Subjectively I find areas surrounding Monterey Bay very pleasant, which includes places like Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Pebble Beach; but also on the other side Santa Cruz and its suburbs. It's expensive, but you're close to the coast, surrounded by greenery and potentially redwoods, and are reasonably close to SV/SF without having to contend with it daily. Though traffic is a challenge, it's within plausible commuting distance of SV.<p>If you're looking for somewhere a little more removed from major activity centers, the extended San Luis Obispo area including Morro Bay and Pismo Beach is decent, and you're nearly equidistant from both LA and SF, about 3-4 hours away. It's outside of commuting distance, but well-within daytrip distance.<p>I happen to be enamored with San Diego too, but it's all the way down at one end of the state, and it's two hours closer to Phoenix than to San Francisco. If you're looking for centrality, you won't find that there, but the city is lovely, and it's a functional metro with good jobs and a large military presence.<p>Edit: Bay Area peripheries like Santa Rosa (in the north) and Gilroy/Morgan Hill/Hollister in the south, maybe Tracy/Stockton in the east, are probably a good compromise, but other than striking a balance between affordable and not-too-far from SF/SV, are not too compelling in their own right.<p>Edit: Coastward LA periphery cities like Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Oxnard, are quiet, shaded, suburban, but also pricey. LA traffic is a nightmare; you're 'on paper' within reach of LA, but don't bet on it.<p>Other than possibly Sacramento, I don't find the Central Valley particularly appealing. The cost of living is lower, but with the exception of Sacramento and Bakersfield, none of the valley cities project a strong sense of place; this applies to the desert exurbs like Palmdale and Victorville too, except for maybe Palm Springs.<p>Every other area of the state is on the periphery and you're too far away from major employment centers to be a useful place to make a living in the general case.