I'm sure some will say I'm crazy for even considering this, but I've kinda been kicking around the idea of moving to SoCal, doing the LAX thing. Climate, recreation opportunities are big draws for me.

For any of you guys that live there presently, can you recommend locations/areas that are within reasonable commuting time/distance and also halfway affordable for FO level of income? (yr 12 FO, yay)

Would like to buy a single family home, prefer to avoid condo/townhome. The metro area is obviously a huge area, and kinda daunting to break down and analyze. No kids, so schools don't really matter.

Any info much appreciated, and I'm probably junior to almost everybody based there now, so don't be holding back!