Evening star., 1953-06-14
CALIFORNIA.
mrs. r. s., Falls Church.

Mrs. c. r. c., Washington:
To describe California ade-
quately and without prejudice
is rather difficult for me. My
husband and I are both ma
tive Californians, have lived
in Washington and Oregon
the past year, will be in this
vicinity for another year or
so and can hardly wait until
we can return to the Golden
State" to settle permanently.
Our main reason is the factor
you are interested in-better
climate.
We are hoping to settle in
Santa Barbara as it is fairly
small. about $4,000. has both
the ocean and mountains and
is ideal for raising a family.
However, there is little large
scale industry there so it
might be wise to check on oc-
cupational opportunities be-
forehand. Both in this town
and throughout California. I
believe you will find the aver
age cost Of living is lower
than it is back here. This ap-
plies to rentals, home pur-
chases, food (produce especi-
ally). and clothing. The lat
ter is not much lower, If at
all, but you can still find q
complete cost range.
II you prefer large cities
there are. of course, Los An
geles and San Francisco. The
latter is extremely crowded
as far as housing goes, but
innumerable persons live on
the peninsula -. a stretch
going south from the city
for about 80 miles and cov-
cred with small cities and
towns, and commute to work.
One Of these towns is Palo
Alto which adjoinS Stanford
University. It is very pretty
and quiet and largely popu-
lated by professors and re-
tired couples. Unlike Berke-
ley, which is the seat of the
University of California, Palo
Alto is not completely a "col-
lege town.. The number of
students is comparatively
small and they spend most
of their free time in San Fran
cisco. The climate in Palo
Alto is very nice and mild.
Berkeley. a much larger city
and hilly, has heavy winter
morning sometimes all day.
fogs. This is true of almost the
ertire bay area. Living on the
peninsula will be slightly more
expensive. house or rental
wise, than across The bay in
Berkeley. Richmond or Oak
land. However, besides the bet
ter climate, you will not have
the congestion that the latter
towns do have. Los Angeles is
about the same as San Fran
cisco in terms of being crowd
ed. There are many suburbs
OF the former, however, where
one can be very comfortable.
Pasadena is just one of many.
The L. A. area, as you may
have heard, Is noted for its
Smog that is terrible,
although there may have been
some corrections in the past
year. This smog is not in the
suburbs, however.
If you prefer a hot, dry (not
humid as it is here) climate,
you could settle in any of the
central valleys. The most
southerly valleys are a little
too warm, but around Bakers
field it is fairly nice. One
thing, anywhere on the Coast,
1t always coolS down in the
evening so you can be assured
OF a decent nights sleep. It
does cool down in the VAL
leys, but during the summer
months. this does not happen
until quite late at night. In
cidentally. on the Coast di-
rectly below San Francisco
different from the peninsula
towns mentioned above) you
can count on a large amount
Of fog. It usually burns off
about noon but is fairly con-
slant. Fresno, Stockton and
Sacramento are fairly good
sized cities and, being In the
valley. do have the hot sum-
mer heat. If you do like the
hot, dry heat and prefer a
smaller town, PaSa Robles,
about midway between San
Francisco and Los Angeles
might interest you.
Regarding Washington and
Oregon. II you like rain, by all
means settle there! The year.
round greennesS you have back
here is found in both States
and 1t is because of the ample