Moving to Marin / Sonoma County - young family needs advice! (San Francisco: to rent, homes)

[Arizma1]

Hi friends,

We are a young family of four, moving to the San Francisco area this winter and are having some trouble narrowing locations down.

We have 2 children - 8 yrs & 2 yrs old. We both work from home and are currently homeschooling.

We are looking for a lovely town with great culture (food, festivals, community events, family-friendly fun, etc.), easy access to beautiful nature, and lots of other like-minded families with children (preferably with homeschool communities we can connect with).

We are looking to rent a 3BR single-family home with a yard and a little bit of outdoor space. Coming from Midwest suburbia, we would really love to avoid the "suburban" feel, and find a more unique/quaint/nature town and home. Our budget is $3000 per month.

We're currently looking at Petaluma, Novato and Napa/Sonoma, mostly because that's where we've found homes that are suitable for us. We've also explored the Santa Cruz / Scotts Valley region a bit, but didn't feel as safe or comfortable in Santa Cruz as we have up in the Marin / Sonoma areas.

Bottom line - what are your recommendations for beautiful, vibrant communities to raise kids in within reasonable distance to San Francisco?

Your help is so very appreciated!!!

[LoriBee62]

Petaluma would be my choice. Lots of young families, plenty of kids sports leagues, lots of festivals. Plus, it's pretty central to Sonoma and Marin counties so you have easy access to both. The towns of Sonoma and Napa are rather isolated. They're further inland so they're going to be warmer. You have to travel some crappy roads, IMO, to get in and out of there. But they will give you a more "home town" kind of feel if you're looking for a city that isn't surrounded by any sprawl.

Novato is an aging town. Not as many families with young children as you'll find in Sonoma County. Plus, it doesn't feel like a "home schooling" type town to me. I'll get slammed for saying this, but Novato is very much a "Lexus jockey" mecca. Lots of wanna-be wealth and....ugh....I just hate it. I've worked in the town for almost 30 years and pretty much drive in to work and drive the heck out. If you're looking for a family, down-to-earth atmosphere, Sonoma County is absolutely the way to go.

If it's nature you're looking for, I would choose Petaluma for it's closer proximity to the coast. Though any of the towns you're looking for will offer nature.

Have you checked out Sebastopol? It's got the highest rated public school system, and though you're home schooling, you will find more families who live there because of the importance they place on education. Just feels like "your kind of town" when it comes to that. Like Napa/Sonoma, it's a little off the beaten path though.

[Arizma1]

Awesome response - thank you so much LoriBee! You've kind of confirmed my feelings about all the places we're considering. This is great information.

Do you know whether Napa and Sonoma have a lot of families and children? It seems like a lot of older folks settle out there, and I'm not hearing a lot about young, growing families in the area. That would definitely be a deal-breaker for us. Just wondering if you have any further insight on that...

Thanks so much again! :-)

[LoriBee62]

I don't think as much as Petaluma and Rohnert Park. Sonoma County gets a lot of the children of Marin County parents who buy here because they can't afford Marin. It's very much the bedroom community for Marin and San Francisco, new couples looking to buy but can't afford to live south.

Sonoma and Napa, I don't know, they just seem more isolated and more aging, like Novato. I know there are young families, but I don't know that you get the same number of young couples flocking there to buy homes as you do Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. There was a TON of new housing development here before the crash, which brought a lot of young couples to this area. Napa/Sonoma, not so much.

Mind you, I've spent 35 years on the 101 corridor between Santa Rosa and Marin, so others may have better experience with Napa and Sonoma. I'm mostly going on gut feeling.

[cre8lite]

i 2nd everything loribee is saying - i was born & raised in santa rosa. napa has become more...trendy/yuppie-ish over the years, sonoma is a sleepy little town with bottlenecks getting in/out of town.

petaluma or sebastopol or forestville will fit the bill for you

[JDiesel24v]

Originally Posted by Arizma1

Hi friends,

We are a young family of four, moving to the San Francisco area this winter and are having some trouble narrowing locations down.

We have 2 children - 8 yrs & 2 yrs old. We both work from home and are currently homeschooling.

We are looking for a lovely town with great culture (food, festivals, community events, family-friendly fun, etc.), easy access to beautiful nature, and lots of other like-minded families with children (preferably with homeschool communities we can connect with).

We are looking to rent a 3BR single-family home with a yard and a little bit of outdoor space. Coming from Midwest suburbia, we would really love to avoid the "suburban" feel, and find a more unique/quaint/nature town and home. Our budget is $3000 per month.

We're currently looking at Petaluma, Novato and Napa/Sonoma, mostly because that's where we've found homes that are suitable for us. We've also explored the Santa Cruz / Scotts Valley region a bit, but didn't feel as safe or comfortable in Santa Cruz as we have up in the Marin / Sonoma areas.

Bottom line - what are your recommendations for beautiful, vibrant communities to raise kids in within reasonable distance to San Francisco?

Your help is so very appreciated!!!

Personally I would say Sonoma is the nicest out of the places you mentioned. The others are also nice but Sonoma has more of that "small town" quaintness and has alot of festivals/events. If you're working in the city then Petaluma or Navato may be a better choice because of their proximity to 101. Petaluma is the cheapest but not quite as nice as the others in my opinion.

[Volkien]

Hi,
I was tagging onto this discussion as we are looking in the same area for our dream town. We have the same needs as well as want a more woodsy and quiet place that is near the coast. Sonoma and Petaluma seem very well liked but how do they compare to Healdsburg? It is further north and that is ok as we won't visit the city more than once a month. Sometimes we do take flights to visit our relatives but the airports seem to be easy drives.
Thanks, for reading!

[Chuck5000]

Agree with LoriBee. I would add Scotts Valley is an interesting choice but it's a different region. Scotts is far closer to a wide range of jobs in Santa Clara county, so if working in an office is in your future, Marin and Sonoma are a trap, because you only have access to San Francisco (and via a long commute.) You have no access to the biggest job market...waaaay too long of a drive, and no rail.

To Volkien, re: Healdsburg, you may not be aware how expensive it is. Forget it unless you have $2m to spend. Generally one will only get decent deals near the coast (really need to clarify 'near') if one is in a remote area, not in a nice little town.

*Everybody* wants an in-town experience now. So those places have skyrocketed; who knows if that itself is a bubble or not. The real value is now in remote areas and in conventional burbrs. As the poster said above, Novato is not that "cool." But that itself makes it a good long term bet, less overpriced, and a better value right now compared to cutesy in-town experiences. Which you can always drive to.

Don't get me wrong - I love in-town experiences myself. It's just that they'vve become overvalued, and a lot of people think they literally cannot be happy if they can't walk to get a cup of coffee. And how many people *reallY* live within walking distance? If you have to get in the car for even 5 minutes, barely a difference to drive another 10.

[LoriBee62]

Sonoma is farther from the coast and is much hotter than the towns on the 101 corridor. As Chuck5000 said, Healdsburg is very pricey. Personally, I don't think the town is worth the money, but that's just my taste.

The best place to recommend depends entirely on your budget. There are lots of places in Marin, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties that are "woodsy and near the coast". But they are vastly different in terms of cost of living. Also, what's your definition of "near the coast"? There are a lot of woodsy coastal towns that are quiet, Tomales and Bodega to name a couple. But if by "near the coast" you mean within an hour's drive, that is entirely different.

[tikkasf]

West side of Petaluma would be my suggestion.