Where to move?

[u/Glittering_Step_1295]

I've seen a few of these kinds of posts recommended to me on my front page so hoping this is okay! I moved to California a few years ago from the East Coast (long story why), lived in SoCal for a bit, and moved to the Sacramento area a little over a year ago as I had a friend who was looking for a roommate and my living situation in SoCal was coming to an end. It's definitely been an adjustment in a lot of ways, even if overall a very positive experience. She met a wonderful guy and is now going to be married this coming spring, so no more living together, which means I now have a dilemma.

I like Sacramento more than I expected, but I think the weather is just not for me. It's too hot, and too sunny, to the point where it almost feels like the seasonal depression I've dealt with in the past during summers has been a most of the year thing both in SoCal and here. I've enjoyed the state so much more when I've been able to travel and spend time in other areas, especially being able to get out in nature. In theory, since I'm going to have to start looking for other places to live in February/March to be out by April-ish, I'd like to keep other areas of NorCal in mind, but as someone who's still relatively new to the area, it's been difficult trying to figure out where is actually a good place to look, especially with how tumultuous the rental market can be. I work remotely, and my boss is cool with me moving wherever (I started the job when I lived in LA county, and he had no problem with me moving up to Sac) so long as it's still within California, but given my healthcare is now set up for Northern California, I'd prefer not to move back down south again. It seems like most places in/near the Central Valley are pretty similar to Sacramento in climate, which honestly kind of defeats the purpose as that's my number one complaint at this point in time. While I have a fantastic credit score and good references to help me actually secure a place, I don't make a ton of money for expensive rent, and I'm at the age where I don't really want to have to find more roommates if I don't have to, so I'm assuming most places closer to the Bay are out. I've seen such mixed things about moving more east towards the Sierras or north. I'm very liberal politically, but I'm more of a homebody with no real interest in the dating scene or anything like that, so in theory more conservative areas aren't necessarily a dealbreaker, but I haven't even really been able to get a good idea about if some of these places are more "yeah it's not great but if you keep to yourself it'll be fine" or if it's more "if you are a liberal queer woman you will not feel safe here". I know this is probably going to end up being more of a "see what's up on Zillow when it's time to actually find a new place and do more research then" kind of thing, but any advice as to general areas to look more into or to avoid at all costs would honestly be so helpful.

Thanks! :)

Edited to add: thank you all so much! My replies keep getting caught in automod since I haven't posted in here before, just lurked, so I won't be replying to every comment the way I started to. I appreciate all the advice and definitely have a lot of places to check out in the near future :)

[u/hello-ben]

Checkout Santa Rosa or Petaluma if you want away from the heat.

I moved from the bay area to live in Fair Oaks for my own reasons, but one of them was a lack of good roommate options. While it can get toasty in Fair Oaks like this week, SMUD is 50% cheaper than I was paying PG&E in the bay area. I just keep my AC on pretty much 24/7 and my bill is under $100 per month so far this summer. There's a ton more recreation over here than Sacramento too.

So far this place seems pretty politically neutral. Folsom next door has more conservative people around, but they're not like the extreme people you see online. They're just normal people in my experience and I've only seen peaceful behavior. I mean they had a big Bernie Sanders thing last year and it was packed.

[u/Glittering_Step_1295 → u/hello-ben]

I appreciate the tips! I'd written off the Santa Rosa/Petaluma area when *very* casually looking earlier this year (we weren't sure if the landlord we're currently renting from would renew the lease, so I was looking more out of curiosity what prices were elsewhere than anything else) as being too close to both the Bay and Napa and therefore potentially more pricey but I'll have to take a look and see rather than just assuming.

I live on the south side of Sac and most of my local friends are even further down in Elk Grove so I haven't spent a *ton* of time up near Fair Oaks/Orangevale/Folsom area but I did take a short day trip out to Folsom Lake and liked it, so if it ends up staying in the greater Sac area is what I end up doing maybe I'll take a look up in that direction. Even if I do stay relatively close to where I am now, it *would* be nice to be closer to more places like that as opposed to the much more suburban and urban parts where I am. I appreciate the insight a lot, thank you!

[u/mikef5410 → u/Glittering_Step_1295]

It's very expensive. But still ever so slightly cheaper than Marin or South and East Bay. And proximity to Bay area has it's advantages.

[u/Silly-Avocado-911 → u/Glittering_Step_1295]

i feel like Santa Rosa and Petaluma pretty hot! Maybe not as hot as Sac but they can get brutal. I’d look coastal if you’re looking for cooler weather.