Price Comparison? Rent/total Rohnert Park/Cotati vs. SF area (Santa Rosa: credit, houses)

[grapico]

Greetings.

I am living for free up in Sonoma County right now and looking in a year to relocate towards the city... OR to the Rohnert Park/Cotati area.

I was wondering what the price differences, mostly rent on studio 1br in the area.

My gf is finishing her degree and I am trying to convince her to go to SF State instead of Sonoma State... The tuition actually looks a tad cheaper at SF State... She has another few semesters at Santa Rosa Junior College.

What would the total living expenses be for these areas... I am trying to factor in gas as well, as we could effectively get rid of the car if we lived in SF area (somewhere close to public transportation)

Is it that much of a difference between?

I have been out here for a few weeks and the gas prices seem to be eating up a large sum of our money right now with the commuting and it is already becoming a headache to share one car , I was thinking it might even be cheaper or at least the same to go ahead and live in the city and drop the car/gas/commute times.

We could both also get higher paying and more flexible (for her) hours with a job there.

I was also looking into doing an MPA program at one of these schools before, but further research has told me Sonoma State isn't even an accredited school for MPA... ouch for me... so we definitely eventually need to get into the city.

With all of the planning to do, it is still great to be out in California!

Thanks! Thoughts?

[grapico]

hrrm..

[psychprof]

Hi there. I am moving out to Rohnert Park to begin as a professor at Sonoma State. From what I have seen, it costs a lot more to live in SF than sonoma county. Studios in SF listed anywhere from $1000 per month (which was rare) to 1500. One bedrooms same thing, but even higher. I think the rents in sonoma county vary, but I found a lot of 1 bedrooms going from 900 to around 1200. But then again, if you really love the city, it may be worth the higher cost of living.

You're probably right about the MPA program though. I do not think SSU has particularly strong graduate programs.

One thing folks have said on this list..Avoid living in Rohnert Park. Apparently it is craptastic. Folks have suggested Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, or cotati.

Hope this helps.

[grapico]

Thanks for the information, I already live about 6 miles from Sebastopol. Based on the information I have found, and ...well, your post alone I think the city is going to be the better option even if it is *slightly* more expensive... will have more time on our hands killing all the commutes from out here. I have also ruled out Sonoma State for that, you are right as far as their grad programs go. I think overall SF State is a stronger school... maybe very similar undergrad, but what I'm looking for, pointless grad, not an accredited program for MPA lol. I have done about 8 commutes so far from Sonoma to SF and ...eekkkk not fun. (I know you had posted a similar thread) We'll just have to visit Sonoma...we have a couple family houses up here, it is beautiful but... not really for us to live/career etc...The good jobs/universities are in the SF/Oak/SJ area. Fine for the next lil while though. Best of luck to you at Sonoma. My gf's mom works there on faculty and seems to like it.