Santa Rosa safe to live or crime/drug riddled? (Santa Ana: credit, house)

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by santarosa1

South Santa Rosa is actually very safe, I grew up in Santa Rosa and its south neighboring city (Rohnert Park) and have rarely seen any gang members in the streets, most of the time they are 12 year old fakes, the most crime you would have to watch out for would be people addicted to meth, which you would see far more often then gangs.

Its relatively safe if you're used to living in higher crime areas... I'm assuming the OP is not. Otherwise, its not like its North Richmond. Its more like East Redwood City.

[mrcook]

Thanks everyone for the replies, you're right. Nothing to worry about I have another Dilemma which I'll post about shortly.

[jdog707]

The crime isnt that bad but in some parts you will find trouble. Just stay away from west ninth, roseland, apple valley and the indian village. Also places like west third and hearn ave have been known to have trouble.

[Javier A]

Originally Posted by mrcook

I just got back from Santa Rosa this weekend and everything seemed like a go for relocating to there until I did a little research on crime statistics in the area.

I'm coming from Aliso Viejo, CA where there is generally little to no worry about anything bad happening (theft, robbery, assault, etc.). After reading statistics on here the crime rate in Santa Rosa is about 4 times that of AV. Not that I'm some scared, I just don't want to worry about my son/wife being out on their own, etc.

Also when we stopped to stay at a motel in Petaluma on the way up there was pretty much a meth dealer working from one of the rooms all night and I was told petaluma is more high-end than Santa Rosa...

After reading these articles:
Santa Rosa Man Arrested With Marijuana, Meth, Shrooms and $55K Cash - News Story - KTVU San Francisco
West Santa Rosa drug bust nets cocaine, heroin, meth | PressDemocrat.com
Meth bust in Cotati, Sebastopol valued over $1 million | PressDemocrat.com

I feel like I might be moving into some sort of meth/drug haven? Can anyone comment to above?

Thanks,
Mr C.

Honestly I lived in Roseland for eight years and yes it is a bad nieghborhood. There was gunshots there almost every night and im talkin about machine guns! Im from the east coast and they got gangs out there too but not compared to SR.I guesse the biggest difference between east coast gangs and west coast gangs is that they are more organized in the west. they have a chain of command that goes all the way up to the prison system with prison gangs like the Mexican Mafia controlling soldiers/gangmembers on the streets.They also have rules They also have rules they have to fallow for instence innocent people cannot be targeted but that rule gets very flexible if you decide to rat on them. I never got into the gang stuff but almost all my nieghbors were Sureños (A California hispanic gang) and apperantly they are at war with a nighboring sureño gang on the southern border of roseland over drug turf. about a week or two before i left they killed someone right on the corner of my street just for walking by. Dont get me wrong Im sure he was a rival or somthing but they never cought the killer/killers I couldnt help but thinking it was one of my nieghbors. Any way thank god Im back in Florida were its nice and safe.

If I were you I would not move into Roseland you will not get any good sleep( Gangsters come out at nite full force to patroll ther streets. )

[the city]

It's a good city. It has it's bad part, but has alot of nice parts and NICE parts. Lotsa traffic though for a 2 way freeway.

[heartfocus]

I lived there for 6 months in Santa Rosa and enjoyed it very much, but that city had more ambulance sirens than any place I've ever lived! The cops are pretty scary there, too. I saw 5 cop cars playing around late at night like they just owned the place.

This place is terrible if you are on benefits and are poor. They only give Section 8 to veterans, and the Social Security office will treat you like sh*t in the back office. I could not live there under such severe authoritarianism.

[CyanideThistles]

this is old and it was bumped it but I will reply.

Originally Posted by heartfocus

I lived there for 6 months in Santa Rosa and enjoyed it very much, but that city had more ambulance sirens than any place I've ever lived! The cops are pretty scary there, too. I saw 5 cop cars playing around late at night like they just owned the place.

This place is terrible if you are on benefits and are poor. They only give Section 8 to veterans, and the Social Security office will treat you like sh*t in the back office. I could not live there under such severe authoritarianism.

There are a lot of poor people in SR, especially the large Hispanic population here, living in poverty, and I would say it is not really terrible for them. however, living in some impoverished areas is not really healthy and obviously depressing but even those places are not crime riddled or as dangerous as one might say. Santa Rosa I'd say is more of a working class city, with a lot of labor jobs but also many people who work for the wineries around the county, tourism, and many of the other jobs for hospitals or the Santa Rosa City Schools. There's not a lot of engineering jobs or really professional jobs like that especially compared to other parts of the country.

Originally Posted by the city

It's a good city. It has it's bad part, but has alot of nice parts and NICE parts. Lotsa traffic though for a 2 way freeway.

The nice parts being Fountaingrove, Skyhawk, Brush Creek Rd area, etc. Those are some of the best places to live, but Fountaingrove definitely being the #1 place. However, many people don't like the "really nice" parts of Santa Rosa like Fountaingrove/Skyhawk/Brush Creek/Rincon Valley area because there is not much diversity, and that makes it a bit of an overwhelming place to live.

Originally Posted by Javier A

Honestly I lived in Roseland for eight years and yes it is a bad nieghborhood. There was gunshots there almost every night and im talkin about machine guns! Im from the east coast and they got gangs out there too but not compared to SR.I guesse the biggest difference between east coast gangs and west coast gangs is that they are more organized in the west. they have a chain of command that goes all the way up to the prison system with prison gangs like the Mexican Mafia controlling soldiers/gangmembers on the streets.They also have rules They also have rules they have to fallow for instence innocent people cannot be targeted but that rule gets very flexible if you decide to rat on them. I never got into the gang stuff but almost all my nieghbors were Sureños (A California hispanic gang) and apperantly they are at war with a nighboring sureño gang on the southern border of roseland over drug turf. about a week or two before i left they killed someone right on the corner of my street just for walking by. Dont get me wrong Im sure he was a rival or somthing but they never cought the killer/killers I couldnt help but thinking it was one of my nieghbors. Any way thank god Im back in Florida were its nice and safe.

If I were you I would not move into Roseland you will not get any good sleep( Gangsters come out at nite full force to patroll ther streets. )

I lived in the Roseland area from age 10 to 14, and it was not horrible, but not the best place to live either. It's an interesting place, and heart of the Latino community of Santa Rosa. Me being a half Asian dude I did not attend their public schools in SW Rosa but if I did I'd imagine I'd not really blend in. I did hear the occasional gunshot to my memory, but there were definitely criminal activity. Lots of gangs about, and even if you aren't a gang banger it's not the best environment to live around. There are lots of nice new homes being built in that area, so that's a plus. Elsie Allen High is a school many parents avoid to send their kids and would rather have them sent to Montgomery, Santa Rosa, or Carrillo, and a lot of commuting happens all around the city just to send your child to a better school.

the thing I do not like about Santa Rosa is that is feels kind of segregated, or divided if that is the better term to use. The westside is really turning into a more lower to middle class Latino section, while the eastside is the more middle class to wealthy upper class area, and is generally predominately white. When I hang out west of downtown area, it really feels like I'm in a totally different city/world. It's only 10 to 15 minutes away by car but it's such a huge transition. However, the apartments and condos in Rincon Valley (the nicer part of town) have plenty of drugged up people, and people moving in from Richmond and Oakland and there have been a few murders out here, about one every year, so there are even issues here. A woman was sexually assaulted and nearly raped by a drunk 15-year-old outside her house right next to a wealthy area out here in Rincon Valley. Lots of crazy stuff happens in the nice places too.

[cre8lite]

i grew up in south santa rosa, my parents still live there - it has gotten worse over the years, but i wouldn't compare it to any other heavy crime area. the things you have to worry about in my parents neighborhood is silly things like, sugar in the gas tank or petty theft. my parents have a rental in roseland that i lived in for 5 yrs until 2005 - i was the only white girl in the hood, but never felt unsafe in any way. just made sure my valuables weren't visible.

there are pockets of good/bad in any town, just do your homework & you'll be fine.

[CyanideThistles]

Originally Posted by cre8lite

i grew up in south santa rosa, my parents still live there - it has gotten worse over the years, but i wouldn't compare it to any other heavy crime area. the things you have to worry about in my parents neighborhood is silly things like, sugar in the gas tank or petty theft. my parents have a rental in roseland that i lived in for 5 yrs until 2005 - i was the only white girl in the hood, but never felt unsafe in any way. just made sure my valuables weren't visible.

there are pockets of good/bad in any town, just do your homework & you'll be fine.

Yeah, Roseland is not horrible. It might be a depressing place to live for some, with it being a low income crappy looking place, but in my opinion it's an alright place if you don't act like a punk or cause attention. Schools are definitely bad there, but Roseland University Prep, a small charter school, is one of the best public schools in America, believe it or not. Lots of good Mexican eats, and the Vietnamese restaurant I like is there. Not to mention they have Food Maxx, Game Stop, and a bunch of useful stores around Sebastopol Rd. There are quite a few white people who still live in the Roseland area, but many white people still shop, eat, or work in Roseland. It isn't quite like East L.A. yet, lol.

[Social Democrat]

Thank you for your excellent posts regarding Santa Rosa. My wife and I are looking to move out of LA next spring after I retire and having been to SR and Petaluma (Norcal in general) many times in the past I have to say this area is high on our radar.
My thinking was Petaluma but we can probably find a little larger , and newer, house in SR. We just want to live a quite life and be able to walk in our neighborhood without getting hassled, seeing endless tagging and trash everywhere.
I'm getting a good idea of where we want to look and where to avoid thanks to excellent comments like yours (and others) in and around SR and Petaluma.
According to info on Wiki there is a small Asian community there which is helpful as my wife is originally from China. I'm just an old white guy that's fairly liberal but have had enough of just existing here for a job.
Anyway, thanks again!