Petaluma or Sebastopol? Seeking warm/dry climate and change from NYC! (Sonoma: county, average)

[bopalina]

Hi Petalumans (especially Bellalunatic since you really seem to know the weather well). I'm a new Petaluman just moved up from Fairfax in Marin and there is way more fog here than I expected or noticed when researching my move. I've been here a month (July) and the fog seems to last till 12 and then roll back in around 5 or 6. Can you and/or others please tell me if this is normal or is this an extra foggy/chilly summer? I love it here but I'm not a fan of fog, eek!

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by bellalunatic

The commute drive from Petaluma to the GGBridge toll plaza is about 35-40 minutes non commute times, and about an hour thirty in commute time.
Additional lanes in the San Rafael area have completely helped the traffic problem in central San Rafael.

Last week I spent commuting to and from SF and I'd like to clarify my previous statements...
currently (as of all last week)I am happy to report that commuting into SF from Petaluma was 30 minutes minimum to the GG Toll Plaza and 40 minutes maximum!
During commute times of 7 am, 8:30am and 9am.

On the way back however, it was 40 minutes or more from the toll plaza to Petaluma.
During commute times of 4pm, 4:30pm and 5pm (that 5pm was on Friday...which was the worst!)
5pm on Friday means about 60 minutes from the GG Toll Plaza

Overall, it is better than it was 2 years ago or so...

[DebSta]

Just curious, with opposite considerations. Which is the least hot, may have cool clouds and fog, less liberal, and more bookstores? Movie theaters? Whole Foods, Tj's, Farmers's Market. Live Music? Sebastopol closer to coast and redwoods (Occidental)? I'm currently in San Jose.

[PixelatedTherapy]

Come to Vallejo. We have a direct ferry into San Francisco, only 45 minutes!

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by DebSta

Just curious, with opposite considerations. Which is the least hot, may have cool clouds and fog, less liberal, and more bookstores? Movie theaters? Whole Foods, Tj's, Farmers's Market. Live Music? Sebastopol closer to coast and redwoods (Occidental)? I'm currently in San Jose.

Sebastopol is definitely closer to the coast and redwoods, has Whole Foods, and all the infrastructure you'd need with a bit more country feel.

I've never lived in Sonoma but have spent a lot of time in Petaluma and surrounds, and both it and Santa Rosa definitely have more afternoon breeze and morning overcast than the inland East Bay where I grew up (much hotter and drier there), so to me, it's all pretty temperate. Sebastopol seems like a pretty cool town to me.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by PixelatedTherapy

Come to Vallejo. We have a direct ferry into San Francisco, only 45 minutes!

It's actually 60 min.

[PixelatedTherapy]

Sonoma County is technically the wettest part of the Bay Area.

[candalf]

Commute from Marin or Sonoma counties to SF is *bad*.

Your only options are buses, which are very slow and have sparse schedules, and ferries (assuming you live in a limited area near a terminal). There is also SMART which at this point is a train to nowhere as it neither goes to SF nor even the ferry...My coworker commutes from Novato and it is 90 minutes or more each day, door to door.

If you don't need SF for work but just for weekend culture trips, your plan is good. I truly think Marin and Sonoma are the best places to live in the whole country, due to their mix of forward culture, safety and access to nature.

[LaylaM]

Originally Posted by DebSta

Just curious, with opposite considerations. Which is the least hot, may have cool clouds and fog, less liberal, and more bookstores? Movie theaters? Whole Foods, Tj's, Farmers's Market. Live Music? Sebastopol closer to coast and redwoods (Occidental)? I'm currently in San Jose.

I live in Sonoma County. For the most part, it's very liberal throughout - Sebastopol being the hippie mecca of our county and extremely left of center. If Petaluma and Sebastopol are your primary choices I'd stick with Petaluma. It's closer to other nearby cities with more resources as well. I love Sebastopol, but it's off the beaten path a bit and you might find yourself driving up and down the freeway constantly. It's also extremely hard to find a rental property or a home to purchase since it's quite rural and there is very little new construction and high demand.

Both towns will have most of your other requirements except for TJ's. Petaluma has one but Sebastopol does not.

As far as weather, I'm in my third year here and each year the weather has been different from the next. Typically, the rainy season starts around November and goes through March. We, normally, have plenty of sunny days in between. We're, currently, having a very early summer weather pattern and it's been in the mid to high 70s for over 10 days. Looks like we're almost out of time for a proper rainy season and we've only had 14 inches up near Santa Rosa (Windsor) where I live.

Also, just want to caution you, since the fires all housing stock is even lower than usual as many more people required rentals after their homes burned and others jumped at the chance to purchase from our already minimal single family home inventory. Though Petaluma and Sebastopol were spared from the fires, people tend to migrate all throughout the county.

[nobodysbusiness]

Fairfax?