Rhonert Park or Petaluma or Santa Rosa? (San Rafael, Novato: apartments, for rent)

[grimstuff]

I like Petaluma the best. Out of all the places mentioned it seems to have more of a self-contained identity than the others. Its also closer to the city and has much less traffic than the Santa Rosa 101 corridor. You can go out and do things in Petaluma and not feel like you're in a suburb. It seems fairly family-friendly, but that's just my impression.

[msleeman]

Thanks Grimstuff! I think I've narrowed it down to Petaluma or Rohnert Park - now I just need the names of rental agencies or property management companies to try to find a house to rent. I found one or two but they don't have much selection in my price range (under $,2000/month)...

[msleeman]

Grimstuff - do you have any recommendations as to which parts of Petaluma are the best neighborhoods with the best schools?

[VistaGina]

You gave the type of info I definitely find helpful , telling it as it is, with candor! Planning on looking to buy single family home in Petaluma, for retirement, around 1400-1800 sq. ft., preferably under $400K.What are areas in town to AVOID for 2 quiet-loving old folks?(i.e. not close to neighborhoods popular with young, active children, public swimming pools..you get the idea...) Near public transportation also. Thanks

Originally Posted by BodegaHead

I live in the are and will post the general lowdown on each for you.

Petaluma:PROS: Nice historic downtown, fairly safe, rolling hills, nice moderate climate(never really too hot), closer to SF, only 30-45 min. to GG bridge unless there is bad
traffic, commutable to Marin which has higher paying jobs & lots
to do, easy drive W.to Point Reyes coastline, easy drive E. to
Sonoma and the wine country, less people than SR, great creameries all around, Lagunitas brewery!

CONS: Highest rents, not too many good parks, conviently located
but not too exciting,traffic sucks pretty bad but not quite as
bas as SR, they are starting to develop more & more

Santa Rosa: PROS: High number of rentals, nice downtown
with Russian River Brewery & some nice resteraunts,
great parks such as Annadel,Spring lake,Sugarloaf,
Laguna de Santa Rosa,etc., easy drive to coast, easy
drive to redwoods & Russian river,Lake Sonoma,
decent jobs, good climate (can get hot in
summer,but only for bursts),wine country, good food
Great nature abounds outside city limits
1 hr. from SF traffic permitting

CONS: Traffic in town & on the 101 is a nightmare!!
Careful where you live, there are some really crappy
parts of town, mainly all on the South end & a few
bad neighborhoods(in your price range you will be
good, stay in Bennet valley,Rincon valley,Reibi valley,
Larkfield area and the areas out of city limits are nice)
Stores are busy, the #1 complaint I have with SR is
it's "Too big for it's briches", it otherwise has anything
you could want from a California small city near so
much nature. I love SR, but have thought about relocating
because of the overpopulation. Since you are renting I would live
outside of city limits or even in Sebastopol,Kenwood or Forestville.
Owning real estate outside of city limits here is almost twice as
expensive, but if you are renting & have $2,000 a month you should
be able to get something nice. If you have to live in town, I highly
recommend Bennet Valley, very nice area,safe,scenic,close to best parks.

Rhonert Park: PROS: ?, just kidding, but really RP isn't really a town, it is
just a Southern extention of SR. It is mainly very
tight packed suburban sprawl & garbage strip malls &
it houses Sonoma State University at the E. end.
If you have kids it has a bowling alley,mini golf,laser
tag, roller rink,etc. but I wouldn't recommend living
there, it is an easy drive from SR or Petaluma which
are both way nicer to live in.
CONS: Con unto it's self, it sucks, plus same traffic issues, it sucks


Also coming to CA from the East here are a few quick tips.
It costs a little more to live "in the country" here, in town is cheaper & busier generally
Some neighborhoods can look decent & be crap & have random STPs (Secret Tweeker Pads) & you might be the only one that can speak English on the S. end of Santa Rosa.
It doesn't rain for 4-6 months at all in the summer & then it rains a lot Nov.-April
Rhonert Park sucks & that's why it's cheap
Almost everybody smokes & grows "weed", haha, it's true, it's big up here
Liberal is the way of the walk (except the few random wealthy Republican folks,but even they get
drunk on wine all the time & some
grow weed because of the $$$ involved, they still hate Obama though,can't see how a "colored man" is running this show)
The freeway is busy & has a lot of construction/random BS so learn the backroads
Less is more here, you won't get a "huge" house for your $$$ & it's expensive but you're not
freezing your ass of in winter & there is no rain or humidity all summer long, so you
have to learn to appreciate the "quality of life", some Easterners never adapt

[Joyfully789]

I'm considering Petaluma, is it as drug-heavy as other places? I'm living in Santa Cruz and unfortunately, the pot and other drugs are too much for me here. I get a major headache from the smoke and am finding it too hard to find a decent rental that doesn't have some story of what the previous tenants did drug-wise. I'd like to make sure I don't move to another drug-heavy area. I don't mind what others do and I definitely am not judging, I just can't take the headaches from constant pot smoke here. Please advise, thanks!

[DaveNelson123]

Any important changes in four years (other than prices have gone up)? I'm a airline pilot being transferred from suburban Houston to San Francisco. We have a 13-year old daughter and a small dog. We own two houses in Texas, and as you can imagine, the disparity between Texas and California property values doesn't warrant selling our property in Texas. We will probably just rent them out and rent in Northern California.

Both Petaluma and Santa Rosa seem to be geographically placed conveniently for someone who does't commute into San Francisco every day. The big priority for us is the best school system where our daughter could flourish in a college preparity curriculum. Any suggestions or updates to this four-year-old conversation?

[cre8lite]

there are many people who live in santa rosa, rp or petaluma & commute to sf every day. i don't recommend it & have no idea how those people do it without having anger management issues

any idea of how much you want to spend in rent? that might help narrow down which town will work out best for you. maybe marin or san rafael would be the best spot or maybe east bay? i don't a clue how much rents are in those locations, obviously more than sonoma county but better located for your commute.

[Dean Trails]

In Sonoma County, where would be the ideal city if you didn't have to commute anywhere for a job? Some folks can work from home and just need an internet connection. Oh and wear their jammies to work!

[zdg]

Originally Posted by DaveNelson123

Both Petaluma and Santa Rosa seem to be geographically placed conveniently for someone who does't commute into San Francisco every day. The big priority for us is the best school system where our daughter could flourish in a college preparity curriculum. Any suggestions or updates to this four-year-old conversation?

Do you need to be in a public school or would you consider private?

[satya707]

Originally Posted by msleeman

My two kids and I are moving to northern California at the end of September. I'm trying to figure out the best place to live - where there are good schools (elementary and middle schools) for my kids. I would prefer to rent a small house with a yard but want to stay under $2,000/month so if that means renting a townhouse or apartment I'm open to that. Out of Rhonert Park, Petaluma and Santa Rosa - what are the pros and cons? The best schools? The safest neighborhoods? Thanks for your input!!

Under 2K a month? You might be able to find a townhouse in parts of Santa Rosa or Rohnert Park for that price, but in Santa Rosa, unless you go out towards maybe Bennett Valley or Rincon Valley, you will likely not be in a great area. You will not find anything in Petaluma, whatsoever, in this range. No promises of a yard. I have lived in all of these areas and rent, and I thought we scored to find a rental for $2,400 a month, a duplex-townhouse, with a small side yard, but we looked for TWO YEARS, literally, while on rent control in another city in a smaller, no-yard townhouse near a freeway ramp.

Petaluma has okay schools. Rohnert Park has poor schools. Santa Rosa has a few good schools, but mainly at the HS level. Petaluma neighborhoods are all safe. Rohnert Park gets a bad rap and is literally charmless but the area itself is not all that unsafe other than arguably A-section (arguably). Santa Rosa, I just hate for being a giant sprawling city which is decidedly unsafe unless you aren't in the affordable areas.

If you can afford the town of Sonoma, I think it's totally underrated and might have something with an actual yard and may be near to this range. It's great for kids too.

And a week ago, I would have recommended Middletown.