Anonymous wrote:In southern CA I would recommend northern San Diego County like Carlsbad ot Fallbrook. In northern California I would do chico area or auburn area outside of sacramento.

+1 it's not near the coast and a bit of a drive to Sacramento but my parents used to live in a gated lake/golf community in Auburn. Nice community with a lot of recreation and right next to an excellent, small high school

https://www.greatschools.org/california/grass-valley/3557-Bear-River-High-School/
https://www.lop.org/

Near the coast, you can't do better than San Luis Obispo but it is pricey.

CA is too darned expensive. But if I could go anywhere—Carmel By The Sea. Or, perhaps more reasonably, Monterey.