City In California for my novel to be set in.?

I'm writing a novel about vampires and was hoping to find the perfect. So far the only place I know much about is Cali, but I don't know much about each individual city. I was hoping to find a city at has a large choice of nightlife, but also back roads. Like where you drive to outskirts of the city and find large private lots with land. I don't care if there up in the hills of California, they just need to be private lots. Please help?