Areas with the least fire issues in Marin/Napa/Sonoma Counties? (Oakland: condo, credit)

[msl529]

Hello,

My hubby & I live in Martinez. I have been working at Sonoma State University for almost a year and have decided to keep teaching there until hubby & I retire in about 7 years. I teach Nursing, so even during COVID, I will teach on-campus/in person, 2 days/week for skills lab (Cal State has declared ~100% online for Fall 2020, except in certain circumstances like labs, etc., that must be in person).

We are considering an eventual move to an area more commuter-friendly to campus. This is probably 1+ years away, but I would like to start researching this now.

Overall, I love the north bay, so I am open to most areas. My biggest concern is having to evacuate or go through power outages multiple times or for extended periods during fire season. We have (so far) mostly escaped this in Martinez, luckily.

Which areas had the most forced outages and evacuations last year? Is there any area across the bay from me (i.e., north side of the Richmond/San Rafael bridge) that did not have these issues? Or was it pretty equal for all towns? I realize we cannot predict the future, but was wondering if there were any areas up there that are less risky.

Price range is up to about $850k so this limits us quite a bit, but we'd consider condo/townhome options.

Not a lot of other stipulations as far as amenities etc., we are flexible & hang at home a lot. Hubby does like to garden, though...

Thank you.

[TashaPosh]

Originally Posted by msl529

Hello,

I teach Nursing, so even during COVID,I will teach on-campus/in person, 2 days/week for skills lab (Cal State has declared ~100% online for Fall 2020, except in certain circumstances like labs, etc., that must be in person).

We are considering an eventual move to an area more commuter-friendly to campus.

This makes no sense to me. Nursing clinicals & labs aren't on campus.......they are in hospitals. Shouldn't any move be more commuter friendly to the different hospitals that you teach at than to the campus....specially cause of Covid?

[roadwarrior101]

Look for areas of any city away from hills/mountains/open fields. In the Bay Area, you're probably safe near downtown Oakland, SF or SJ, but not in the outlying areas of the cities. In terms of other cities, most bump against the hills/mountains, so its not really safe to say you can live anywhere in a given Bay Area city. Take a look at a topographical map and find a street that is surrounded by other city streets and not in a hilly area.

Marin/Sonoma/Napa generally don't have any huge cities so you're never too far from a mountain or open field. That said, if you look at where fires have occurred in the towns of Sonoma, Napa and Santa Rosa, it was on the periphery.

[msl529]

Originally Posted by TashaPosh

This makes no sense to me. Nursing clinicals & labs aren't on campus.......they are in hospitals. Shouldn't any move be more commuter friendly to the different hospitals that you teach at than to the campus....specially cause of Covid?

Yes, most clinicals are in the hospital. These locations will vary for me as an instructor, from Napa to Santa Rosa, and are only a fraction of my schedule. The on-campus clinical lab sessions are held in the beginning of the program when the new students are learning from scratch. They have to learn the basics in lab first for a few weeks before starting at the hospital. I would like to be near the school eventually (after COVID) because I will also have lecture classes, office hours, faculty meetings, etc.

[msl529]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Look for areas of any city away from hills/mountains/open fields. In the Bay Area, you're probably safe near downtown Oakland, SF or SJ, but not in the outlying areas of the cities. In terms of other cities, most bump against the hills/mountains, so its not really safe to say you can live anywhere in a given Bay Area city. Take a look at a topographical map and find a street that is surrounded by other city streets and not in a hilly area.

Marin/Sonoma/Napa generally don't have any huge cities so you're never too far from a mountain or open field. That said, if you look at where fires have occurred in the towns of Sonoma, Napa and Santa Rosa, it was on the periphery.

I agree, it does seem that mountains and grassy, hilly areas seem to have a lot of fire trouble. I've scanned the downtown Petaluma area online which seems cute. Hard to find an affordable property there though, as it seems popular.

[davdaven]

PG&E's PSPS's affected a large swath of Marin County last year. I work at an essential business in San Rafael, and we were on generator power for several days. Some parts of the county were impacted less so than others, but most populated areas experienced outages. I think the far south end of Marin was fine, but a commute from Sausalito to Rohnert Park wouldn't be much better than the commute from Martinez.

Sonoma County had outages too, but they weren't as widespread as in Marin because the county is larger and there are more people in more locations overall. The north side of Santa Rosa, Windsor, and some outlying eastern areas in Petaluma had outages. Not sure about some other places because I'm not as familiar with all of Sonoma County's nooks and crannies. The fire danger in the north Santa Rosa area out to Windsor was a real problem yet again, and even though Coffey Park and Fountaingrove are being rebuilt, I personally would avoid the area. Even without wildfire danger, the traffic through Santa Rosa is bad during rush hour. I would stick to Cotati, Rohnert Park, and the west side of Petaluma for that reason alone. In terms of neighborhood character, the west side of Petaluma is the undisputed champion, but that comes with a price tag to match.

[TashaPosh]

Originally Posted by msl529

Yes, most clinicals are in the hospital. These locations will vary for me as an instructor, from Napa to Santa Rosa, and are only a fraction of my schedule. The on-campus clinical lab sessions are held in the beginning of the program when the new students are learning from scratch. They have to learn the basics in lab first for a few weeks before starting at the hospital. I would like to be near the school eventually (after COVID) because I will also have lecture classes, office hours, faculty meetings, etc.

All clinicals are in the hospital for a BSN....but for like 4 wks out of a 4 yr degree. So...IMO...you need to move closer to the hospitals that you are teaching at than to the campus. That's the part that made no sense in your O.P. AND lab instructors don't also teach lecture...so your post & what it is you teach is super confusing to me. Clinicals & nursing labs are separate classes & credits. They aren't like the science labs & lecture time that are tied together....like A&P.

What hospitals are part of the Sonoma State clinical rotation?

edit: IMO....that's your 1st problem to figure out where to move..... It makes no sense being near to the campus is your priority.

[msl529]

I am both a clinical and a classroom instructor. The hospital settings vary from semester to semester, as they are not necessarily guaranteed.

[msl529]

Originally Posted by davdaven

PG&E's PSPS's affected a large swath of Marin County last year. I work at an essential business in San Rafael, and we were on generator power for several days. Some parts of the county were impacted less so than others, but most populated areas experienced outages. I think the far south end of Marin was fine, but a commute from Sausalito to Rohnert Park wouldn't be much better than the commute from Martinez.

Sonoma County had outages too, but they weren't as widespread as in Marin because the county is larger and there are more people in more locations overall. The north side of Santa Rosa, Windsor, and some outlying eastern areas in Petaluma had outages. Not sure about some other places because I'm not as familiar with all of Sonoma County's nooks and crannies. The fire danger in the north Santa Rosa area out to Windsor was a real problem yet again, and even though Coffey Park and Fountaingrove are being rebuilt, I personally would avoid the area. Even without wildfire danger, the traffic through Santa Rosa is bad during rush hour. I would stick to Cotati, Rohnert Park, and the west side of Petaluma for that reason alone. In terms of neighborhood character, the west side of Petaluma is the undisputed champion, but that comes with a price tag to match.

Thank you for your informative reply!

[Jane M]

Originally Posted by TashaPosh

All clinicals are in the hospital for a BSN....but for like 4 wks out of a 4 yr degree. So...IMO...you need to move closer to the hospitals that you are teaching at than to the campus. That's the part that made no sense in your O.P. AND lab instructors don't also teach lecture...so your post & what it is you teach is super confusing to me. Clinicals & nursing labs are separate classes & credits. They aren't like the science labs & lecture time that are tied together....like A&P.

What hospitals are part of the Sonoma State clinical rotation?

edit: IMO....that's your 1st problem to figure out where to move..... It makes no sense being near to the campus is your priority.

Why are you telling the OP what her job entails or where she should move? This is an unhelpful post.