Where would YOU live in California?

The Bay Area is unlike any other place on earth. Warmer days and always cooler nights. Surrounded by vinyards. A trip to the ocean for the afternoon or a couple of hours of down time, kayaking down the Russian River, spending all afternoon exploring Annadel in Santa Rosa (large forested park), hiking the hills, the redwood forests, shopping, balloon rides in Windsor, horseback riding on the beach, Go Kart racing at Sears Point (okay....its Infineon Raceway now), Learn how to race a real race car at Infineon Raceway, Local bands, Renting a limo and spending all day going from winery to endless winery sampling different wines, taking a viticultural class at the local JC for cheap, going to listen to live classical music at the Wells Fargo center for the arts, driving to Larkspur to jump on the ferry and riding across the bay to Pier 1 where you can spend all day along the boardwalk, listening to the seals bark all day long by fishermans wharf, rollerblading along the pier, watching the sailboats go by, taking a helicopter ride out to a charter boat past the harbor for breakfast, driving along highway 1 parallel to the ocean all the way up to Mendocino, .....gosh, I could go on and on.

Bay area all the way..I lived in south bay (los gatos) and had to move down south (claremont) and hate it..the people in the bay area are more relaxed, educated, and diverse..The weather totally beats the smoggy LA air and the traffic is a fraction of what it is in LA. If I had a choice, I thinks its pretty clear I would pick Nor Cal. Plus the pay is better and the clientel in the hospitals aren't as "interesting" as down south.

When do you have time to do all of this? All I ever had time for was work and sleep (sometimes). Just makes it more obvious everything that I'm missing!

If weather is important to you, stay south. I've lived in the Bay Area and had friends that lived in the LA area. My observation was that the further north you are the better......... except for the weather. There is a great variety of activities you can do in the bay area. There are also different microcosms of climate available depending on where exactly in the bay area you are. But I'd still never want to live there again. If I had to live in California; I'd probably live in Redding, Anderson, or Shasta Lake. But my choices are biased by the fact that I was raised in the country and never "took" to big city life.

If weather is important to you, stay south. I've lived in the Bay Area and had friends that lived in the LA area. My observation was that the further north you are the better......... except for the weather. There is a great variety of activities you can do in the bay area. There are also different microcosms of climate available depending on where exactly in the bay area you are. But I'd still never want to live there again. If I had to live in California; I'd probably live in Redding, Anderson, or Shasta Lake. But my choices are biased by the fact that I was raised in the country and never "took" to big city life.