The process of deciding where to move was designed to slowly evaluate places that we would like to live by first considering 8 criteria:
1. weather - it had to be temperate, we're done with heat and Toni didn't want to see snow or temperatures below freezing
2. culture - there had to be arts, music, theatre
3. city hood - it had to be a city, we don't want to live in some forgotten place in a county
4. small town - the city needed to be small but not rural small
5. California - I fought hard to move to North Berwick, Scotland but Toni only wanted to live in California
6. beach - getting back to the coast was a priority (North Berwick is right on the Firth of Forth)
7. lifestyle - we wanted an informal but upscale environment where we could wear anything and feel comfortable
8. close to friends and family - and a place we feel we can contribute and become connected with the community
To be fair to Toni, she was very happy in Fair Oaks and when I proposed the idea of moving she gave me the evil eye. Yes, blame me for the origination of the idea. My original idea was to find a place like Aspen, where I lived in the early '70s. I've always wanted the great feeling to live in a small town with sophistication and culture in an semi-wildnerness setting that just felt great to be apart of. It didn't matter if you sitting in a restaurant or in a lodge or walking down the street or waiting for your car to be fixed or in a dental office . . . . . you just knew that right outside, close by was natural wonder and style. A special place on the planet that gives you one reason to be happy you're alive. After expressing my concerns about continuing our life in the Sacramento area (Fair Oaks specifically) she agreed and we began the search.
The original list of places included (in no special order):
Sun River, OR ! Healdsburg, CA ! Santa Barbara, CA ! Nipomo, CA (The Trilogy Life Project) ! North San Diego County (Encinitas or Del Mar)
Carson City/Genoa, NV ! Pacific Grove, CA ! East Sacramento, CA (or a condo downtown) ! Long Beach, CA (downtown loft or condominium)
Needless to say there were a couple of places that weren't in CA or weren't temperate (those were my ideas) and we're quickly struck down. I'll never forget the time we set aside to look at Carson City-Genoa. We planned on spending the weekend but made our decision during a 5 hour loop through Reno to Genoa and back down to Fair Oaks via Hwy 50. Toni saw a sign on 395 near Carson City that said "chains required" and that was it.
I thought the idea of moving to North Berwick was unique and living in Scotland would be great fun. We have friends there and NB is as quaint a little city as you could ask for but Toni thought it was a bit too far for her to visit her sisters and brother . . . . I said, "heck, they'd love to come visit." I also proposed Aspen (actually Basalt) and Incline Village but again, they do have snow there . . . . nope. So here are our thoughts on the various places we considered and how we came to choosing San Luis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nipomo (Trilogy Life Central Coast) is what really got us thinking about "active adult communities". We had looked at places like Leisure World, Del Webb, etc and said NO, that's not for us. Then Toni found Trilogy and it looked and felt different. We visited the Rio Vista Trilogy Community and liked the concept but Rio Vista is not where we wanted to be so we investigated other Trilogy Communities. We found that the Central Coast was going to be in the San Luis Obispo area and we were very intrigued. Nipomo is not San Luis Obispo but a city about 20 minutes south. Interestingly, we know the Sheas from our friends the Hacketts in Newport Beach. Shea Homes is the developer of Trilogy. We're still watching it come together, they are building the golf course now and should have model homes within a few months.
Long Beach (downtown) is really going through a revitalization. My brother Andy and his wife Helene live there and they are very proud of the new look of downtown. Lofts, high rise condos, hotels, restaurants, Metro to the LAX and downtown LA, etc. We checked out a condo on the water and a loft and were very interested but eventually decided that being in the thick of Southern California congestion was too much.
Encinitas-Del Mar-Leucadia is a place we've always enjoyed hanging out (La Jolla is even better but price was a factor there). Surfing, beach lifestyle, and many friends but just too crowded.
Pacific Grove, CA is where my sister Susie and husband Vic lived for many years. We used to stay with them in their condo and discovered early that PG was not Carmel or Monterey but this quaint little city is quiet but a tourist attraction. Surfing at Asilomar, great restaurants, easy access to Carmel and Pebble Beach, great golf courses and not far from a major airport in San Jose. PG was my choice right up to the end but everything we saw in the way of housing was a "project" for remodeling and we aren't into that anymore.
Sun River, OR is a place neither of us had ever been to. This was one of my ideas because we know people who have raved about how neat it is there. I talked at length with real estate people there and became enamored with Sun River without ever going there. And everything you read about the place is great but then I found out that it does snow there during the winter - gone!
East Sacramento (the Fabulous 40's) is an area that if we had known it was there when we originally moved to the Sacramento we would have chosen to live. Great atmosphere, old Pasadena style homes, close to downtown and restaurants and galleries. We always said that when we came down to a final choice away from Sacramento, we would then make comparisons between East Sac and wherever. We realized that there are many great things about Sacramento that we'll miss and friends. But we pretty much decided when it got down to PG and SLO that we were out of here no matter what.
Santa Barbara, CA is so quintessential California small beach community with sophistication and wealth and great weather. How could anyone not want to live in SB. Toni and I visited our friends in Hope Ranch (La Cumbre CC) to get our first feel of what it might be like to live in SB. We were introduced to the San Roque' area which is just like East Sac or old Pasadena and we were entranced by the idea of living in SB. One problem, we could never find a house to rent so we could "live" there for a week to test the place.
Healdsburg is in Sonoma County, which has been one of my favorite California areas. The redwoods, the coast, wine country, rural but sophisticated living is all available in Healdsburg. The Russian River flows through town and there's steelhead and salmon fly fishing (I am concerned about not being close to a river to fly fish in San Luis Obispo County). We have friends who live there and could see ourselves easily integrating into the community. The downtown square of Healdsburg is the classic "heart of a little city" that I have been looking for (down San Luis is pretty good too). But Toni found out that they get a lot of rain there and it's further away from our families in So Cal.
The Final Four were Healdsburg, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Pacific Grove. We decided to go and live in each place (not stay in a hotel but actually rent a house and live there and get a feel for it).
We rented a house in Pismo Beach, then we stayed in my friend Bill Dick's house in Healdsburg while he was in Hawaii, we couldn't find a house to rent in Santa Barbara and used our experience at the AT&T and on another weekend with our friends George and Sally Harris who have a home in Carmel Valley to get as acquainted with Pacific Grove as we could.
After all of that, we listed our choices top to bottom, Toni's fourth place was Healdsburg and mine was Santa Barbara so we tossed them out and concentrated on PG and SLO.
It was hard for me to let Healdsburg go but what really happened was that Toni was willing to let Santa Barbara go if I would let Healdsburg go . . . . done.
We rented a house in Morro Bay and our friends Ken and Bobbi Hunter drove up for dinner from Santa Ynez and we had dinner with the Hertens and were driven around town by Beverly James . . . . we felt really good about SLO. Then we drove up Hwy 1 and spent the night in Pacfic Grove in a B&B. Toni really wanted SLO and I wanted her to be happy as if she's happy, then I'm happy . . . . so SLO it is.
Well, that's how we came to making our decision.
San Luis Obispo has the best weather in California. It's a college town so there are lots to do and energy everywhere. We have friends there and are making new ones with every visit. There is surfing, golf, art, music, walking and biking, horses, Big Sur, AmTrak, slowgrowth and scenic beauty everywhere. Between Shell Beach and Atascadero, we have so many choices of where to eventually settle each with their own personalities and attributes . . . . there are many micro-climates there. From windy to foggy to sunny to just right. We've been visiting San Luis for 25 years and almost moved there back in '79 when our friend Dr. Jeff Herten moved to See Canyon.
Things we'll miss : the American River, being close to Lake Tahoe, The Palms Playhouse, The B Street Theatre, Oaks Hardware, Mather Golf Course, Family Fitness, Aleia's Pilatees, the "Sisters of the Sorority of Sweat", Riverview Elementary Faculty and Friends, our yard at 4809 Chicago Ave and of course, all of our friends and family in the Sacramento area . . . . but no matter what, we'll know we'll always be friends and family . . . . so come visit us in San Luis Obispo.
Epilogue (Nov 2007)
We rented a house in the Los Osos Valley for a year and really like the area so decided to look closer at homes to purchase in the area. In June, by pure luck, I found a house for sale that had been completely remodeled and sat on the prime lot on Laguna Lake which had it's own dock. We moved in and couldn't be happier.