ScottyP wrote:Fairfax is great. Mount Tam is right next door, the coast is less than 45 mins and Tahoe is 3.5 hours away. A bit on the priciy side still, but less than most of Marin. Look a bit north to Petaluma, Santa Rosa as well. On saturday I hiked 2100' in the morning and was home for lunch. Scott

One of my best and oldest friends lives in Fairfax. It's on the north side of Mt. Tam. There's a bit of an aging hippie feel to the culture but I kinda like that. There's also a brewpub and several microbreweries nearby. About 15 miles to the west on the main road through town is Pt. Reyes National Seashore, which is one of the treasures of the Bay Area; if you like undeveloped seashore you will love it.

Mill Valley is on the opposite side of Mt. Tam and is a more upscale but still has a friendly feel. The Dipsea trail on Mt. Tam, which leads up and over the mountain and down to Stinson Beach, starts literally in "downtown" Mill Valley. It's the site of the oldest trail running race in the US. Mill Valley is very convenient to San Francsico, but doesn't feel like the city.

Marin County has an added benefit that it's a relatively short drive to Sonoma and Napa counties. If you like food and wine this is a big plus.

Bouldermom,
As a former Californian,(now living in Portland), I thought I'd offer my two cents.
I'm hearing what you're saying about being very close to hiking when you lived in Boulder.
While what some of the others are saying about Fairfax, Marin, etc. might be true, as far as easy access to hiking, it still might not compare to Boulder, for what you might be after. You might only find that in a mountain town, such as Mammoth, where I used to live. That might be a more similar comparison.
Again, I don't really know the Marin area that well, so maybe the hiking is good.
Santa Cruz, though undoubtably expensive, might be another option for nearby hiking.
Another possibility might be Boulder Creek(you gotta love the name!), located south of SF. and just east a bit from Santa Cruz. Redwood country, nice town, and probably good hiking.
Best o' luck!
And, yes, I meant to point out(as the next poster reminded me), those mountain towns, Mammoth, Tahoe, etc. are not close to the coast. So if it's the coast you're after, gotta find the best compromise. It just won't be like Boulder.

dskoon wrote:Bouldermom,
As a former Californian,(now living in Portland), I thought I'd offer my two cents.
I'm hearing what you're saying about being very close to hiking when you lived in Boulder.
While what some of the others are saying about Fairfax, Marin, etc. might be true, as far as easy access to hiking, it still might not compare to Boulder, for what you might be after. You might only find that in a mountain town, such as Mammoth, where I used to live. That might be a more similar comparison.
Again, I don't really know the Marin area that well, so maybe the hiking is good.
Santa Cruz, though undoubtably expensive, might be another option for nearby hiking.
Another possibility might be Boulder Creek(you gotta love the name!), located south of SF. and just east a bit from Santa Cruz. Redwood country, nice town, and probably good hiking.
Best o' luck!

Mammoth and other east side towns are awesome for hiking and serious mountaineering but are 5+ hours from the ocean. For an east coaster that would be about as close to the ocean as Syracuse NY or Pittsburg PA are.

Santa Cruz itself is very expensive but nearby suburbs like Scotts Valley, Boulder Creek or Felton are very affordable (my SO used to live in SV). There is indeed excellent hiking near Boulder Creek (Big Basin, Henry Cowell, Castle Rock), and Castle Rock itself offers some of the best bouldering in the Bay area. Some of the Santa Cruz suburbs, especially those in the mountains, have a hillbilly feeling; lots of cabins in the woods that are off the grid. Santa Cruz is on the north end of the Monterey Bay, which is a big plus if you like the ocean. Surfing, sailing, fishing, windsurfing, and scuba diving are popular here.

On the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains is Los Gatos, which is an interesting mix of rural farms, cute victorian houses, and wealthy CEO's estates (imagine a biker bar down the street from a Lamborghini dealership and you'll get the general idea). There is good hiking right in town there as well.

jibmaster wrote:Get in early in Covelo.
Best place to be in 20 years...

This had me chuckling for an hour. I almost got my throat cut in Covelo once. Round Valley is...rough.

Fairfax is cool, but is definitely citified. If you want rural, close to the city, close to the ocean and close to great year-round hiking and in the middle of the wine country to boot, check out Kenwood. It is surrounded by three large, wild parks (Hood Mountain, Sugarloaf and Annadel) and several smaller parks (Jack London, Sonoma Valley). Just a few minutes from Santa Rosa, yet a world away. There are several great places to eat in Kenwood, more in SR and Sonoma and the Napa Valley is just on the other side of the mountains. Moreover, for those 'in the know' the Valley of the Moon has lots of great surprises, like this waterfall:

http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=280442

Thanks again for the additional suggestions! I am checking them all out & getting psyched.

You would love Sonoma, Nevada City, Placerville, Folsom, Auburn, Jackson, Mariposa, Sonora and Calistoga. The weather in each of these towns are a little different from one another but no real extreme cold or heat. All pretty close to "city life" and pretty close to the ocean and still close to the Sierrs's. Housing prices much better in some of the towns but right now is great time to buy, so some real good deals out there. All these towns have character, great restaurants, some night life, TAVERNS, hiking, lakes.....NorCal is where it's at.

Bouldermom- how did this turn out? Did you make it out West?

The rest-

what are your thoughts on the paso robles area and proximity to hiking?

Thanks

I lived in the bay area for 10 years. Marin is beautiful, but Mt. Tam wasn't my favorite hiking spot. It gets really crowded, many of the trails cross roads, and it never feels far from traffic or tons of people. Several times I went there and the parking lot at Panther Campground was full, so we had to alter our plans. The german beer garden is amazing however. The views are nice, but on the weekends there can be streams of people on the dipsea trail. you can pass hundreds of people, many of whom have no trail etiquette.

If you want seaside and hiking, Santa Cruz is hard to beat. Big Basin, Wilder Ranch, Soquel Demo are large areas great for hiking and mtn biking. There are a ton of open spaces around there to explore.

East to West coast, eh?

Been there, done that. Here's my 2 cents, which somewhat echo what others have said...

Be prepared for housing prices.... I know some people have mentioned Santa Cruz as being expensive, but it's no more expensive than most places along the California coast. Check on zillow. As far as bike-ability, Santa Cruz is probably the most bike-centered city I've ever visited. As others have noted, you have lots of hiking in the Pogonip, Wilder Ranch, Big Basin, Forest of Nisene Marks, the list goes on and on.... Lots of redwoods... Heck, even just walking around the UCSC campus is like walking through a state park with all the redwoods and banana slugs. I don't know if you're into mountain biking, but it's also a mecca for that too. Surfing, obviously, is a huge draw. Be prepared for a mega-hippie vibe, and ultra-liberal mentality. Some say too liberal, but that's a personal thing you would have to check out yourself.

Lots of mom-and-pop restaurants, awesome bookstores (Bookshop Santa Cruz and Logos come to mind) culture, beauty, the ocean, Monterey to the south, Big Sur even further to the south.... the list goes on and on. Keep in mind though, Santa Cruz has its share of riff-raff with all the pro-homeless movements, and the nearby northern coast being somewhat of a haven for squatters. I, personally, have never felt unsafe in downtown or walking around at night down by Westcliff or the coast, but I know for some it might be a little much having people constantly asking for change, which is common in the downtown area.

My wife and I considered moving there awhile back and considered Capitola, the city just south of Santa Cruz, to be a little more wholesome, having the same vibe, but being more family oriented without the constant view of blight that pervades throughout Santa Cruz. That was our take, anyway.

As for how it compares to Mill Valley up near Mt. Tam....Mill Valley is laid back, and it has to be at least as expensive or MORE expensive than Santa Cruz, I would imagine. I really enjoy hiking up on Mt. Tam and over at Muir Woods. It's like the hills are groomed and just roll down into the coast. Looking back towards the Golden Gate....it truly is a magical place. Having San Francisco "there," but across the bridge, is a big plus, too. You can even take the ferry over, or just ride your bike over the Golden Gate and down into Sally Field, I believe it's called.

The whole Bay Area is going to be "expensive," though. Just did a quick search on zillow in both places. First hits were both 3bed 2bath, roughly 1300 sq feet, and each was right around $700k. I haven't been following the prices closely in a while, but I think that sounds about right. (With some places being more and some being less, obviously).

Another thing you might want to be prepared for are California's school system... Where to begin? Let me say this... I have friends living in Boston and New York, and in both places the public school systems... well, they wouldn't want to send their kids. That being said, in many places in California, the nicer areas tend to steer the wealthier children towards private schools. There are some GREAT public schools out there in certain areas, but this is something you would have to check on. Could be an added cost, depending on where you want to be. Prices for parochial schools vary from $500/kid/month, to some private schools having tuition of $30k/student/year. Definitely something to consider when choosing an area to live. I don't know its exact ranking right now, but the last time I checked CA was ranked either 49th or 50th out of all the states in per student spending...

Lastly, as others have stated, I just don't think you're going to find the hiking of Boulder in a California coastal town. Will you find hiking out your back door? Yes, absolutely. Lots of it. Just don't expect the Rockies or any type of shimmering granite peaks. It will be more forested and rolling, if you know what I mean. You will ALSO have surfing, kayaking, California's WEATHER, and all the joys the coast has to offer.

Don't know if you're into snowboarding, but expect 5+ hours to get to anywhere decent (like Tahoe) from either Mill Valley or Santa Cruz (from SC probably 6+).

With all that said, would I move from Boston to CA's central coast?

In an f'n heartbeat!

Good luck,

Gusto