slightly worried about petaluma/santa rosa (Hayward, Apple Valley: crime, high school, college)

[blueseas123]

Hi everyone! I am a first time poster, long timer reader. This forum is an incredible resource and I always appreciate the honesty from many members on here. I guess what I need here is some simple reassurance.

My boyfriend is currently in the coast guard and right now he lives in Petaluma. I regularly go out to visit him (I live in north Texas) and so far I feel the area is absolutely beautiful and nothing like I'd ever seen before. However, what has been a little bit disconcerting is some of the looks, which I am assuming, is because he is white and I am Hispanic. Maybe I am being presumptuous. I fall into the semi-mestizo looking category because I have Keri Russell-curly brown hair and hazel eyes so I get some crazy other guesses but I think for the most part I look like your generic Latina I suppose. He is a blonde haired blue-eyed tall white dude. So...we look very different to say the least. I feel like we've been stared down a little more than I expected in this area. Definitely more than here in Texas.
I had a few disconcerting moments at the Santa Rosa mall where I felt like a few salespeople gave me this shocked look when I began speaking...I'm now wondering if maybe there were surprised that I could speak fluent english?? (I know that's awful!) I am not sure what to think especially since I am wanting to move to the area soon to be with my boyfriend. I guess I was not expecting a few things because I always thought of California as being much more open minded than Texas. Now, I also want to add that there were plenty of very friendly people and I have had some many positive experiences. But I guess it is human nature to only ruminate over the overt stares (sometimes glares) and forget the niceties of the experience. My boyfriend also told me that some Mexican guys stared him down a little bit too which has not happened to him in Texas (to my knowledge). So is this area in general just not open to this kind of stuff?
I just want to live somewhere where I can just blend in with my boyfriend and not have any attention drawn to us.
Please know that I am not trying to make these respective areas look bad or trying to cast any unnecessary negative light on them.
Sorry for another "interracial relationship" thread in advance.

[MissDaisy]

I work in Petaluma....I don't see anything obvious like that here..now as for the mall in Santa Rosa..THAT place is infested with punks in every shade..don't let THAT tiny demographic sway you.

My daughter-in-law is in fact an American born hispanic, parents born in Mexico-we adore her (his 1st wife was a blonde haired, blue eyed Jezebel !)

I am assuming your boyfriend is stationed @ the USCG Tracen??

Ironic you are coming from TX to CA..........we are planning a move from CA to TX

I guess ultimately our combined relocations won't affect the population status-quo for either state!

Welcome to Sonoma County, CA...our BBQ sucks compared to yours, but our wine is terrific !

[equilibrium3]

Originally Posted by blueseas123

Hi everyone! I am a first time poster, long timer reader. This forum is an incredible resource and I always appreciate the honesty from many members on here. I guess what I need here is some simple reassurance.

My boyfriend is currently in the coast guard and right now he lives in Petaluma. I regularly go out to visit him (I live in north Texas) and so far I feel the area is absolutely beautiful and nothing like I'd ever seen before. However, what has been a little bit disconcerting is some of the looks, which I am assuming, is because he is white and I am Hispanic. Maybe I am being presumptuous. I fall into the semi-mestizo looking category because I have Keri Russell-curly brown hair and hazel eyes so I get some crazy other guesses but I think for the most part I look like your generic Latina I suppose. He is a blonde haired blue-eyed tall white dude. So...we look very different to say the least. I feel like we've been stared down a little more than I expected in this area. Definitely more than here in Texas.
I had a few disconcerting moments at the Santa Rosa mall where I felt like a few salespeople gave me this shocked look when I began speaking...I'm now wondering if maybe there were surprised that I could speak fluent english?? (I know that's awful!) I am not sure what to think especially since I am wanting to move to the area soon to be with my boyfriend. I guess I was not expecting a few things because I always thought of California as being much more open minded than Texas. Now, I also want to add that there were plenty of very friendly people and I have had some many positive experiences. But I guess it is human nature to only ruminate over the overt stares (sometimes glares) and forget the niceties of the experience. My boyfriend also told me that some Mexican guys stared him down a little bit too which has not happened to him in Texas (to my knowledge). So is this area in general just not open to this kind of stuff?
I just want to live somewhere where I can just blend in with my boyfriend and not have any attention drawn to us.
Please know that I am not trying to make these respective areas look bad or trying to cast any unnecessary negative light on them.
Sorry for another "interracial relationship" thread in advance.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. They may have been looking at you because you are attractive. I say stay for a long vacation before making a hard fast decision if you really are worried.

[blueseas123]

Originally Posted by MissDaisy

I work in Petaluma....I don't see anything obvious like that here..now as for the mall in Santa Rosa..THAT place is infested with punks in every shade..don't let THAT tiny demographic sway you.

My daughter-in-law is in fact an American born hispanic, parents born in Mexico-we adore her (his 1st wife was a blonde haired, blue eyed Jezebel !)

I am assuming your boyfriend is stationed @ the USCG Tracen??

Ironic you are coming from TX to CA..........we are planning a move from CA to TX

I guess ultimately our combined relocations won't affect the population status-quo for either state!

Welcome to Sonoma County, CA...our BBQ sucks compared to yours, but our wine is terrific !

Yes he is!! And thank you for the warm welcome! Where in Texas are you moving to?
Speaking of which, I was talking to my friend who is originally from Hayward and she suggested that maybe the reason why people were looking at me oddly was because I do have a bit of a Texas accent. I didn't even think of that.

[blueseas123]

Originally Posted by equilibrium3

I don't think you have anything to worry about. They may have been looking at you because you are attractive. I say stay for a long vacation before making a hard fast decision if you really are worried.

Thank you! I was planning on doing that just to "test drive" the area. I'm trying to consider everything very carefully on this move since I'm moving away from everything I know!!

[okie333]

That area is beautiful. Ive only been there once so im not an expert but there are hicks, and racists just like every other state. Not particularly in this area though. Usually the further you get from the city life that can be more prevalent and the further you go east with exceptions of course you can get into backwoods country, but over all the Petaluma area shouldn't be full of those types of people. They probably were looking at you because you were pretty.

[northbayeric]

Hey Blueseas, welcome to these forums! Santa Rosa has two indoor shopping malls: the Santa Rosa Plaza downtown, and the Coddingtown Mall about two miles north, visible on the west side of Highway 101. The SR Plaza is not a fun place to be, especially after 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Moreover, Whitehall Jewelers and the Mervyn's department store are both going out of business.

The older Coddingtown Mall has a more pleasant atmosphere by far, even though it has only one floor and is plain-looking as far as indoor malls go.

If you choose Santa Rosa, I would stay west of Stony Point Road. Though the southwest part of Santa Rosa is OK as long as you're west of Stony Point Rd., I would stay north of Highway 12. The area around West Third Street and West College Ave. between Stony Point and Fulton Roads is nice. Avoid the whole Roseland area from Sebastopol Rd between Stony Point Rd and Dutton Ave and going south. It is especially bad around West Avenue. Further north, avoid the area around West Steele Lane and Apple Valley Lane--also gang and crime infested.

I don't care for the area around Santa Rosa Junior College either, but that might be more a matter of my personal taste than the above crime-ridden areas I mentioned previously. Rincon Valley (NE) and Bennett Valley (SE) are OK too, but my favorite areas are West Third Street west of Stony Point Rd. and the far northwest part of Santa Rosa.

Most of Rohnert Park is OK except some have griped that it has no downtown and not much character to it (Rohnert Park didn't exist prior to 1960). Petaluma has had a lot of gang problems during the past few years, and I would choose Rohnert Park over Petaluma.

[Stacy From Cali]

Originally Posted by northbayeric

Most of Rohnert Park is OK except some have griped that it has no downtown and not much character to it (Rohnert Park didn't exist prior to 1960). Petaluma has had a lot of gang problems during the past few years, and I would choose Rohnert Park over Petaluma.

Oh man, no way! Rohnert Park has no soul, and Petaluma is an awesome place to live. It can't be that bad; I taught at Casa Grande High School (in Petaluma) for a year and never felt unsafe or threatened.

[ecvMatt]

Do you have a Texas accent(or at least what we out here would consider one?) That could be the reason for the looks when you talk. Pretty, girl, Texas accent, I'd probably stare, at least for a second!!!!!

Novato is nice too, It's about 10 mins south of Petaluma. I have plenty of friends that live in Petaluma and love it, it has a great nightlife, decent fishing(if you're into that sorta thing, i am) it's close enough to SF, and, despite it's growth, still retains a bit of the small town feel. It has it's problems, like anyplace, but would say it's pretty mellow, compared to a lot of other places I've lived.

Good luck, wherever you decide to go.

[MissDaisy]

Originally Posted by blueseas123

Yes he is!! And thank you for the warm welcome! Where in Texas are you moving to?
Speaking of which, I was talking to my friend who is originally from Hayward and she suggested that maybe the reason why people were looking at me oddly was because I do have a bit of a Texas accent. I didn't even think of that.

We will be moving to Conroe...

Most people here like the Texas accent BTW

I told hubby the other day that since we have lived in CA virtually all of our lives....when we move to Texas, it will be US who have the "accent"