I'm not Californian but I will offer my input as I've been there 4x in my life.
I can mostly tell you about San Francisco and San Jose (Silicon Valley). San Francisco's weather can change on a dime and this is because of the San Francisco Bay. While in San Francisco, refer to it as "San Francisco" or "The City"....if you call it Frisco or San Fran, everyone will know you're a tourist (or from elsewhere!). San Francisco is fairly expensive and it can be tough to find a reasonably priced place where to live. Also, SF has homeless people like you wouldn't believe so if this is something that bothers you, I wouldn't recommend SF. The weather can be chilly in the summer (this is not suntanning and Beach Boys territory, but it can get hot, if it is not windy), but SF has great ammentities and night life. Also, as far as big cities go, I would say it is fairly safe...just avoid the neighbourhood known as "Tenderloin"....it is very scarey and rough!
San Jose (and surrounding areas): the heart of Silicon Valley. This is about 30 miles South of San Francisco and the climate is quite different. They used to have fruit orchards here, so the weather is hot and sunny. There isn't a lot of character to San Jose as it is a lot of business parks thanks to all the computer companies. Nicer cities are Redwood City, Palo Alto (Stanford Univ. is here!) and so on. San Jose and its surrounding areas have a high housing cost, thanks to all the I.T. firms in the area.
Los Angeles: I went to Disneyland when I was little so I don't remember much. I do remember going to Newport Beach and that it was lovely.
The only thing I would say about California is that it is probably one of the more expensive states to live in. But it is beautiful, the people are laid back and forward thinking. A lot of "trends" start out in California, like step aerobics, Tae-Bo that kind of thing. Californians are legendary for being the first to pioneer something.
If my Canadian citizenship thing wasn't an issue, I would be in California in 2 seconds!
You'll love it!!
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