What I Love (and Don't) About Living on the Monterey Peninsula

Firstly, I love working with out-of-area clients! It brings me so much joy to introduce you to my adopted hometown. As a transplant who's spent time on the East Coast and the Midwest, it is easy for me to empathize with you and decipher what you should know and what you'll appreciate about living here. So here's my honest list - the parts that keep me in AWE, and the parts that make me say UGH. If you're thinking about a move to the Peninsula, I hope this helps you go in with eyes open.

What I Love

The terrain. Ocean, redwood forest, and mountains, all within a short drive of each other. I genuinely think we have the best terrain in the country. You can be standing in the middle of a riparian redwood forest and then watching the sun dip into the ocean from a mountaintop within the same hour - regardless of your physical abilities.

The weather. With the mild Mediterrean climate, our windows are open nine months out of the year. The other three months, we're cozying up next to a fireplace or heatlamp (and still dining outdoors!).

The wardrobe: Because of the climate, you have one year-round wardrobe. (SNL fans: Sweata weatha!) I love the simplicity of one simple wardrobe, full of pieces I actually love, and wear it year round. No need to keep a storage bin of seasonal clothes in rotation. You're able to buy less and better quality.

Community & belonging. This is a small-town place, in the best sense. I co-lead a weekly walking group where we're working our way through every public street in Pacific Grove, one at a time, and it's turned into one of the easiest ways I know to make real friends here. Between walking groups, book clubs, and running into the same faces at the farmers market, it doesn't take long before people actually know your name. It's the kind of belonging that's harder to come by in bigger cities.

Salad bowl of the world. We're surrounded by some of the freshest produce anywhere. Greens, broccoli, mushrooms, strawberries, blueberries, you name it. When you visit loved ones in other parts of the country, you're going to taste the difference (i.e., everything is fresher here)! Plus, we have year-round farmers markets, with one happening nearby nearly every day of the week. It's hard to eat badly with produce this fresh.

Outdoor activities. Hiking is my favorite (if you've read my blog before, you know how I feel about a good trail), but scuba diving, kayaking, running, mountain biking, and golf are all world class here too. We host world class events for a lot of these sports.

Quality of life. Related to above - healthy living isn't something you have to seek out here, it's just part of daily life. Hiking, yoga and pilates classes, biking, and time outdoors fit naturally into a normal week instead of feeling like something you have to carve out and protect. On top of that, there's a real creative scene, working artists, galleries, and hands-on studios (I make stained glass art at one right here in Pacific Grove) that make it easy to pick up something new.

The laidback demeanor. This isn't Beverly Hills or Silicon Valley - thankfully. It's relaxed everywhere you go. Show up in a Patagonia fleece and you'll fit in just about anywhere.

Free events. When I moved here from Washington, DC, I worried I'd get bored. I couldn't have been more wrong. In addition the outdoor activities above, there are events every weekend, and a lot of them are free.

Wildlife. We live right along a marine protected area, and it shows. You can watch whales migrate nearly year-round without ever stepping on a boat, explore the tide pools at low tide, and watch sea otters float by just off the coast every day. And of course, in Pacific Grove and areas of Monterey, the deer are everywhere!

What I Don't Love

Healthcare access. The national doctor shortage is very much a local doctor shortage. A lot of doctors have retired here in recent years, and not enough new ones have moved in to replace them. A client recently told me (Sept 2026) that the wait for a primary care doctor at Montage Health is now over a year! It's pretty quick to find some specialty physicians, like a gynecologist, dentist, or optometrist while others, like a dermatologist, are more challenging. The good news is we have excellent walk-in clinics and a local health system (Montage Medical Group/CHOMP) should you have an emergency, plus Stanford Medicine about 90 minutes away. Once you're in with your care, you're so good! My honest advice: the moment you know you're moving here, get on a waitlist for a PCP and ask around for other physician recommendations. Don't wait until you need one.

The restaurant scene. Admittedly, it's improved A LOT since we moved here, so give it a few more years, and just maybe I can omit this section. However, a lot of restaurants here are built for tourists, not locals, and the prices reflect that without always delivering on quality. We have a handful of places we love (including no shortage of incredible pastry shops), but only a few we frequent regularly. The silver lining: it pushed us to cook at home far more than we ever did before, and we eat healthier for it, with plenty of local organic produce and seafood.

Home renovation permits & water. You want to buy a fixer-upper and do the work yourself? Great, you can do that - but first you have to deal with the arduous process of getting permits. If you're considering a home that needs renovation or an addition, call the Planning Department of the city and ask questions. Some things, like plumbing work, you may be able to get a same-day, over-the-counter permit. Other things, like electrical, may take a week. For whole home projects, I don't want you to be surprised if permitting takes 9 months! Lastly, I have to mention water credits: Every fixture has an associated credit(s). If you want to add a fixture, you'll not only need a permit, you'll need to buy the fixture credit - if the jurisdiction has credits for sale. (Water credits is a topic for a separate blog post.)

The cost of living. If you've gotten this far, you probably already know this. Housing, utilities, groceries... most everything is expensive, and a lot of people who work here can't afford to live here, so they end up commuting in. Everyone who works on this Peninsula should be able to afford to call it home.

Summary

You can imagine what I'm about to say: The Monterey Peninsula is the most magical place to call home in the United States. If I have to live in the US, I only want to live here. But we're not perfect (we're just in a continous state of improvement, right? :)). If you're weighing a move here, I'm always happy to talk through what life is really like day to day, not just what you see on a weekend visit.

Thanks for reading!

Ashley