Is Santa Rosa a good place to live? (Apple Valley, Sonoma: insurance, crime)

[scully2010]

My husband and I are considering Sonoma County for a potential move due to a job. We both work remotely so traffic isn't an issue. Looking at housing costs, medical care and a good high school for our teenager makes Santa Rosa seem like a viable option. We'd like to spend no more than $1 million on a house and hav room for the three of us and a couple of home offices. We had planned to move to wine country upon retirement, and while that's still 10 years away, since I will need to move for this job if I get it, we're trying to figure out if Santa Rosa is right for us.

I'm curious what taxes, school quality, life quality, etc., are like in the area. The other area we're considering is Austin, Texas.

[AnythingOutdoors]

Santa Rosa is a nice city, big enough for daily living yet distinct from larger metros. The surrounding area is beautiful wine country. Mild climate. Easy access to the Bay Area when bigger city stuff is needed.

Your housing budget should be doable. But stay out of the brush/forest and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), basically the northern and eastern part of the city in/near the hills. This area is high fire danger and it's very difficult and expensive to obtain fire insurance in these areas. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/articl...ubbs-fire-map/ Insurance in these areas can run more than $10k/year and has become a hardship for many homeowners. Don't rely on a seller's current insurance rate, you need to get insurance quotes before making offers because a new policy can be considerably higher.

More on the insurance issue: https://www.kron4.com/news/couple-fa...verage-denial/

Like most places, school quality is mixed. Houses in your budget, and not in the WUI, are mostly in the south and west. The catch is that the schools in these neighborhoods are poorly rated. I'm not one to be fixated on school ratings, but when I see 2/10 it's good reason to dig into what's going on.

When I was last in Santa Rosa, about a year ago, I was surprised by the amount of homelessness. I don't know, maybe I happened to see the one area where it's concentrated? But it was larger than I expected for a city of this size.

[mattja]

Santa Rosa has had a crime problem for many years now, but if I had to live there, I would try to live on the east side so my child could attend Maria Carrillo High School.

But away from the trailer parks south of the school because they seem to be a crime hot-spot. There are homes for less than $1 million in that area.

[TheAsianContagion]

Originally Posted by mattja

Santa Rosa has had a crime problem for many years now, but if I had to live there, I would try to live on the east side so my child could attend Maria Carrillo High School.

But away from the trailer parks south of the school because they seem to be a crime hot-spot. There are homes for less than $1 million in that area.

Only South Park, Corby, and Apple Valley Ln are really that bad. And maybe Moorland and a smidgen of Roseland.

SR born here.

[mattja]

Originally Posted by TheAsianContagion

Only South Park, Corby, and Apple Valley Ln are really that bad. And maybe Moorland and a smidgen of Roseland.

SR born here.

Share the tea with OP then.