Please, info. on Sonoma Co., S.L.O., Paso Robles, San Mateo (San Francisco: fit in)

[sunny days]

Hello, I wd. really appreciate feedback. Mass. is much too cold. Looking at moving to the Santa Rosa area. I am a single parent and would rent. Seems like there would be more work in this area. How does S.R. compare with other towns like Burlingame, S.L.O., Napa? Do any of these areas stand out as being an easier place to land, get set up, enjoy the quality of life? I realize that the cost of living is high, but on the other hand opportunity is scarce in rural Mass. and heating bills,etc all add up. I work in early education with very young children. May pursue getting teaching credentials in Calif, any tips? I like the town of Sebastopol and would love to settle there. What is Rohnert Park, Healdsburg and S.R. like to live in? My child will enter 9th grade in September.Does anyone have any info. on high schools in these areas? Any other single parents who moved to Calif. care to tell me how it all is going for you? I guess how to find decent affordable rentals is one of my main concerns.I have posted once before and sadly no replies yet. I am very serious about moving and would really love to get your feedback soon. Oh, I considered Chico, but am thinking that work opp. may be limited and think I wd. rather be nearer a city. thank you. let me know if you need any info. on new england. peace.

[Sorcerer68]

Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo are in the same county but are very, very different places. Paso Robles has blistering summers with many days in the 100's and the winters will probably seem mild to you but I found them cold. Look at recorded weather for the area and you'll get the idea. The weather takes some getting used to, it's fairly normal for nights to be 45 degrees cooler than the days. My parents live next to Paso Robles (hills west of Templeton) and they've gotten down in the single digits many times. This past winter their pool was frozen for 3 weeks. They report a milder climate than in town which is in the floor of the valley. I find northern SLO County rednecky but many people like the "country charm". Paso Robles has a traditional town square and some charming old Victorian homes. The east side of town grew explosively in the 90's, it's mostly newer homes. There are many wineries, wine is God up there.

San Luis Obispo is a lovely town. If I wasn't such a city boy, I'd probably still live there. Downtown are all restored old buildings. There's a lovely park next to the mission. Downtown is very pedestrian friendly. It has shops, cafes, restaurants...it's a great day to spend the day or several. There are many gorgeous neighborhoods from older restored homes to a few new developments. The town is squeaky clean. It has much better weather having direct influence from the ocean. It doesn't have the blistering summers nor does it get as cold in the winter. It does sometimes get a marine layer which usually burns off by afternoon. It's a college town as it has Cal Poly SLO and Cuesta (JR) College. I find it a much more intelligent place with nary a trace of the N. County redneckiness (note, I do not paint the whole N. County with this broad brush, merely point out this important shortcoming/facet). Job market is very tight in SLO County. Big employers are the prison, the nut house and the nuclear power plant and of course the University and the College. Houses cost more south of "the grade" but IMHO are more than worth it.

[brian_2]

" Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo are in the same county but are very, very different places. Paso Robles has blistering summers with many days in the 100's and the winters will probably seem mild to you but I found them cold. Look at recorded weather for the area and you'll get the idea. The weather takes some getting used to, it's fairly normal for nights to be 45 degrees cooler than the days. My parents live next to Paso Robles (hills west of Templeton) and they've gotten down in the single digits many times. This past winter their pool was frozen for 3 weeks. They report a milder climate than in town which is in the floor of the valley. I find northern SLO County rednecky but many people like the "country charm". Paso Robles has a traditional town square and some charming old Victorian homes. The east side of town grew explosively in the 90's, it's mostly newer homes. There are many wineries, wine is God up there.

San Luis Obispo is a lovely town. If I wasn't such a city boy, I'd probably still live there. Downtown are all restored old buildings. There's a lovely park next to the mission. Downtown is very pedestrian friendly. It has shops, cafes, restaurants...it's a great day to spend the day or several. There are many gorgeous neighborhoods from older restored homes to a few new developments. The town is squeaky clean. It has much better weather having direct influence from the ocean. It doesn't have the blistering summers nor does it get as cold in the winter. It does sometimes get a marine layer which usually burns off by afternoon. It's a college town as it has Cal Poly SLO and Cuesta (JR) College. I find it a much more intelligent place with nary a trace of the N. County redneckiness (note, I do not paint the whole N. County with this broad brush, merely point out this important shortcoming/facet). Job market is very tight in SLO County. Big employers are the prison, the nut house and the nuclear power plant and of course the University and the College. Houses cost more south of "the grade" but IMHO are more than worth it."

Super post. Right on target. You should write for those small travel guide publications.

[peony]

type in any of the cities you're interested in, and presto! you'll find lots of useful information.

[sunny days]

Thank you for this info. S.L.O. sounds beautiful and I'll definitely visit. Work opportunities look more promising in sonoma co. so will be focusing there. Still hope to get some feedback on sebastopol and santa rosa.

[northbayeric]

I would highly recommend that if you can, come to Sonoma County and visit before making any definite plans to move. I've lived in Santa Rosa since 1986, and I think there's a combination of the good and the not so good about living in this area.

The good: Mild weather, extremely dry summers, fairly wet winters, never snows except briefly in the surrounding higher mountains. Thunderstorms rarely occur. Santa Rosa averages 31 inches of rain per year, highly variable with a lot of microclimates. Healdsburg, 15 miles north, gets about 40 to 45 inches per year; Sebastopol about 33 inches. It can get over 100 degrees in the summer, but after two or three days the fog rolls in and it cools back down. Cool summer evenings in the low to mid 50s.

Great rugged ocean beaches, too cold and dangerous to swim, but the topography is very dramatic. It's a 30- to 45-minute drive to the ocean from Santa Rosa. A multitude of wineries are in central and northern Sonoma County. From Santa Rosa, you are a one-day drive from some wonderful places like the Avenue of the Giants (redwood trees) in southern Humboldt County, other more nearby redwood reserves like Armstrong Woods in Sonoma County and Hendy Woods in SW Mendocino County. And there's Lake Tahoe. The Eastern Sierras around the city of Bishop and down the Highway 395 corridor are breathtaking!

City characteristics: Santa Rosa has nearly 160,000 people--still growing but not as quickly as it did 25 years ago. Rohnert Park, which was established in about 1960, is okey-dokey--pretty nice residential neighborhoods, big-box shopping centers, but no downtown to speak of. Sebastopol--I'd say it's a kind of "Little Berkeley." This will be good or bad depending on your perspective. I think Sebastopol, even more than surrounding towns, is outrageously expensive, with most apartment rentals at over $1,000 per month, and average home prices about $750,000) and a combination of radical left hippie and yuppie rolled into one. Again, it's a matter of taste--I wouldn't fit in at all in Sebastopol, but you may find it more to your liking. Crime is not a serious problem in Sebastopol, and it doesn't look shabby or run-down. If you like Victorian-style homes, Sebastopol and central Santa Rosa are good places to look at. Healdsburg is upscale and pretty quiet, with wineries galore surrounding the city. Neither Sebastopol nor Healdsburg have grown much at all in the past 15 years.

High schools: Both Analy High in Sebastopol and Healdsburg High seem to be at least OK. I don't have any children myself, so there are probably others who can elaborate better than I can. I think gangs might still be a problem at Montgomery High in eastern Santa Rosa. Elsie Allen High in south Santa Rosa has a high degree of ethnic diversity (chiefly Hispanics and some whites). Santa Rosa High and Piner High are OK, but I think their average student test scores are below Analy's.

Now for the not-so-good. Sonoma County, like the rest of California and especially the immediate Bay Area, is horribly expensive, the traffic from Windsor south is nightmarish along Highway 101 and on surface streets seven days a week, there are a lot of homeless people in and around downtown Santa Rosa, gangs can be a problem at the downtown shopping mall, and gasoline prices are already over $3.00 a gallon as I am writing this. Compared to many other areas of California, Santa Rosa and Sonoma County are still above average; but to me, I think the quality of life here has peaked and things are getting worse. The middle class can't afford to live here anymore. More and more, you're finding either natives who have lived here their whole lives, newcomers from San Francisco where real estate is even more expensive, or illegal aliens at the bottom end of the economic scale. As my variation on the old saying goes, "It's a nice place to visit (if you have the money), but I no longer want to live here." My wife and I will be relocating out of California and back to my native state of Missouri in about one more year, mainly because the scenery is attractive there (OK, no ocean but lots of beautiful rivers and lakes), and real estate costs about one-fifth what it costs here. Gasoline is about 70 cents per gallon less in Missouri, and taxes are lower there as well. There's unparalleled natural beauty in Sonoma County and down in San Luis Obispo, but it's going to cost a lot! Try to come and visit first before you make a firm commitment.

[sunny days]

This is great info. northbayeric, thank you. Actually I 've visited the area two times but was not job or apartment hunting then. Everything you said made sense to me. Big decisions I know. It is so cold and gray here. I lived in the U.S.V.I. for a long time and that is my ideal climate, but not ideal place to raise my child. Since returning to my home state of Mass a few years ago I keep trying to make it work and be happy here, but it's not happening. I know I need to live in a warmer and more interesting place and I'm hoping that Calif is it. I do have some friends scattered around the state, santa rosa, davis,chico. I have no illusions about buying a home in calif. and intend to locate a good rental situation for us. I check craigslist regularly. We always hear about the expense, but if I get an apartment for900-1000 then what else makes it so expensive? i know the gas is more. I've paid 2200 for oil to heat the big old house Ilive in since November. that's one expense I can forget. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing and I've gotta get out of new england. Florida doesn't really appeal to me and I'm not sure where else to consider. Also having friends in the state is a plus. I like the idea of going for a drive to the coast or up to the Redwoods. I think it would be advantageous for my child also. perhaps go to a state university in a few years and in the meantime have a decent education in a diverse environment, which it is not here in western Mass. the other city I consideris Berkeley but dont know if it would be that much more costly than s.r. area. also wonder about napa, novato, and petaluma. see i am doing my research. really thanks again for your thoughtful reply and I wish you well when you do return to your home state. oh, i may be able to take a quick trip in mid april. goal is tomove by june or july. peace

[Joshdresslove]

Check out the Santa Rosa Development Forum, it has lots of information new and proposed residential developments in town

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=443004

[Jaxn]

I absolutely loved living in Santa Rosa. All I can say is "ditto" to the post from Northbayeric. But I have never been happier living in any other place than in Santa Rosa. You are close enough to everything, yet far enough away to have the "small town" atmosphere.