay increase.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney SGV --- that chart is interesting. I guess it's right, but it shows the average temp in July being 96, which doesn't account for all the 100+ days that never seem to end. The summer before last we had 13 100+ days in a row! Last summer my daughter was having a friend spend the night and it was 107 degrees at 7:00 PM when the power went out. For the whole night!! Wish we had a pool! If you live in VV, look for a house with a pool. It gets windy in VV, I would say maybe 1 out of every 3 or 4 days in the summer is windy, but the south west side of town, nearer to Fairfield, is definitely more windy than the north part. I've lived in both. I've lived here most of my life except the 7 wonderful years I escaped to Sonoma County. Hmmmm, I think I'm jaded!
Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver It's only hot a few months out of the summer and it's been in the high 80s this summer so far. The rest of the year it's pretty nice. We get the winds from Suisun once in a while but it's not dusty. I've lived in both extremes in weather and I think VV is very temperate compared to other places.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Re: post 28: Agreed. I thought I'd never get used to the 100 degree days in Paso Robles, but it only took one summer. After many years I'm still not used to the 100+ days in Sacramento. I guess it's more humid here, I don't know. My experience with Vacaville was visiting friends who lived in the south west side of town that you mentioned, as well as my drives to and from San Francisco (almost always 'from'). Vacaville is where the ride gets miserable. Last summer was pariticularly hot in Sacramento, and this summer is mild compared to the average. I think it was a couple of summers ago when we had temperatures over 100 and forest fires all around to the point where you couldn't see three blocks down the street. That was unbearable, but it was unusual. Anyhows, I think it will all depend on where one can get the best job as compared to the cost of housing.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Employment trends in California from today's Sacramento Bee: <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/26/2915578/interactive-see-unemployment-trends.html" target="_blank">http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/...nds.html</a> Hey! Orcutt is a relatively short distance from Solvang for that neck of the woods (20-25 miles?) and the commute is beautiful! Solvang is on the short list of lowest unemployment in the state! Except I only know Solvang as a tourist area, and not much more. I don't know if there are any well paying jobs or not. Be sure to check it out!
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance We are really finding that for now, we probably will just stay put where we are. We have our family here, and my husband still needs to finish his degree. We aren't in any position to move now, and when he gets his degree and things have settles, who knows what we'll do. But thanks so much for all of your posts, we've found your information very helpful!
