bhs coach wrote:
I'm surprised the replies are so negative. I've lived here over 10 years and I can't say enough great things about the area. Let me address some of the other posts.
Airport-you will get through security in less than 5 minutes every time you fly and you can easily and affordably fly to other major hubs such as SF, LA, Phoenix or San Diego. I love flying back into Monterey Airport and being home in less than 20 minutes rather than an hour from San Jose.
Traffic-Really? It won't be anything like Bay Area or LA traffic. There is some slowing in and out of Monterey at certain times but plenty of ways to circumvent it. Given Highway 1 and Highway 101 are the main travel arteries you do sometimes have to consider back-ups over Highway 17 or along 101 usually by Gilroy/San Martin. You can get to San Jose in less than an hour and SF in less than 2 hours most days/times.
Weather-Mediterranean climate means never too hot or too cold. We get the rare 90-100 degree heat wave and maybe a cold spell in the 30's but count on very few a year. Average daily temperature in the high 60's with on-shore breeze almost daily. It is when the wind stays off shore that it can get hot but its not the norm.
Running-Healthy amount of local races highlighted by the Big Sur Marathon and Monterey Bay Half Marathon. Other local gems include the Salinas Valley Half Marathon, Together With Love 5k/10k along the ocean. There's a new Pebble Beach Half Marathon coming soon to the area as well. Small gem races include the San Juan Bautista Mission 10 Mile, Rio Resolution Run in Carmel. There's two great running stores The Treadmill and a Fleet Feet. Trails are in abundance with the Fort Ord National Monument containing over 80 miles of dirt roads and singletrack trails. Toro County Park has 20 miles of trails. The Monterey Bay Coastal Trail is perfect for long marathon training runs or tempos stretching 18 miles in one direction. You can get daily access to tracks at Hartnell College in Salinas, Monterey Peninsula College, CSU Monterey Bay (in bad shape), and some of the local high schools during designated hours. I used to do night workouts in the dark at Monterey HS as it wasn't locked at night. There are two main running clubs in the area. The Wednesday Night Laundry Runners and the Salinas Valley Elite Running Club. Both have websites.
Food-As with any new city go to where the locals go and avoid the tourist traps or at least get those off your bucketlist rightaway.
Nightlife-Getting better. New breweries are popping up in Monterey such as the Alvarado Street Brewing Company. You can visit the old standby's such as the Crown & Anchor and Brittannia Arms.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about the area or need to get connected with other runners. Monterey is a great place to live and run!