Working in Petaluma (Santa Rosa, San Rafael, Novato: apartments, rent, condos)

[CaliforniaDownUnder]

I have an interview with a company in Petaluma and I might be getting a little ahead of myself, but I want to do some research on the area. I have no kids, and I would probably move to the area before my wife comes out here. Any recommendations for where to live? It seems that San Rafael/Novato is super expensive because it is in commuting distance to SF. Sonoma/Santa Rosa/Sonoma all seem afforable - but I am a little concerned about how safe the area is. Also, how is public transport? I am assuming there is good access to fresh food because of the proximity to all the farms.

My main concern with moving back to the US is getting a job for my wife (she'll have a green card). She is an experienced public servant in Australia, and there are not many public service openings in the US in general so she might have to move into the private sector. Are there a lot of professional jobs this far north, or is she going to have to look closer to SF to find something? Any advice on the area would be much appreciated.

[Tomlcsc]

You can't go wrong with any of the areas you are looking.

Although, don't expect a ton of public transportation in Sonoma. I know we have Golden Gate Transit, but that is mainly for commuters to SF.

If there is any concern about your wife getting a professional job, you definitely would want to consider moving closer to SF at some point in the future. If its just you for now, rent a room I say.

[CousinMaynard]

if youre concerned about safety, stay away from boyce springs, aqua caliente, basically everything on the outskirts of sonoma on 12. rents are cheaper but you get what you pay for. "sonoma" and "sonoma valley" can mean two different things...

the northeast & west part of santa rosa can be pretty salty too, and by all means, stay away from by the fairgrounds.

[CaliforniaDownUnder]

Any comment on bike-friendliness? If i live and work in Petaluma, is it reasonable to bike/walk everywhere and then take the bus if I really need to get somewhere?

[CousinMaynard]

i always had my truck and never ever took the bus when i was up there so i cant say. you should really have access to a vehicle if youre gonna live up there tho i'd say, remember sonoma county is the north bay, it is NOT the bay area. + you'd miss out on going to the coast, up to the woods and what not.

[cre8lite]

in petaluma you could essentially walk/ride your bike to/from work IF you lived on the same side of town. hwy 101 splits the town down the middle & there is considerably more traffic near the highway. trying to ride from the east side of town to the west (or vise versa) could be deadly. you will still need a vehicle to explore the surrounding areas, but to/from work on the same side of town is doable.

while petaluma doesn't have the same density of jobs as san francisco, it isn't exactly the middle of nowhere either. if she can't find something in petaluma, santa rosa is an easy ~30 minute commute to the north, which is a bigger community than petaluma.

[CyanideThistles]

The commute from Santa Rosa to Petaluma should not be a problem. It's about 30 minutes, more or less.

However, there are definitely certain parts of SR that are not really all that great to live in. The area known as South Park near the county fairgrounds, and Santa Rosa Avenue and some of the areas near Sebastopol Road are not very desirable and tend to be the areas where a lot of the crime happens in Santa Rosa.

Rincon Valley, a neighborhood in east SR, is recommendable. There's plenty of apartments and condos that are affordable and it's fairly safe and nice.

[CousinMaynard]

i lived in rincon valley for 3 years, on the corner of montecito and mission, i would only recommend it to young ese vatos in training. horrible neighborhood with serious lowlife element

[cre8lite]

i lived off sebastopol rd for 5 yrs, i was definitely the minority there. had absolutely no problems from the neighbors as far as crime goes, but grew tired of every single thing being advertised in spanish FIRST then english; the 5 ice cream vendors that came thru daily (not exaggerating); the frequent helicopter flyovers; the boom boom trucks & the incredibly trashy yards.

[CyanideThistles]

Originally Posted by CousinMaynard

i lived in rincon valley for 3 years, on the corner of montecito and mission, i would only recommend it to young ese vatos in training. horrible neighborhood with serious lowlife element

...What? Well I do agree some of the apartments in front of Oliver's are crappy and somewhat run down, but I wouldn't say it is an awful horrible ghetto as you say it is.