Bay Area cardrooms, when do they get hard?

[Chazbot2000]

I'm in the bay area for a few months and have been trying out the local cardrooms. 3-6 was very soft so I stepped up to 6-12. 6-12 players were indistinguishable from 3-6 players. 80% of them are just gamblers who don't feel like making the drive to Tahoe. I've been averaging 3.5 bb/hour irrespective of the limit.

I know I'm not that good a poker player and I'd prefer to win easily off fishies than struggle against good players. So how high a limit can I step up to before I start running into tight or skillful play? I've heard talk that even the 20-40 game is full of gamblers. Is this true?

Also, California cardrooms have a reputation as being particularly soft. How much should I lower my stakes if I went to Vegas (in other words, 10-20 in Cali equals 4-8 in Vegas) or AC?

Thanks in advance for the advice.