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You are entitled to your opinion and so am I. I think I'll value my 10-15 trips to Santa Rosa over your uploaded pictures. I could take pictures in any city and make it look like a great, horrible or mixed area.
of course you are entitled to your opinion! sure u've taken trips here, but i live here (and have lived here for over 20 years). most people disagree with you.
it's not just my opinion: has walnut creek been designated one of the nation's 'most livable communities?' does the famous tour of california showcase your city nearly every year (this year the tour STARTS in santa rosa)? do 7 million people visit walnut creek every year? how many wineries and vineyards are in walnut creek?
personally, i think the east bay (and contra costa county especially) is WAY more 'run-down' and ghetto looking than santa rosa. but as was pointed out earlier, there's good and bad parts to any area, and overall i think sonoma county and the bay area as a whole qualify as the most beautiful place on earth.
obviously a lot of people like santa rosa because 100,000 more people live here than walnut creek, and walnut creek has been struggling with maintaining its population while santa rosa hasn't. i invite you to start a thread about walnut creek and post some pictures. why not share something positive, instead of your negative criticisms?
@sunsueb - the beaches here are pretty cold. even during the summer it can be foggy or windy. there isn't too much traffic but getting stuck behind a tourist going 10 below the speed limit can be a little frustrating sometimes.
san luis obispo is also a GREAT TOWN. i went to cal poly and am glad i did. the downtown is very vibrant. however, it is still VERY isolated and there are few job opportunities in the area.
70 sure sounds nicer than our weather yesterday. At least it was sunny and dry here for a change, but it was still cold. That's a good suggestion about the wine industry. Thanks.
I lived in Mill Valley for a few years. If I remember right, Stinson Beach had a fair amount of sunny, warm days in the summer. I assumed that the beaches up by Santa Rosa would have similar weather to Stinson. Are the beaches west of SR foggier, cooler and windier than Stinson?
I guess a good question for the OP is exactly why do you want to move from Oregon to Santa Rosa? The reality is that SR is really too far from the immediate Bay Area to be practical in regards to any kind of commute. I wouldn't say SR is bad but it isn't really all that great either. If anything its so-so. Yeah- perhaps its sort of closer to beaches ( not that you can actually swim in the water anyway) and vineyards. There are trade-offs between Oregon and California. But the bottom line is that almost any California metro that's halfway nice- as in its on the water, or has a so-called "vibrant" downtown is going to cost A LOT of money. There are certainly other parts of the country that are on the water and warmer that don't cost near as much.
of course you are entitled to your opinion! sure u've taken trips here, but i live here (and have lived here for over 20 years). most people disagree with you.
it's not just my opinion: has walnut creek been designated one of the nation's 'most livable communities?' does the famous tour of california showcase your city nearly every year (this year the tour STARTS in santa rosa)? do 7 million people visit walnut creek every year? how many wineries and vineyards are in walnut creek?
personally, i think the east bay (and contra costa county especially) is WAY more 'run-down' and ghetto looking than santa rosa. but as was pointed out earlier, there's good and bad parts to any area, and overall i think sonoma county and the bay area as a whole qualify as the most beautiful place on earth.
obviously a lot of people like santa rosa because 100,000 more people live here than walnut creek, and walnut creek has been struggling with maintaining its population while santa rosa hasn't. i invite you to start a thread about walnut creek and post some pictures. why not share something positive, instead of your negative criticisms?
Now you are saying...because Santa Rosa has a larger population, therefore it's obviously better? Hmmmm...with that logic, Detroit must be a better city than San Francisco.
I'm not comparing counties, I agree overall Sonoma County is much nicer than Contra Costa County. I love Sausalito, Tiburon, Mill Valley, Healdsburg. However, Santa Rosa to me feels very "country" but not quaint country, just old country. There are many nicer communities in Sonoma County in my opinion. It's also a long commute to San Francisco because of the traffic on 101. You are still paying expensive California real estate prices, but to me it doesn't feel justified.
I did share something positive...about Walnut Creek. The OP wasn't impressed with Santa Rosa and asked if others have felt the same way. You want me to ignore that or lie? Once again, it's my opinion. It's terrific you love the area, but that doesn't mean everyone does.
I agree that Santa Rosa probably isn’t as scenic or vibrant as lots of other areas in CA or the bay area. But it does have several of the elements I am looking for. I doubt the ideal place exists. I don’t want to live closer to SF than SR, that’s why I’m not considering southern Marin or the east or south bay. I posted my question about SR on the SF forum because apparently this is the forum for SR too.
Silverbox, from what I have researched, CA is the only state that has areas with relatively moderate temperatures and more sun and less rain than the Willamette Valley. Other states either get significantly hotter in the summer or colder in the winter than the Willamette Valley. Maybe you know of a comparable year-round temperate climate in the states that I’m not aware of (excluding HI and WA). If so, please let me know.
Eugene Climate (Typical Willamette Valley Climate)
Rain 46
Snow 6
Precip days 139
Sunny days 155
Avg July high 82
Avg Jan low 34
Comfort index 65
(I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I will mention it again…COL is not my primary concern.)
I'd possibly consider Colorado as an alternative. If you want to talk about breathtaking beauty, you really can't beat it. I visited there myself for the first time this summer. Apparently Denver receives over 300+ days of sunshine a year. It does snow but apparently since it is such a dry climate it melts usually within a day. People also told us Winters can be somewhat mild with occasional cold snaps. Its is in a semi-arid region.
You had mentioned you wanted vibrant downtowns and access to food and stuff along those lines. The food situation in CO was hands-down every bit as good as it is in the Bay Area. That and the array of outdoor activities seemed plentiful. There was definitely a heavy outdoors recreation scene there.
I guess its hard to explain. All I'm saying is that if it were me and I was looking for someplace to semi-retire or move to and wanted scenic beauty, access to food and stuff like that, if the choice were between Santa Rosa and Denver or Boulder CO- there would be no question. That and it costs a LOT less there.
Anyway- its just an idea. I've been living in CA for about 11 years. In my personal opinion there are many aspects to this state aside from the cost of living that makes living here a pain. Anyway- that's just my 2 cents worth.
I agree that Santa Rosa probably isn’t as scenic or vibrant as lots of other areas in CA or the bay area. But it does have several of the elements I am looking for. I doubt the ideal place exists. I don’t want to live closer to SF than SR, that’s why I’m not considering southern Marin or the east or south bay. I posted my question about SR on the SF forum because apparently this is the forum for SR too.
Silverbox, from what I have researched, CA is the only state that has areas with relatively moderate temperatures and more sun and less rain than the Willamette Valley. Other states either get significantly hotter in the summer or colder in the winter than the Willamette Valley. Maybe you know of a comparable year-round temperate climate in the states that I’m not aware of (excluding HI and WA). If so, please let me know.
Eugene Climate (Typical Willamette Valley Climate)
Rain 46
Snow 6
Precip days 139
Sunny days 155
Avg July high 82
Avg Jan low 34
Comfort index 65
(I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I will mention it again…COL is not my primary concern.)
Isn't Santa Rosa like other inland areas like Walnut Creek or Sacramento and gets into the 90's and 100's in summer? Wikipedia says SR's average high in July is 84, three degrees lower than that of Walnut Creek. I think if you're looking for somewhere cooler than that in the summer you have to look for somewhere on the coast or bordering the Bay. But I've never spent much time in Sonoma except driving through or stopping in a place for a short time and I think it was in periods like Fall and Spring when the temps weren't very different from around SF.
It doesn't rain much yearround in the Bay Area but it does rain a lot in winter and I think the North Bay has a tendency to pick up more rain than other areas in winter for some reason. Winter can also be chilly the further you are from the coast. I'm pretty sure that I've seen weather reports for towns in Sonoma listed as down to 18 degrees when it was more like 30 in San Francisco, when there was an extreme cold snap a couple years ago.
California and the Bay Area in particular have tons of microclimates. Temperatures can vary a lot depending on where you are. Just within SF the temperature can vary 10 degrees from one end of the city to the other, and it's only 7 miles wide.
I too would rather move somewhere other than CA for several reasons. But parts of CA just have the best weather. I considered Boulder/Denver. But I think it would be too cold for me even though it is a dry cold and sunny. The winter winds there can be very strong and cold. I have been to Denver in the winter when it was snow covered and the snow stayed for days. Although CO is beautiful, I'm not a skier or cold weather person so it's probably not the best choice for me.
Yes, I am concerned SR might be hotter than I like. But I am going to have to compromise somewhere. Even the Willamette Valley usually has several days in the 90's and will occasionally reach into the 100's. I really liked Mill Valley weather. The online stats shows SR and MV as having similar weather, but I think I've heard that SR gets quite a bit warmer than MV.
An occassional cold snap or heat wave is expected, as long as it isn't the norm.
I have lots of family in Santa Rosa, so for awhile, my husband and I were considering making a move there... We looked around at open houses and walked around different areas to get a "feel" for the city. I believe places give off different 'vibes'...and depending on what that vibe is, you will quickly decide how you feel about a place. We decided it wasn't for us... but for many people it does work for them. It just didn't "feel" right to us...even though we couldn't quite put into words why it didn't feel right.
Mill Valley is fairly close to the Bay so it will have cooler summers and should have warmer winters than SR, but it's blocked off from the Pacific by a big mountain range that keeps the fog away. Go over that mountain range to Muir Beach and you're in fog city in mid-summer usually. You said money is no object, so if that's true I think Marin would be more to your liking climatewise than SR.
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