Potential move to Santa Rosa (Petaluma, Windsor: rental, low crime, how much)

[arshi1979]

I have a very decent job offer in Santa Rosa and am debating if I should move. We live in Portland, OR and really like it here. Quite honestly, we wouldn't be thinking about the move if this job offer wasn't that great, which makes the decision a little harder. We are a young family of 4 with 2 boys (4 and 2 yr old). Good schools are our first priority followed by safety as i travel a little bit for work and don't want to worry about my family when I am on the road. We will initially be renting and hopefully buy in an year or so after having a better understanding of the area. Don't know if I need to stretch it or not, but right now my rental budget is $2500.

What are the parts of Santa Rosa that I should be considering or staying away from? Is it a good and safe place to raise kids? I don't mind a little commute and I am open to sorrounding areas as long as they are safe and have good schools. Are there any other options?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated and hopefully help me in my decision.

[cre8lite]

i grew up in santa rosa - stay away from the 9th street area & roseland. it's easier to narrow the field if you give us an idea of where the job is located.

[SLA74]

Santa Rosa area is a great place to raise a family! My husband and I have been here for 3 1/2 years and now have a 2 year old and we love living here. There's so much to do...lots of festivals and events on weekends all over the county, tons of open spaces including a huge regional park system (Home | Sonoma County Regional Parks) if you love outdoorsy stuff, and most of the city is lovely and perfectly safe for families. The best areas with the best schools are in the eastern parts of the city (Fountaingrove, Rincon Valley, Bennett Valley, Skyhawk) and many areas of the northwest are nice as well. The bad areas are very limited and easy to avoid. Your rental budget would get you a nice place in all of those areas, except maybe Fountaingrove (which you still can find places for your budget, but it's the most expensive part of SR).

Other good areas to consider within close distance of Santa Rosa are Sebastopol and Windsor. Sebastopol would have more of the vibe that I imagine Portland has (on a tiny scale..it's a small town of about 8000 but is super awesome). Windsor is also a nice family-oriented suburban area but is a bit on the bland side, although their Summer Nights on the Town Green are pretty cool...here's a link along with info about other stuff going on around the county: Windsor Farmers Market Summer Nights on the Green - Windsor California Farmers Market

You can send me a direct message if you like if you have any questions...I'd be happy to help in any way I can! This is a great area and I can't recommend it highly enough. Gorgeous and extremely enjoyable

[Mack Knife]

Try Petaluma. Has everything, great schools and easily commutable to Santa Rosa. You have a whole bunch of options.

[arshi1979]

Originally Posted by cre8lite

i grew up in santa rosa - stay away from the 9th street area & roseland. it's easier to narrow the field if you give us an idea of where the job is located.

Thanks for the reply cre8lite. My job is in Northern part of Santa Rosa. I believe the main office is located on Airport Blvd. close to the airport.

[cre8lite]

with the job on airport blvd you can go two ways - either windsor, or northwestern santa rosa. neither is a bad option imo. nw santa rosa tends to be more spread out, with less subdivisions than the rest of the town. windsor used to be a sleepy little hole in the wall town, but has grown up quite a bit in the last 20 yrs or so. you can find both subdivisions & rural living in windsor. windsor is smaller than santa rosa, but windsor to santa rosa is only....30 minutes or so.

you could potentially get to/from work on the back roads instead of the freeway - not that the freeway between windsor & santa rosa is bad, it's just another option.

airport rd to windsor is ~15 mins or so. windsor & santa rosa have grown up so much over the years that it's getting harder to tell where one ends & the other begins.

i can't speak for schools. when i went to school there, the amount of schools were WAY less than there is now & the education i received was pretty dang good. nowadays ?????

i never rented, only lived with family, so i couldn't tell you how far your rent budget will get you. the local newspaper is the press democrat (http://pressdemo.com/) maybe you can cruise thru the classifieds to find out how much rent will be.

be prepared for approximately 35-40% of your paycheck to be eaten up by taxes. yes the dollar per hour is mesmerizing, but your take home pay may not be as big as you thought it would be.

petaluma is a great town, but not if you're going to commute to the north side of santa rosa.

[charbo]

You have it made, considering where you are going and your budget. I also recommend checking out Petaluma - I like it far better than Santa Rosa and it seems more safe and family-minded.

[72bug]

I lived in Santa Rosa for a few months then moved to windsor. It's a great area for families. Good schools, safe, great weather, cool little downtown. Airport blvd is one exit away from Windsor so it's like a five minute commute on the 101.

[Vision67]

I'm also seriously considering moving to Santa Rosa to be closer to family in the Bay Area. Seems to me that Santa Rosa is about as close as we can get to San Fran and still affordable.

I'm looking on the North End near Fountaingrove parkway. I think that's a low crime area. Correct?

I'd like to hear your thoughts about that area.

[Hypersion]

I've been in SR for about 12 months now and I really like it. The northwest SR is safe but the schools are not great. You have to find a place in Rincon or Bennett valley to get good schools. Also check out Rohnert park/cotati but like Northwest SR it's schools are not great. Still it might be a better value to sent the kids to private school and leave in one of the area with poorer schooling.