Santa Rosa or Eugene Oregon? (San Francisco, Windsor: sales, real estate, rentals)

[gympsy123]

I'm living in Chicago and the harsh winters are getting to be too much.
So I have narrowed things down to either Santa Rosa California or Eugene Oregon to retire.
Does anyone have any current experiences with either or preferably both of these cities?

here are my needs & want list:
1-I love Farmers markets
2-Good public transportation
3-which city is safer?
4-I'm not opposed to a good college near by
5-Some snow is okay as long as it does not stay on the ground for 5 months of the year
and it does not get -40 degrees
6-walkable city
7-Thrift stores
8-garage sales
9-vegetarian/vegan friendly
10-which city is cleanest?
11-Which city has the coolest downtown?

Farmers markets-walkable-good public transportation-friendly people-things to do

Hope someone has some updated information I have looked online a lot and I love Eugene I don't think the rain would bother me as much like others...since I have lived in Chicago's harsh weather.
How is the downtown area is it vibrant? meaning things to do people walking around.

Santa Rosa my online search is it is expensive & there seems to be an increase of gangs there
And the city is not as fibrant as SF. Looking online some of the downtown seems boring just brown buildings.Are there areas of downtown Santa Rosa that is vibrant? People walking around.
How about the Capitol building & center of downtown areas?

Santa Rosa I can get on a train and go visit San Francisco right? Has anyone done this before? How is it?

[cre8lite]

i can answer some of your questions for santa rosa:

wednesday night market, in downtown
Welcome | Wednesday Night Market

wednesday & saturday, north side of town
http://thesantarosafarmersmarket.com/

the spot to find farmers markets in surrounding cities
Sonoma County Farmers Markets


public transportation is meh. it exists, but it probably doesn't go where you want it to go OR you will have to transfer 5 buses to get where you wanna go.


good colleges nearby
SRJC | Santa Rosa Junior College
Sonoma State University

no snow (snowed 1 cm in the 30 yrs i lived there)

not a walkable city

antique/thrift stores everywhere

vegetarian & vegan friendly, the wide variety of fresh produce is amazing

yes santa rosa is expensive & getting more so by the day. the local newspaper (www.pressdemo.com) has been running some interesting articles lately - what kind of home can you purchase for $500k; what a $1m home looks like

& lastly, no there is no train that will take you from santa rosa to san francisco. you either drive yourself, have a friend drive you, take a taxi, take a bus (with a few transfers), or rent a car. there is talk about installing a train, but it does not exist at this time.

[ServoMiff]

My wife and I like Santa Rosa for what it is , but I wouldn't call it a great place to retire if you're living on a limited retirement fund. It does tend to get rather hot there in the summertime and things are rather brown everywhere in Northern California because of the drought. We drive up from SF to visit wineries in the area and to visit our favorite brewery, Russian River. It's not walkable at all other than directly downtown or in the railroad district and public transport exists, but is scarce.

I'm not an expert on Oregon, but I've been through Eugene before and it seems fine. According to the crime stats on city-data Santa Rosa is a little lower crime-wise, but neither are above average for crime. I would presume that Eugene would also be less expensive, and you can actually take Amtrak on the Coast Starlight from Eugene north to Portland/Seattle, or South to SF or even LA. Santa Rosa doesn't offer direct Amtrak or train service.

[gympsy123]

Thank you cre8lite and ServoMiff you explained things very well and your comments are very helpful.

[jonnydoe]

Santa Rosa is cheaper than San Francisco, but it is still "the Bay Area" and prices are jacked up compared to the rest of the country. There is no train service to San Francisco, but there may be some bus services(?).. It's less than an hour drive from SF if traffic isn't bad. As far as living in Santa Rosa goes, I guess it depends on what you consider important. You still get a lot of culture there, great live music venues, good restaurants, mild weather, easy access to the coast and/or redwoods, Tahoe half a days drive away..

I haven't spent as much time in Eugene, I would venture to say it has a smaller town "feel" as San Francisco isn't down the road- It is a college town, lots of hippies. Also great music and venues there but not as good as SR, but Portland is up the road, and there is Oregon Country Fair every year.... Eugene by far is cheaper than the Bay Area, no sales tax in OR. I suspect Santa Rosa gets a bit more sun annually. Half a days drive will get you to Seattle; less than half a day to Portland, or Crater Lake.

Parts of Santa Rosa can have a bit of a tweeker vibe, and it can get a little "red" in the country outside of Eugene. Eugene itself and NorCal in general are both very liberal.

It's a tough call both would be nice places to retire.

[gemstone1]

Eugene Saturday Market

Eugene Walk Score

Eugene Vegan

Regards
Gemstone1

[FC76-81]

Do you prefer complete strangers putting fuel in your car or do you want to do it yourself?

[tifoso]

Originally Posted by gympsy123

I'm living in Chicago and the harsh winters are getting to be too much.
So I have narrowed things down to either Santa Rosa California or Eugene Oregon to retire.
Does anyone have any current experiences with either or preferably both of these cities?

here are my needs & want list:
1-I love Farmers markets
2-Good public transportation
3-which city is safer?
4-I'm not opposed to a good college near by
5-Some snow is okay as long as it does not stay on the ground for 5 months of the year
and it does not get -40 degrees
6-walkable city
7-Thrift stores
8-garage sales
9-vegetarian/vegan friendly
10-which city is cleanest?
11-Which city has the coolest downtown?

Farmers markets-walkable-good public transportation-friendly people-things to do

Hope someone has some updated information I have looked online a lot and I love Eugene I don't think the rain would bother me as much like others...since I have lived in Chicago's harsh weather.
How is the downtown area is it vibrant? meaning things to do people walking around.

Santa Rosa my online search is it is expensive & there seems to be an increase of gangs there
And the city is not as fibrant as SF. Looking online some of the downtown seems boring just brown buildings.Are there areas of downtown Santa Rosa that is vibrant? People walking around.
How about the Capitol building & center of downtown areas?

Santa Rosa I can get on a train and go visit San Francisco right? Has anyone done this before? How is it?

I'd suggest taking a look at your finances before deciding. The tax systems in the two states vary considerably and your personal financial situation will make a difference in how you fare tax-wise.

OR has no sales tax, but as a retiree you probably won't be buying as much stuff as you did when you were younger.

OR income tax is far less progressive than CA's. So if your post-retirement income is considerably higher than average, OR may be better for you. But if it's not, CA will likely tax you less, and perhaps much less, than OR. Get a tax program and run the numbers; the results may be enlightening.

While real estate is cheaper in OR, property tax assessments are capped at 3% per year as opposed to 2% in CA. So the advantage OR has right now would be lessened over time depending on how much you paid for your new residence (assuming you buy). But unless you buy an extremely expensive property, you will most likely fare better property tax-wise in Eugene. Rentals are a more complex situation; the close proximity to U of O means that rents for high-quality properties in Eugene are more expensive than they might otherwise be.

As for your other considerations, both are nice towns, but Eugene is much more youth-oriented because of U of O being right in town. If you feel you'll need a fix of big-city life regularly, SR is much closer to SF than Eugene is to Portland, much less Seattle. Public transit is mediocre in both places, but if you like getting around on two wheels, Eugene is very bicycle-friendly.

Good luck!!

[HappyinCali]

op, i think you should consider portland. it has everything you need and price-wise, it is likely around santa Rosa

[MaireM]

Originally Posted by gympsy123

I'm living in Chicago and the harsh winters are getting to be too much.
So I have narrowed things down to either Santa Rosa California or Eugene Oregon to retire.
Does anyone have any current experiences with either or preferably both of these cities?

here are my needs & want list:
1-I love Farmers markets
2-Good public transportation
3-which city is safer?
4-I'm not opposed to a good college near by
5-Some snow is okay as long as it does not stay on the ground for 5 months of the year
and it does not get -40 degrees
6-walkable city
7-Thrift stores
8-garage sales
9-vegetarian/vegan friendly
10-which city is cleanest?
11-Which city has the coolest downtown?

Farmers markets-walkable-good public transportation-friendly people-things to do

Hope someone has some updated information I have looked online a lot and I love Eugene I don't think the rain would bother me as much like others...since I have lived in Chicago's harsh weather.
How is the downtown area is it vibrant? meaning things to do people walking around.

Santa Rosa my online search is it is expensive & there seems to be an increase of gangs there
And the city is not as fibrant as SF. Looking online some of the downtown seems boring just brown buildings.Are there areas of downtown Santa Rosa that is vibrant? People walking around.
How about the Capitol building & center of downtown areas?

Santa Rosa I can get on a train and go visit San Francisco right? Has anyone done this before? How is it?

I think Santa Rosa is great! The park system is among the best in the state, there are farmer's markets everywhere, you are 30 minutes from the coast, 55 miles from San Francisco (yes, there are buses) and there is quite a bit of art and culture. However, as a retiree check out some of the smaller towns nearby SR. I know some happy retiree's in the town of Sonoma and the prices are a little lower. Windsor is a lovely small(ish) town in wine country, Sebastopol is another one. There are many more. Visit and check the area out!