Sonoma in Sonoma county

[PeixeGato]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

It's probably an hour at least from Sonoma to SF, probably more especially during rush hour and depending on whether you drive or take a commuter bus.

Its a 45-minute drive from the Sonoma Plaza to the Golden Gate bridge WITHOUT traffic. I have no idea how long the trip would take at 7:30am, though.

[PeixeGato]

Originally Posted by NiceBreez

That's great to hear. Is all the city safe? or there are areas that we should consider more?
Thank you so much for your answers!!

It all depends on what you are looking for. Overall, the city of Sonoma is VERY safe and there aren't any areas I would say to "stay away from". The town is pretty walkable and bikeable. The East side is known to be much more upscale with larger and older homes, but you'll pay more for that. The homes on the west side are generally newer (a lot of 1960s-1980s subdivision of what used to be open space and large parcels of land).

Where do you live now? I would recommend you visit and drive around. The one knock I would make (assuming being a small town that is somewhat isolated is what you want) is that it is not at all diverse. Oh, and the town tends to be a bit on the more aged side and public school enrollment has been declining. I believe the median age is 50 and has been on an upward trend for some time now.

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by PeixeGato

It all depends on what you are looking for. Overall, the city of Sonoma is VERY safe and there aren't any areas I would say to "stay away from". The town is pretty walkable and bikeable. The East side is known to be much more upscale with larger and older homes, but you'll pay more for that. The homes on the west side are generally newer (a lot of 1960s-1980s subdivision of what used to be open space and large parcels of land).

Where do you live now? I would recommend you visit and drive around. The one knock I would make (assuming being a small town that is somewhat isolated is what you want) is that it is not at all diverse. Oh, and the town tends to be a bit on the more aged side and public school enrollment has been declining. I believe the median age is 50 and has been on an upward trend for some time now.

The median age thing is great point Pixie. It does remind me of Naples, Florida in a weird California style way (I'm sure that makes no sense to anyone but me, sorry the coffee is just starting to brew!)

It is not unsafe place.

And it can get blazingly hot, (hotter than the rest of Sonoma County) since it is inland and does not get any ocean breeze at all.
I thought maybe you (nicebreeze) would want to know that.

I am curious, what is the school that is so intriguing? And where are you all moving from?

[Dusty Rhodes]

Sebastopol would be another good option

[bellalunatic]

Sebastopol would be waaay too far out for them. And it doesn't have the school they want.

[NiceBreez]

belalunatic, you were right the heat thing does interest me. Right now we are living in the area of Philadelphia, for 2 years now. We are looking to move to Sonoma because of the Waldorf school in the city. We are very interested in Waldorf schools and our kids can go to the school in Sonoma, so this a very good thing for us. We will be coming to visit the area very soon, and that's why we are looking for advices before hand.
We were looking for alternative schools in 2 main areas, NY, and SF area. Sf has more Charter schools which are better for us. We know the Waldorf education kind of well, so when we got to know the schools in the area, we decided it's a good option for us.
We are not from the US originally, so some times we are looking for some help :-)
Thank you so much for the great information, it sounds like a very nice town (although there is no breeze :-P)

[bellalunatic]

Ah yes, well there are lots of Waldorf Schools in the Bay Area. In the North Bay theres at least 5 I can think of off the top of my head, in

Sonoma
San Rafael,
Petaluma,
Santa Rosa.

There are probably quite a few more.
Feel free to PM me I'd be happy to help. (I'm in Sonoma County by the way)

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by bellalunatic

And it can get blazingly hot, (hotter than the rest of Sonoma County) since it is inland and does not get any ocean breeze at all.
I thought maybe you (nicebreeze) would want to know that.

Sonoma, like other inland towns in Sonoma county can get pretty warm but not nearly as hot as the Sacramento Valley to the east. Average summer maximums average around 90F but that is with low humidity. Also the overnight minimums are quite cool considering how warm the days are [low 50's] so overall Sonoma has a nice climate.

Monthly Averages for Sonoma, CA - weather.com

[PeixeGato]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Sonoma, like other inland towns in Sonoma county can get pretty warm but not nearly as hot as the Sacramento Valley to the east. Average summer maximums average around 90F but that is with low humidity. Also the overnight minimums are quite cool considering how warm the days are [low 50's] so overall Sonoma has a nice climate.

Monthly Averages for Sonoma, CA - weather.com

Yes, the Sac Valley is hotter, but the OP wasn't asking about the Sac Valley.

90 may be the average, but there are many days where it is over 100. And the highs can top 100 for several days to a week at a time. Averages can be deceiving. "nice climate" is a subjective phrase.

It cools off at night, but as the number of consecutive days with temp above 100 increases, the time that you begin to feel the cool-off gets later and later. After 5 days or so, it hardly feels like it cools off at all.

I guess you can tell I don't like the extreme heat, even with low humidity. I grew up in the DC area and I hated that humid heat too. The climate is just right (for me) here in Berkeley, lol!