Oregon, Northern California?

[ohthejosh]

^ Yes Berkeley.

15mins away from the city. 30mins with traffic at its worst. You have trails all over. UC Berkeley is there, lively town. Lots of weed lol. Emeryville is one exit or so away and you can get what you need without travelling a long distance.

Berkeley does have a beach but they are next to the water of the bay. A marina is near by also. Fishing or hiking/bike trails are real close by. Public transportation here in the bay is extremely good in my opinion. They all run as per written schedules, rarely bad delays due to anything really.

[Jon325i]

As a native NorCal resident who has visited places like Portland (several times), the bay area (too many times to count) and SoCal (a number of times), Monkey pretty much nailed it as far as what each place has to offer and what living there could be like. The one point a really concur with is finding a job BEFORE you get here. California's economy is still lagging behind many other areas in the country, and finding work can be tough right now. The bay area seems to be doing better than Sacramento......we have 3 suburb communities which took some of the biggest hits nationwide in the real estate market, that seems to be the boat anchor that still keeps us from moving forward.

If you're looking to move out here and set some roots, really do your research and get that job first before you make any serious committments re: relocation.

Good luck! :)

Jon

[Wschnitz]

I also forgot to mention, Most BMW's 20 years and older don't need emissions in WA.

Oregon you have to deal with gas pumping.

California has gay emission laws.

[absolutdog]

^^
I HATED having some pump jockey touch my bimmer EVERYTIME i wanted to fill up, I almost started to drive to WA just to pay more for gas

[Cliche Guevara]

Eugene has breweries but their beer is awful (Ninkasi).

The fuck? Ninkasi, Falling Sky, Oakshire, and Hop Valley all make some delicious beers.

Another great thing about Eugene is that you never have to smog your car. Ever.

[1987E30project]

Go to Portland right now. It is beautiful.... you will fall in love with the city. Then in a couple of months the grey curtain will pull over your head for 9 months. You will be thankful there are all those breweries. Seriously the way to do it is live in Portland but fly to a warm sunny place for a few weeks until summer comes back. My 2 cents.

[bddog]

Seattle is so much better than Portland and has an awesome University.

The Universities in Oregon are at Corvallis and Eugene. I am partial to Corvallis, having gone to OSU . Eugene is larger, with more going on. Both are good schools.

Chico ,CA is cool. Playboy always rates it amongst the best party schools. Very nice town.
Just down the Columbia River from Portland is Longview, WA. A great place to live and build a home. Try a lot with a view of the river.

Redding is nice, especially if you boat on Shasta , Whiskey Town , or Claire Engle Lakes. The area has changed in the last few years, for the better.

Good luck wherever you choose! Sounds like a great adventure.