Just some generalizations from my experience:
The towns right on the coast are all fairly liberal and hippy-ish. The town of mendocino has a more upscale feel to it compared to the others - galleries, cafes, victorian inns, lots of tourists. Fort Bragg is not too different, but has more redneck population mixed in (loggers, fishermen). (I don't mean that to be insulting, just trying to explain). A couple of towns south of mendocino (town) that I lived in are Albion and Elk. They're nice if you want space. The houses are all on land and spaced out - you won't find regular neighborhoods. Both of those towns don't have much - just a little store and a post office. Like the rest of the area, you'll find a good mix of redneck and hippies out there (and, I'm sure, quit a few people growing). In the end, there just wasn't enough going on around there (jobs, seeing bands, etc.), so I headed to the next county up (humboldt) - bigger cities, but still lots of open space if you want it.